Family in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, wants work near gravesite to stop

A family in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, is worried that work being done by the hamlet at a sand pit outside the community is getting dangerously close to where their family member is buried.

Ada Angidlik says her grandfather, Joachim Angidlik  is buried a few kilometres outside of town. He died in 2005.

"As Rankin was growing bigger and bigger each year, we've noticed that this land is also being excavated more and more each day," Ada said.

Ada and her family want the work at the site, which is being contracted by the hamlet, to stop altogether. If it doesn't, they want at least a 200-metre buffer zone placed around the gravesite.

It's not clear what exactly the hamlet plans to do with the sand they're removing from the area. The hamlet declined to speak with CBC before publication.

Ninety-year-old Adele Kumaruaq Angidlik, Joachim's wife, said her late husband asked to be buried at that site.

"He told me when I go there I should smile at the grave first then I would look over the hill, I will see caribou because he knows I like to watch the caribou walk by," she said in Inuktitut.

She also wants to be buried next to her late husband, but is worried that might not be a possibility for much longer if work continues.

"I worked on the gravesite all by myself preparing it before he died," she said. "I don't want the land to become smaller."

The Angidlik family has also used the area as a campsite for generations. Adele still goes there to dry caribou and spend time on the land.

Ada first approached the hamlet last July, when she noticed that workers were getting close to the area where her grandfather is buried.

"Why is this company going so close to our campsite and my grandfather's grave?" she said.

After that meeting, she said the hamlet agreed to a 50-metre buffer zone.

"They took our concerns in a timely manner and they had mentioned that they will look into it and investigate," she said.

Then this May, the family say they saw excavators get close to the gravesite again.

"I was just devastated," Ada said.

The family also said they met with the hamlet on Monday afternoon to express their concerns. Darren Flynn, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, told CBC the council is reviewing the matter and can't comment at this time.

The family also has also started a petition asking the hamlet to stop its work, which has just over 1,000 signatures.