Paul Idlout
Paul Idlout | |
|---|---|
| Bishop Suffragan of the Arctic | |
| Church | Anglican Church of Canada |
| Diocese | Arctic |
| In office | 1996–2004 |
| Other post | Dean of St. Jude's Cathedral (2000–2004) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | April 22, 1989 |
| Consecration | June 2, 1996by Barry Curtis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 21, 1935 Pond Inlet, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| Died | December 31, 2025(2025-12-31) (aged 90) Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada |
| Parents | Joseph Idlout (father) |
| Spouse | Abigail Idlout |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Arthur Turner Training School |
Paul Ullatitaq Idlout (April 21, 1935 – December 31, 2025) was a Canadian Inuk police constable and Anglican bishop. Born and raised in a traditional Inuit hunting culture, he was a young man when his family was relocated to the high Arctic in the 1950s. Idlout gained attention in the 1970s when a photo of him among a group of hunters appeared on the Canadian $2 banknote. After a career as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable, Idlout trained for ordained ministry in the 1980s and was ordained a priest. In 1996, he became the first Inuk to be made an Anglican bishop and just the third indigenous Anglican bishop in Canada. He retired as suffragan bishop of the Diocese of the Arctic in 2004.
Early life
Idlout was born in the northern Baffin Island settlement of Pond Inlet 1935, the oldest of nine children of Joseph Idlout and Rebecca Qillaq.[1] Extended family members include Paul's nieces Lori Idlout and Lucie Idlout.[2][3] He grew up before the transition of Inuit life to fixed settlements, and the Idlouts lived a nomadic life in tents in the summer and igloos during the winter while hunting for seals and caribou. He did not attend school as a boy.[4] Paul had early exposure to Anglicanism; his father was a guide for Anglican missionaries and he grew up singing in the church choir and attending Sunday school.[5]
In 1955, when Paul was around 20, he, his parents and some siblings were relocated to Resolute on Cornwallis Island as part of the Canadian effort to relocate Inuit from Nunavik in Quebec to higher Arctic settings.[a][1] Joseph assisted with helping the resettled Inuit from Inukjuak adapt to the harsher northern setting. Paul recalled that there were no houses and that the tent they lived in was very cold, and that it was hard to speak with the Inuit from Quebec due to the differences in Inuktitut dialects.[1]
Canadian $2 note
While shooting the documentary Land of the Long Dayc. 1951, filmmaker Douglas Wilkinson captured an image of Joseph and Paul Idlout along with several other Inuit preparing for a hunt. In 1975, this image was engraved on the Canadian $2 note as part of its Scenes of Canada series. Paul Idlout is the youth pictured squatting in the center of the engraving.[8][9]
Marriage and career
During the 1950s, Paul met his wife, Abigail; they had five children. She taught him English and writing and he took high school correspondence courses.[4]
They eventually returned to Baffin Island.[1] Idlout joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1963 and worked as a translator and guard. He left the RCMP in 1977 and joined Petro-Canada, where he worked for five years, after which he worked as a kayak builder.[5][9] He found himself drinking to excess and decided to change his life. In 1986, he enrolled in the Diocese of the Arctic's Arthur Turner Training School, then in Pangnirtung.[5]
Ordained ministry
Idlout was ordained on April 22, 1989, and served as a priest at Cape Dorset.[5] In May 1996, he was elected the diocese's suffragan bishop.[10] His consecration service at St. Jude's Cathedral was fully bilingual in English and Inuktitut.[1] He was the first Inuk to be made a bishop and the third indigenous Canadian to become an Anglican bishop, after Charles Arthurson and Gordon Beardy.[11] Diocesan bishop Chris Williams was based at the diocesan office in Yellowknife, while Idlout oversaw congregations in the eastern Arctic from the cathedral in Iqaluit.[1]
Idlout also served during his tenure as bishop as dean of St. Jude's Cathedral. He retired from both roles on April 30, 2004.[12]
Later life
After retiring from his episcopal role, Idlout continued to serve in pastoral ministry in Apex and assisted at St. Jude's Cathedral.[1] He also translated liturgical materials into Inuktitut and taught traditional Inuit skills.[1][5]
Idlout died at 90 on New Year's Eve 2025. Bishops Alexander Pryor and Ann Martha Keenainak conducted his funeral service at St. Jude's Cathedral on January 6, 2026.[13]
Notes
- ^Sources are unclear on whether the Idlouts' relocation was forced. One source indicates that Joseph Idlout voluntarily sought relocation to Resolute following the collapse of the Arctic fox market, and that the Hudson's Bay Company opposed the move to maintain a contingent of hunters near Pond Inlet.[6] Another source indicates the Pond Inlet families were forced to relocate.[7]
References
- ^ abcdefghCareless, Sue (January 13, 2026). "Bishop Paul Idlout (1935-2025)". The Living Church. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^"First Inuk bishop Paul Idlout dies on New Year's Eve". Nunatsiaq News. January 5, 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^Letts, Daron (August 30, 2010). "Good News for Iqaluit". Nunavut News/North. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^ ab"Toronto archbishop, Arctic suffragan bishop will retire". Anglican Journal. April 1, 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^ abcdeWindeyer, Chris; Dickens, Jillian (May 22, 2006). "Spreading the Word". Nunavut News/North. p. 3. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^Tester, Frank; Kulchyski, Peter (November 1, 2011). Tammarniit (Mistakes): Inuit Relocation in the Eastern Arctic, 1939-63. UBC Press. pp. 184–191. ISBN 978-0-7748-4271-6. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^Porteous, John Douglas; Smith, Sandra Eileen (2001). Domicide: The Global Destruction of Home. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7735-2258-9. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^Iddon, Graham (October 21, 2020). "The Story Behind the Engraving". Bank of Canada Museum. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ abRees, Ann (July 6, 1986). "Paul's out of picture". The Province. p. 14. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^Phillips, Todd (May 30, 1996). "Anglicans elect first Inuk bishop". The Toronto Star. Canadian Press. p. A14. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^Shepherd, Harvey (June 22, 1996). "At issue: churches and conservation". The Gazette. p. 13. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^DeSantis, Solange (January 1, 2005). "Arctic postpones election of third suffragan bishop". Anglican Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^Pelletier, Jeff (January 6, 2026). "'A remarkable spirit': Bishop Paul Idlout remembered for kindness, faith". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
