Walking
on Thin Ice
Caribou
Hunt in Nunavut
By
David Kritterdlik
In
the fall of 1986, my cousin Peter, my brother Johnny,
and I decided to go caribou hunting by canoe and motor.
The caribou had come close to the coast and we only needed
a couple hours to go and come back before dark.
The
weather was calm and clear. It took us no more than an
hour to get to a good hunting location. We each shot a
caribou and hauled everything to the canoe before dark.
Before
long, we loaded everything into the canoe and were ready
to head back to our community. We wanted to have something
to eat but it would get too dark if we tried to make tea.
We
decided to go for it as it would take us less than an
hour to get home. I noted the direction of the wind to
have an idea as to which direction to head should it get
dark before we made it home. The tide completed its peak
when we left. Shortly it would begin to go out.
The
wind started picking up as the darkness began to creep
in upon us. We would have no problem making it home even
in the dark as we'd be able to see the lights of the town.
It was no more than ten miles straight across the bay.
We will be home in a short time, we thought.
Things
started to change very quickly. Dark heavy clouds started
to drift towards us from the Northwest. Within a few minutes
it began to snow heavily and the wind was very strong.
Soon it was hard telling what direction we were traveling
and how fast we were going.
The
thought of getting home and having a nice meal vanished.
The task at hand was to think of a way to make it to any
land and escape from drifting out into open sea. We would
surely drown within minutes once we lost control of the
canoe in those rough waves.
I
began to think of my home, family, and my life. I remembered
that God was in control, but the high waves sent a chill
through us.
I'd
been a Christian since 1963. I gave my life to Jesus when
the late Armand Tagoona and David Aglukark came to preach
the gospel in Whale Cove.
Since
I was six years old, I've been reading the Bible, shortly
after I learned to read our Inuit syllabics in the New
Testament. My grandfather helped and encouraged me to
read and study the Bible. From that time, I began to understand
the basics of its teachings. But it wasn't until I invited
Jesus to live within me, committing my life to Him, that
I really began to understand its truths.
Peter
and I noticed that we didn't have enough gas to make it
home. It was too risky to try and travel further. We must
find land and wait out the storm. Even to find water shallow
enough to anchor would be good.
The
weather was getting worse and our chance of finding a
good shelter in the dark was now slim. If we should run
out of gas without reaching any shelter, it could be a
disaster.
We
started praying
At
times, I thought about my wife and three daughters who
were at home. Perhaps they were waiting for me. If I don't
make it home, what are they going to do? Who will provide
for them?
I
had taken them out hunting, fishing, and camping and they
often enjoyed the trips. We had traveled through all kinds
of weather by dog team, snowmobile, or by boat. We made
trips up the rivers and camped out some 50 to 70 miles
inland away from the community.
If
I shouldn't make it back, will they be able to go out
again? I wept quietly when I thought of them. My brother
and cousin mentioned their families too with sadness.
We
all agreed that we needed to do something before dark.
If we remain on this house-sized island we will have a
hard time during the night. The strong winds continued
and the temperatures dropped. Snow continued to fall.
We
all had this idea in the back of our minds all along but
it was a foolish thing to do. We had no other options.
We had a paddle, a piece of plywood and a two-by-four,
ten feet long. We agreed to set ourselves adrift out into
the open sea.
We
pulled the canoe down to the water, making sure we had
the two-by-four, the paddle and the plywood. We set ourselves
adrift for survival.
I
held up the plywood, Peter steered and Johnny kept watch
for anything up ahead. Our small 'island' was out of sight
in minutes as the strong wind blew us down.
For
some time we weren't able to see anything around us. As
we drifted, Johnny shouted that there was something ahead
of us. "It's ice!" he yelled.
It
turned out to be a mixture of snow and ice—slush.
As soon as we hit it, we couldn't move anywhere. We were
stuck! It was a bit of a relief because this slush was
protecting the canoe from filling up with water.
We
looked around but saw nothing. The island was supposed
to be to our right, but it wasn't visible. The mainland
on our left wasn't in sight either.
Straight
ahead of us was what looked like very calm water.
"It
could be ice," Peter said. But it was too dark to
be ice.
We
could no longer go anywhere. Are we going to perish in
the canoe?
"At
least we will all be together if people find us,"
I thought to myself.
We
had limited our body movements. Johnny tried stepping
out of the canoe, but the slush was too soft to hold anything.
Johnny
came up with an idea. "We've drifted out for survival;
we need to continue to seek survival," he said. He
said we should pray again and put the two-by-four down
on the slush, walk on it to the ice ahead of us.
"How
can we walk on it?" Peter said. "Even if we
can, the ice ahead of us is so thin it is dark like water.
It wouldn't hold us up and we'd fall right through."
Johnny
insisted we pray again so that we can cross over to the
'ice.'
Jesus'
words came to my mind. "But Jesus looked at them
and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).
We
agreed to pray once more but this time we knelt down and
I took my hat off for this was going to require a lot
of faith and serious prayer. We prayed and in unity said
"Amen."
When
we opened our eyes, it seemed to be much brighter and
we now could see a little further. Better yet, we could
see the outline of the mainland about a mile down wind
from us.
Peter
put out the two-by-four on the slush. Johnny jumped from
the canoe to the two-by-four and ran through the slush
onto the ice. When he stepped on the ice, I could see
him going up and down as waves. I told him to start walking
without stopping in the direction where we thought the
shore was.
Peter
went next. I yelled to him to follow Johnny but not directly
behind him because if the ice weakened, they could both
go through. As they walked, they kept encouraging me to
jump and follow them.
As
I was about to jump off the canoe, questions entered my
mind. How wide was the Red Sea or the Jordan River when
600,000 men crossed first? They walked on the dry land,
but I have to walk on the slush and very thin 'ice.'
At
that point, my whole life seemed to flash before me. I
saw another person inside a cold and dark igloo. That
person was lying next to me on a sleeping platform covered
with caribou skins. The next thing I saw, someone put
me down on the igloo floor as two people handled the other
person. I was being taken back to my birth. The person
next to me was my dying mother. She was being taken out
of the igloo after giving birth to me.
Finally,
I thought about my wife Susie, who was at home with our
three daughters, waiting for me.
Peter
and Johnny's yelling snapped me back to reality. As I
got ready to jump and run, all the faith that I'd had
over the 23 years of my Christian life seemed to vanish.
But I had to jump.
Jumping
onto the two-by-four was like stepping on a solid rock.
It didn't even go down and I don't remember if I even
ran. I suddenly realize that I'd made it to the 'ice'
and I could feel myself going up and down as the waves.
I had crossed the 'sea'.
I
started walking behind Peter who was by this time about
a hundred yards ahead. Johnny was even further ahead.
I could hear them talking to each other and crying. I
listened more closely and then I heard Peter thanking
and praising the Lord. I was surprised; he never did that
openly when I was with him. Apparently, Johnny was doing
the same thing, praising God. I looked down at my feet
and noticed why they were praising. I could see right
through the ice to the water's bottom. Salt water is very
clear and seeing what is under the 'ice' was crystal clear.
I, too, began praising the Lord.
As
I walked I noticed how thin the ice was. Fear engulfed
me. I began to fall through the ice. As I was falling,
the story of Peter stepping out from the boat to go to
Jesus on the water came to mind. When he saw the boisterous
wave, he began to sink and called out to Jesus for help.
Jesus held up his hands and pulled him out. At that instant,
I yelled, "Lord, help me!"
My
arm hit the ice and I pulled myself up with ease, continuing
to walk on.
By
this time we were losing track of time. When I realized
I was becoming very weak and slow, I tried to stay alert
and keep on walking.
The
wind had died down but it was still snowing. We were able
to see the airport lights about a mile ahead. "Walking
in the right direction will not be hard anymore,"
I thought to myself. "I just need to keep awake and
continue."
At
this point, I was hardly making progress. Peter spent
more time waiting for me than walking. When we were close
to the shed, he said that he would go ahead and call for
help. As soon as he left me, I couldn't wait to just sit
down, kneel or lay down. "I can't go on anymore;
I need to rest."
From
the direction of the runway, I noticed a dark outline
of a large rock. What a welcome sight! The story of Jacob
from the Bible flashed through my mind.
Glow
of Light
Jacob
on a journey took a stone and made a pillow and he laid
down to sleep (Genesis 28:10-13).
Before
I could remember what happened to Jacob, it seems I instantly
fell asleep. I saw above me a glow of light. From the
midst of this glow of light, out came some letters or
symbols that I couldn't read. They weren't symbols in
English or syllabics. They were gradually moving up in
the air from right to left, fading as they went. From
above me, I heard what sounded like a voice.
"David,
I am God. I have power and I can do anything I please.
But until man begins to work with Me, as friends do, no
miracles are going to happen. For I have chosen man to
work with Me."
Suddenly
I realized that I still had to make it to the shack. As
I started to walk I realized that God thinks so much of
me and has so much in store for me. He wants me to be
aware of Him at all times.
In
a few minutes, a snowmobile came from behind me, picked
me up and took me to the warm shack. I lost consciousness.
I
awoke to find my brother Steven cutting up my frozen boots,
trying to pull them off.
Steven
carried me to an open van and took me to town. He carried
me to the washroom with a bathtub half-filled with water.
As he put me down in the tub, I heard my feet touch the
bottom of the tub with a thump. After soaking for a while,
my socks were peeled off as they'd finally thawed off
my feet.
I
was flown by airplane to Churchill where I stayed for
almost two months. During that time, the doctors told
me that my legs had been damaged so badly that they would
have to amputate them below the knee. I was saddened.
"I guess I will never walk on them again." But
I was just glad to be alive.
A
lot of people all over the North heard what happened to
me and they were praying. The people prayed that I would
be healed.
The
next time the doctors visited told me that they didn't
need to amputate from the knees down but they most certainly
would have to remove my feet at the ankles.
People
continued to pray.
On
a third visit, the specialists told me that they'd decided
not to remove my feet but they were going to remove my
toes.
One
nurse really encouraged me and prayed for me. She suggested
I take daily exercise in the big tub, exercising my feet
and toes. I enjoyed these exercises, praying throughout
the time. I thought of angels and how they minister to
people in need.
Afterwards,
my toes started to wiggle one by one. They moved very
little, but that was all the doctors needed to decide
not to remove anything from my body.
Some
20 years later, I still wiggle my toes, just to remind
myself of all that the Lord has done in my life. Since
then, I'm not only able to walk but I play hockey with
local teams, enjoying the freedom to do all the good things
I used to enjoy in my life.
God
wants to use men who are alive. In fact, God is waiting
for us to come to Him and ask, "What must I do, Lord?"
Return
to Top of Page
