Ruth Pulk was born Ruth Avinaguak Wingnek in Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut, to Annie Tutuavuan of Kent Peninsula and Serio Wingnek of Beatty Island. Avinaguak, or Big Girl as she was named, was the third youngest of ten children and, as her name suggests, was larger than life and a force stronger than her petite stature proposed. Her family, being remarkably closeknit, she was never far behind her older siblings, especially her sister Helen Maksagak.
She was a baby when their family settled into Tuktoyaktuk, as one of the first families to form the Salimiut community on the Banks Island of the Beaufort Sea. As a child that grew up on the coast, she had a preference for ocean fish and an affinity for Banks Island ptarmigan provided by a family that travelled to Tuktoyaktuk during summer hunting season.
Ruth would go on to attend the All Saints Mission in Aklavik. Her father, who received his education in Fort Smith alongside her longtime friend and proclaimed sister, Maureen Morphid's mother Mrs. Leland. Her father was a well-read man and impressed how important getting an education would be for surviving in a changing world. Ruth's mother would succumb to TB in 1945. As Ruth recalled, the excitement of the announcement of World War II's end was coupled with the sorrowfilled news of her mother's death.
Ruth was 14 when her brother Otto Binder would call her to leave Tuk and join him and his wife Ellen at Reindeer Station as they had welcomed twins and needed many helping hands. Ruth herself would contract tuberculosis and remain in the All Saints Hospital for several months where she made deep friendships that would span a lifetime.
Following extensive rehabilitation, Ruth began a mentorship program for TB survivors where she received training to work towards becoming a nurse. Just shy of graduation, she was called home to visit and would not return back to the program. She returned to Aklavik and during her time there, she was courted by a young man that would ski regularly from Reindeer Station to Aklavik to ask her for a dance at the community gatherings.
Ruth and Nels would wed on New Year’s Eve in 1959 at the All Saints Church in Aklavik. They made home in Reindeer Station and would bring their first child Michel into the world in a boat on the way to Aklavik's hospital. Ruth and Nels also ran dog teams alongside one another. Ruth and Nels would go on to follow the DEW line sites and travel the Inuvialuit settlement region with work. They were one of the families that made the riverside home in a 512 caboose in Inuvik when it was first being built. After having their daughter Debbie, they were called to move to Cambridge bay and served as hostel parents from 1963 to 1971.
Ruth had a distinct way of providing children with dignity and compassion that would brand her beloved mother to many across the North. Ruth and Nels would further dedicate their lives in raising and caring for vulnerable children when they returned to Inuvik to open their first official group home in the Mackenzie Delta from 1971 to 1984. Many children across the Inuvialuit settlement region and the Gwich'in settlement area have prospered on to better lives as a result of Ruth and Nels' positive influence, care, and guidance.
Children were always especially important to Ruth. She loved hearing their laughter and busyness right up to her final days. It was always evident in the way she would light up with childlike infectious joy from being in their presence. Each of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will remember the fun and games played and agree that sleeping in grandma's bed will remain their sweetest and most treasured memories. Ruth Pulk will be dearly missed.
Thank you, Member. Our thoughts, prayers are with Ruth's family.
