Inuvik ceremony will recognize late Special Constable Peter Esau

A ceremony will take place in Inuvik on Tuesday to formally unveil a regimental headstone at the grave of the late Special Constable Peter Esau.

His former colleagues pushed for the recognition, which comes several years after Peter passed away.

For decades, Indigenous special constables helped southern RCMP recruits figure out life in the North, particularly the survival skills needed to get through an Arctic winter.

“In those days, those guys were our life link,” said Eric LaFoy, a retired RCMP member who got to know Peter while working in Sachs Harbour, where Peter was a special constable and later the mayor.

“Most of our members that came up here were very green. Living on the land, mushing dogs, just general day-to-day life was out of their category. They didn’t know,” said LaFoy.

“These special constables were our link to be able to communicate with the community, to do our job.”

LaFoy and Bob Knights, who similarly served with Peter, will fly from Yellowknife to Inuvik alongside NWT commanding officer Chief Supt Dyson Smith on Tuesday morning, ahead of a 12:30pm ceremony at the town cemetery. Officers and Peter’s family are expected to attend, RCMP confirmed.

Knights will also present a slideshow of the many photos he took of Peter in the 1950s. He and Peter served in Sachs Harbour from 1957 to 1959, just a few years after the RCMP opened a detachment in the community.

Peter was the first special constable in Sachs Harbour, LaFoy said.

Peter’s work was well known in Sachs Harbour. In 1969, when the community’s first school concluded its opening year in operation, his exploits were recorded in the inaugural school yearbook.

“In 1958, Peter Esau, being special constable, [and] Bob Knights made four trips to the camp at De Salis Bay and a patrol to Holman Island,” the yearbook notes, documenting residents’ memories of police officers over the preceding 15 years.

“That winter was a real tough one, hunting and trapping were poor. Every winter, the Mounties are making a few trips in the island as they kept up to now quite a large team of dogs. In fact, Sachs Harbour could be one of the last detachments keeping dogs for their travels.”

Knights’ photos show him alongside Peter taking part in activities like dog mushing and seal hunting.

LaFoy said that while Peter passed away some years ago, the process of securing him a regimental headstone took time.

“I just want to make sure these guys all get properly recognized,” he said of the work to hold Tuesday’s ceremony. He said the headstone bears the crest of the RCMP alongside Peter’s service, name and regimental number.

He noted that not every member receives a headstone. This one required approval from the NWT commanding officer once he and Knights had submitted supporting letters, he said, as well as the consent of Peter’s relatives.

Aleta Esau confirmed family members will witness the placing of her father’s headstone.

“I personally feel very strongly about this,” said LaFoy.

“There’s been a lot of negativity towards the RCMP. I think it’s important that we be seen as having done the right thing.”

Special constables were the subject of a major exhibition at the NWT’s Prince of Wales Heritage Centre that you can explore online.

“Special constables worked alongside the police to help them understand Indigenous cultures and traditions. They helped break down barriers and built a cultural bridge between government and the people,” the museum stated in its description of their role.

Peter appears in the exhibition multiple times, alongside recollections relating to many other special constables.