By Xavier Kataquapit
I was outside under the bright warm fall sunlight when I felt the world turn dark on me and the earth shook beneath my feet. My sister called with the tragic news that we had lost our 31-year-old niece Myris Kataquapit. Myris, whom the family enjoyed simply calling ‘Mie’, was a bright light that touched many people in her extensive Kataquapit and Sutherland family of Attawapiskat. She is the daughter of my older brother Mario and Mie’s mother Margaret Sutherland.
Her passing was deeply felt by our family as she was a dedicated mother to her daughters Auria and Eleanor. She also is survived by the girls’ father Warren Louttit.
Mie was also the stepdaughter of Kelly Harris and the late Doug Medd. She will be missed by her siblings Martha, Philip, Martina (Nathan), Tabitha, Wyatt, Hannah, and Stuart, as well as nieces and nephews, including Max, Anna, Ryland, Nikamoh, Gillian, Harrison, Evelyn, Atlas and Chloe.
This news deeply affected me as my brother Mario always did his best to watch out for me when we were growing up. My parents insisted on us being paired together when I first attended high school away from the community in Timmins when I was 13. During my first years away from the community, I always saw my older brother as my guardian who watched out for me.
Life threw us the terrible twist of losing our 16-year-old brother Philip in 1991 during my second year of school, and after that, my teenage years felt like a dark blur with few happy memories.
Mario was several years older than me and he finished school and began working back home and started a family. There were several years after 1991 when the world didn’t feel right for us, but in those dark times, Mario met Margaret and our world lit up as our family grew and expanded. Even out of school and in our community, Mario, who was busy raising his children, did his best to still watch out for me and helped my younger brothers.
Our parents Marius and Susan and our large family felt our world brighten in 1993 when five grandchildren were born that year. My sister Janie reminded us of that magical year when five new baby girls joined our family with our brother Antoine’s daughter Reva, our sister Jackie’s daughter Renae, our brother Lawrence’s daughter Naila, Janie’s daughter Brianna, and right at the end of the year during the December holidays, Mario’s daughter Myris was born.
Margaret and her family had also felt great losses in their own family during that period. The birth of a new generation helped us all to heal from the pain of losing those we loved.
I was 17 and Mario still felt the need to watch out for us. When Myris was born and ready to be baptized, I was surprised and honoured to be asked to be her godfather for her baptism. Margaret’s sister Elizabeth became the godmother. We were all good friends, and it was a special moment for us all to be there to hold this new baby in this special ceremony.
From the moment she could walk, Myris was a fun child who enjoyed being with her friends and this grand circle of cousins, relatives, aunts and uncles from both her father’s and her mother’s family. If Mie wasn’t running around in my parent’s Kataquapit household, she was having fun with an equally energetic home with her grandparents Louis and Martha Sutherland.
I can tell you it is not easy living in two worlds, but Mie did very well dealing with life in the bigger world and she achieved educational success as well as employment in professional situations. She was a bright light in many lives. She still managed to follow her traditional and cultural teachings and honoured the Elders.
Our two families shared a lot of deep ties built on tragedy and loss. Mom and dad did their best to help Louis and Martha during their times of need. I will always remember how Martha and her family came to our aid when we lost my brother Philip. When people grow up on the land in remote First Nations, they survive by depending on each other and watching out for one another. One of the greatest comforts is in knowing that the family left behind is surrounded by a great circle of relations, and friends who can all share in healing the wound we all feel, with time day by day. We are fortunate to have many wonderful memories of Mie.
Kee-sah-kee-eh-tee-nan Mie (we love you Mie).