On the morning of Thursday, February 23, 1995, around 2:00 a.m. a house in the Cree community of Whapmagoostui caught fire. The house belonged to Isaac Masty who was away at a meeting at the time in Val d’Or. In the fire perished his father Joseph Masty Sr., his sister Martha Masty and his daughter Melanie-Rose Masty.
Joseph Masty Sr., age 77, served his community as a church leader for many years. He was also a very skilled craftsman in the making of traditional wooden tools using his crooked knife. His wife Eliza Masty died in August 1992.
Before her mother’s death, Martha, who was 51 years of age and never married, looked after both of her parents and since then took care of her father. She served her community through the local school as a janitor for many years.
Melanie, age 6, was the youngest child of Isaac and Stella Masty Sr. They had adopted another child, Rodney, who is about 2 years old now.
Surviving the fire were Isaac’s wife, Stella Masty Sr., his daughter Stella Masty Jr. and her two young children, Rodney, the adopted boy of Isaac, and Isaac’s only son, Melvin Masty, and Christopher Bearskin, a young man from Chisasibi who was visiting the family at that time.
Isaac’s oldest daughter, Prescilla, who has a family of her own and lives in another house, was with her father in Val d’Or when this tragedy happened.
Isaac Masty and his wife Stella are both employees of the Cree School Board. Isaac is the community’s Local School Administrator and his wife is a teacher.
Members of the family who survived the fire were evacuated to Val d’Or on the morning of February 23 for medical check-ups and to join up with family members who were in Val d’Or. Melvin Masty, who helped his mother and other members of the family out of the house, suffered a deep cut at the base of his thumb which required stitches. Stella Masty Sr. had frostbite on the heels of both feet All were released from the hospital in the afternoon of the same day. The family arrived by a chartered plane in Whapmagoostui on Saturday, February 25,1995.
An investigation of the fire by special investigators from the south strongly suggests the electrical panel as the source of the fire.
This is the first time this Cree community has lost its members in such a tragic way. The community as a whole, which includes the Inuit community of Kuujjuarapik and the non-Native community, was in shock and in mourning. The family members of Isaac and the community need your prayers and thoughts.
Burial services were held at 3 p.m. on March 1 atthe Triple Gymnasium of Kuujjuarapik. About 80 to 90 people from Chisasibi arrived on two chartered flights and regular scheduled flights to attend the funeral. Isaac’s mother was originally from Chisasibi.
Isaac Masty, on behalf of his family, wishes to express his deepest appreciation to all of the people who have sent in messages of sympathy and condolences. These messages of love and sharing came from the communities north and south of Whapmagoostui, the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach, from out west and from many different organizations everywhere. He would like to especially thank the people of Chisasibi who arrived for the funeral, bringing with them food, clothing and money for his family. He also expresses his gratefulness to the local Community Education Administrators and some School Commissioners from the different Cree communities, and the Director of the Cree School Board who also arrived for the funeral on another chartered flight He would also like to thank all of the members and organizations of the Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik communities, Native and non-Native alike, for their generosity, support and caring.
In its efforts to help this family, the Whapmagoostui First Nation Council is creating a fund to which individuals and groups may send in donations, if they wish, to help this family, who not only lost their loved ones but also all their belongings in the fire. If your community or organization is interested in making a contribution to this fund here is the information: Isaac Masty Fund c/o Whapmagoostui First Nation Council, attn: Joan Niquonicappo (director of operations), RO. Box 390,
Whapmagoostui, Qc. J0M 1G0.
