In May of 1968, Mary ZinnowSA国际影视传媒檚 family lost their home in Apex to a fire, and with it, all of their photos.

Now 78 years old, she went most her life without seeing a picture of herself as a girl, but recently came across one in a 2020 Nunavut News article.

The photo was taken in 1958, when Zinnow was a student at Apex School, a short distance from Iqaluit, which was then called Frobisher Bay and part of the Northwest Territories. The woman in the background is her old teacher, Shirley Smith, who she describes as lovely.

SA国际影视传媒淚 have no pictures of myself from when I was a little girl,SA国际影视传媒� Zinnow said of the Library and Archives Canada photo. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 lucky to have that picture that weSA国际影视传媒檙e looking at right now.SA国际影视传媒�

She was born in Frobisher Bay on July 23, 1945. She said she was the third baby born in the community. Her full name, at that time, was Mary E7-452 SA国际影视传媒� the product of a Government of Canada system that identified Inuit by numbers in place of surnames.

When Zinnow discovered the photo in question, a wave of memories came flooding back.

She spent most of her childhood living in Apex. Her father worked for HudsonSA国际影视传媒檚 Bay Company, and they lived in a SA国际影视传媒渓ittle houseSA国际影视传媒� that his employer provided.

She remembers her father would trap foxes on the land around their home, and says he taught her to shoot in the springtime, when SA国际影视传媒渁ll kinds of birdsSA国际影视传媒� descended on a pond near their house. Her mother, meanwhile, would take her down to the beach to collect clams, and their harvests were so bountiful that they often struggled to carry their buckets. Through it all, she recalls appreciating the natural splendour of her surroundings, from the expanses of seaweed near the beach, to the crystal clear water, to the berries that cropped up every summer.

SA国际影视传媒淥h, it was so beautiful,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲e had a wonderful life.SA国际影视传媒�

Zinnow has fond memories of the people in the area at the time too. There were only a few families around at that point, and she said they were all SA国际影视传媒渟o close to each other.SA国际影视传媒�

There were also many Americans in town, working at the Frobisher Bay air base. She said the Americans were SA国际影视传媒渟o goodSA国际影视传媒� to her, and recalls attending the movies they would screen in a building next to the hospital.

She said the Americans once distributed soup and supplies to families when there was an illness spreading across town and, at other times, would give out products like coffee, bacon, peanut butter, cookies and dried apples. Once, she devoured their gifts so quickly that she made herself sick.

SA国际影视传媒淲e ate all of it,SA国际影视传媒� she laughed. SA国际影视传媒淚 remember being so sick. I was throwing up.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒橳he dark side of lifeSA国际影视传媒�

Those idyllic days did not last for Zinnow, as her father eventually left his job with HudsonSA国际影视传媒檚 Bay Company to pursue a career as an electrician in Kingston, Ont., and she moved with her mother from their longtime home in Apex to Iqaluit, where they stayed with family.

It was around that time, she recalled, that she became aware of SA国际影视传媒渢he dark side of life.SA国际影视传媒� By that point, alcohol had begun to seep into the community, and it affected many people around her. She also started drinking herself, and ultimately ran away from home.

She didnSA国际影视传媒檛 get sober until 1984.

By that time, she had married twice: first to a man from Kinngait when she was a teenager, and later to a German man she met in Montreal. She met her second husband in 1979, in the citySA国际影视传媒檚 East End, and later discovered that they lived right beside each other in the city centre. They married in Iqaluit a year after that happy coincidence, and she took his last name. Today, they live together outside Grande Prairie, Alta.

Zinnow has a son in his 50s and another in his 40s. She had a daughter who died in 2012, which is when she was last in Iqaluit. She admits that her drinking put a strain on her relationships with her daughter and other family members, but she hopes they know she loves them with all her heart.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen I was young, I was confused,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 have regrets.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 thankful for my family. TheySA国际影视传媒檝e gone through a lot with me.SA国际影视传媒�

She said her life SA国际影视传媒渉as been much betterSA国际影视传媒� since she got sober, and that sheSA国际影视传媒檚 happy in Grande Prairie.

She learned to garden. She goes to church. She volunteers on National Indigenous Peoples Day and Canada Day. She gives presentations on her life in Nunavut at a local school.

SA国际影视传媒淟ife is good here,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 have a good life.SA国际影视传媒�

Despite being thousands of kilometres from Iqaluit, sheSA国际影视传媒檚 still immensely proud of her Inuit heritage. Stumbling across a photo from her childhood in Apex helped reinforce that pride, and she hopes sharing her story will ensure that others donSA国际影视传媒檛 forget how people in the area used to live.

SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of things were coming to my mind [when I saw the photo]SA国际影视传媒� she said, fighting back tears. SA国际影视传媒淕od is good to me. God loves me and he doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 forget who I am.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 Inuk and nobody can change it,SA国际影视传媒� she added. SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 want it to get lost, how we used to live in the past.

SA国际影视传媒淭here was harmony, there was peace, there was respect, and there was love.SA国际影视传媒�