As World War II raged on in 1941 , the Inuit communities living on Belcher Islands in the Hudson’s Bay were experiencing one of the harshest winters yet. Seals, an essential food source for the Islands’ residents, had become scarce. The threat of starvation was coming quickly.

Searching for hope in their darkest hours, many turned to the Bible for comfort and answers. Most importantly, Christianity offered a promise of salvation, which some took to mean an imminent rescue from this brutal winter.

It was after a bizarre meteor shower one January night that their saviour appeared: Charley Ouyerack, a 27-year-old ‘angakok’ (shaman).

Ouyerack announced that he was Jesus Christ, and he brought harrowing news: the world was at its end. To support his cause, Ouyerack enlisted the help of the island’s most revered hunter, Peter Sala, and proclaimed him to be God. Together, Ouyerack and Sala would save their people through any means they deemed necessary. It was then that their reign of terror began, as they quickly amassed a large following who were willing to follow their saviours’ every order.

Their first task? The execution of every sled dog in the community because there was “no need for sled travel at the end of the world.”

The first to question the pair’s holiness was a 15-year-old girl, Sara Apawok, whose older brother Alec was one of Ouyerack and Sala’s most loyal disciples. Apawok was immediately branded a heretic and became the cult’s first victim. Alec and his fellow disciple Akeenik bludgeoned her to death. Soon after, two more non-believers were murdered by the cult.

That March, Sala’s sister, Mina, declared that the apocalypse had arrived and Jesus was coming. The cult’s followers (including men, women and children) were led out onto the sea ice and ordered to strip naked for the meeting of their saviour. In the midst of this hysteria some of the followers came to their senses, ordering their children to put their clothes back on and herding their families back to their igloos. In the end, six would perish from exposure; Mina’s mother and sister both died, along with four children, one of which being Sala’s son. 

Meanwhile, Sala had been recruited by Ernest Riddell to guide him via dogsled to a Hudson’s Bay Co. post at Great Whale River. While away, Sala confided in a metis man by the name of Harold Ungarden, who was well known in the local Inuit community, about the killings on the island. Ungarden quickly notified Riddell, who contacted the RCMP.

Unfortunately, because of the island’s harsh climate and remote location, the RCMP was unable to send help until April; by then, the damage had already been done. Three members of the cult, Mina included, were taken into custody. However, to these starving people, the promise of three warm meals a day was the salvation they had been looking for.

Trials held following the horrific events on the Belcher Islands determined that they were most likely a result of dire circumstances. Ouyerack, Sala and four of their accomplices were charged with murder; Mina was deemed insane and unfit for trial, and was charged with the murder of one of the children who died of exposure on the sea ice. 

Interested in learning more? In 2017, author Lawrence Millman published his book At The End of the World, which gives a more in-depth account of the murders. The book can be purchased here.

Sources:
Iaciofano, C. (2017, January 17). Cambridge Writer Tells Of Little-Known 1941 Belcher Island Murders In 'At The End Of The World'. Retrieved from https://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/01/17/millman-end-of-the-world.
James, D. A. (2017, March 26). 'At the End of the World' tells a shocking tale of murder in the Arctic. Retrieved from https://www.adn.com/alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/03/26/at-the-end-of-the-world-tells-a-shocking-tale-of-murder-in-the-arctic/.
Morton, J. C. (2014, March 30). When 'God' and 'Satan' battled in a barren land; the Belcher Islands Murders. Retrieved from http://jmortonmusings.blogspot.com/2014/03/when-god-and-satan-battled-in-barren.html.

Kira Frazer

The 30 rats in a trench coat that form the entity known as Kira Frazer emerged from the sewers on Halloween of ‘97, and have been wreaking havoc upon humanity ever since. She hopes to be the first rat-formed-entity to get a college diploma.