Page 6 - August 2019

Having completed school, Ann Weetaltuk moved In 1960 Ann Weetaltuk left Trans-Air when she became
south and in 1951 enrolled in a nursing course at the pregnant, and moved to live with her family in Great
Hamilton Sanatorium, in Hamilton, ON. Weetaltuk Whale River where the community of Nunaaluk had
earned a diploma as a nursing assistant and worked at been forcibly relocated by the Canadian government.
the Ottawa Civic Hospital, The Bell Telephone Hospital
While living in Great Whale River and working for the
at Great Whale and the Montreal General Hospital.
northern affairs department in charge of Eskimo
She also served for three months abroad the handicrafts, Ann Weetaltuk met Australian Terry
Department of Transport ice breaker “C.D. Howe” as
Whitfield, who was employed by Marconi as an
both a registrar for the Department of Northern
electrician and diesel mechanic and with whom she
Affairs and as a nurse.
began a romantic relationship. This sadly led to
Whitfield’s termination from his position with Marconi
due to a clause in his employment contract which
forbade him from “fraternizing with locals”. In 1961
Whitfield and Weetaltuk planned to bring their
complaint against Marconi to the floor of the House of
Commons to be heard by Minister of Northern Affairs,
Dinsdale. Whitfield and Weetaltuk married, however
their relationship did not last long and Weetaltuk later
re-married.
Ann Weetaltuk continued to work for the government of
Quebec in Montreal and Great Whale, Nunivak (Great
Weetaltuk family pose for a photo at Cape Hope Island (Nunaaluk) Whale is now Kuujjuaraapik). After speaking with her
c.1930s. Ann‘s mother Mary Sivuaq Annie Saala holds a baby on right
which may be Ann’s brother Eddy as identified by Mini Aodla Freeman family, Alan Nelson informed the Royal Aviation Museum
through the Avataq Cultural Institute, 1987. of Western Canada that Ann Weetaltuk had passed away
(HBCA, 1987/363-E-220/1-91)
a few years ago; her family still lives in Kuujjuaraapik
In 1958, when Ann Weetaltuk’s appointment as a today where her son Mike Shields worked for Air Inuit
stewardess with TransAir, and the first Indigenous and managed the Kuujjuaraapik airport.
stewardess in Canada, was announced it was met with
some media attention and public interest. TransAir’s
manager of the Mainline Division, J.G. Twist, said of
Weetaltuk, “Miss Weetaltuk’s charm friendliness, and
training makes her an ideal choice to serve as an
airline stewardess and we are confident she will fulfil
her duties in a manner that will reflect credit on
herself and the company.” Ann Weetaltuk remained
employed with TransAir for two years, and, according
to retired TransAir pilot Alan Nelson, she would have
been serving coffee cheese and crackers and
potentially hot meals on the longer flights to Montreal
in the DC-3, which was equipped with a small kitchen
or food prep area.
In fact, the publicity of her employment caused some
issues for her brother Eddie, who had pretended to be
only half Inuit so that he might serve in the RCAF. A
fellow soldier noticed Eddie’s resemblance to Ann and
said she must be his sister; which Eddie was forced to
deny for fear of his parentage disqualifying him from
service.