Elisapee Ootoova

Elisapee Ootoova was born in Lancaster Sound, Devon Island. Elisapee is the daughter of an Inuit mother and a white RCMP officer, but she was raised by an Inuk father. Her testimony includes information on health evacuations. Her grandmother and father were both evacuated with tuberculosis. Her father did not return, and later died of a heart condition. While living in Mount Herodier, Elisapee was pressured to relocate to Pond Inlet so that her children could attend school. One child was sent off to school, and the following spring the rest were also taken. They lived in the school hostel. Elisapee speaks of her children returning changed due to conflicting cultural priorities. Elisapee was treated for tuberculosis in the south in 1967 when she was 31 years old, and in 1968 she relocated to Pond Inlet. She notes that four of her husband’s dogs were shot by the RCMP when they wandered from Mount Herodier to Pond Inlet.