Sanaaq Read online

  Sanaaq and Aqiarulaaq had completed their work. With night falling, Sanaaq shouted, “Come and help us. We’re done! The skins need to be carried away to the tent with someone on each side.”

  So Sanaaq, Qalingu, Aqiarulaaq, and Jiimialuk started to carry them off, with two people on each side. They were straining.

  “Uuppaa! Uuppaa! Not heavy at all!” said Jiimialuk. “Let’s go that way!”

  They now stopped. They had come to their tent.

  “Mother ai!” said Qumaq. “Let’s drink some tea!”

  “Let’s have tea!” replied Sanaaq. “Arnatuinnaq! Has any tea been put in the teapot?”

  “Yes, I put some tea in. Help yourself!”

  “Go ahead. Let’s have tea! Where’s my daughter’s cup? There it is down there, on the other side of the trunk... Qumaq! Drink your tea without spilling!”

  “OK!”

  “Iii!”

  “She’s spilled all her tea down the front of her shirt… Is the teapot empty? She’s spilled all her tea!”

  “Will we be double-stitching everything tomorrow?” asked Arnatuinnaq. “I’m going out for a short visit.”

  She went to visit Aqiarulaaq, who told her, “Ai! Arnatuinnaq ai! Take home some of the meat. Here, take this shoulder.”

  “Sure!” said Arnatuinnaq. “The sea is very calm. Once we start sewing, we should work as fast as possible, to get it all done in a single day.”

  “You’re right! We’ll try to get up early and do it all in one shot.”

  Arnatuinnaq now went home. She undressed for bed because it was nighttime. Everyone went to bed and drifted off to sleep. Qalingu was snoring loud and hard.

  “Qaa! Qaa!” This was the sound of his snoring.

  7

  JIIMIALUK LOSES AN EYE

  They had all planned to wake up early that morning. Around five o’clock, Aqiarulaaq entered the home of her camp mates and said, “My kinfolk! Wake up, it’s high time you got up!”

  “Yes!” answered Sanaaq. “We’re up!”

  Arnatuinnaq awoke too and dressed after having some tea. They were going to cover Qalingu’s qajaq. For this, Qalingu started cutting the skins to fit the frame. He stretched the utjuk skins over the qajaq with Jiimialuk’s help while the others — the elderly and the women — looked on and told them how to do the job.

  “Jiimialuk! You hold while I cut,” said Qalingu. “But how are they supposed to be cut?”

  Aqiarulaaq explained. “You cut the skin along a line from the big hoof of the front foot to the corner of the lips and then along another line from the hind foot to the udder. That’s how we usually cut it... Try to remember that this is how we cut skins for a qajaq!”

  “Yes,” said Qalingu. “I’ll try. Jiimialuk! Attach the skin with a leather strap.”

  Once this was done, the three women went to work inside the tent. They double-stitched the skins together while talking and chatting.

  “Irtuu!” said Sanaaq. “I should first make some qitirsirait with this old caribou skin. Only with qitirsirait can we hold the thread right while sewing... Let’s get to it! Let’s get sewing!”

  They began to sew. Qumaq was playing. She knew more and more about the world around her and talked incessantly while playing with the husky pups. There were five of them. She often opened the door and the draft from the strong wind outside caused the oil lamp’s flame, which was heating the tea, to waver this way and that.

  Sanaaq scolded her daughter. “Stop opening the door all the time. The oil lamp is exposed to the draft and its flame is being blown about by the wind! Ii! Iii! Dirty pups! They’re running into the tent one after another!”

  “Uai!” shouted Arnatuinnaq. “Bunch of good-for-nothing mutts! What a pack of useless bums.” She went after them, giving one pup after another a good kick. “Uai bums! Look at all these pups!”

  “Maa maa maa!” whimpered the pups as they scampered away.

  The women had finished sewing. The entire team would now fasten the covering of skin to the frame. While the men rinsed the stitched skins in the sea, Taqriasuk daubed the qajaq frame with oil to make it slippery, using a piece of sealskin. The men then came back and the women began stretching the skin over the frame. Meanwhile, Jiimialuk was preparing boiled meat in a large pot and filling it with whatever could go in. As he cut the meat into morsels, he said, “I’ll set up a windbreak because the wind is blowing hard and the meat is really going to take too long to cook.”

  He erected a windbreak using a large mangittaq of old qajaq skins. He could now go ahead with the cooking... The flames were already high. When the meat morsels began to boil, he turned them over with a long metal pick. But as he was turning them over, he splashed himself in the face with the boiling hot water. He screamed, “Aatataa! I’ve scalded myself something awful... My eye has been burned open! Aa! Aatataa! All I’ve got is my left eye now... There’s fluid spilling out of my burned eyeball. It’s stinging really bad.”

  “Ii!” exclaimed Aqiarulaaq. “My son has lost an eye. His eye is wide open. It’s been burned open by boiling liquid! Who will provide for us now that our only provider has lost an eye?”

  “Mother! I’m probably going to die. My eye was burned open when the boiled meat I was preparing was almost done. I’ve lost my lens... Ii! There it is, a tiny little lens! Look! That used to be my lens! But what’s to be done with it now? It may end up being eaten by the dogs…”

  They knew nothing about the existence of doctors or even big ships. When the women working on the qajaq had finished their work, they got down to eating some of the boiled meat.

  “Come and have some boiled meat!” shouted Sanaaq to her companions. “Have some!”

  “I will!” answered Aqiarulaaq, “but my son can no longer have any. He’s burned himself very badly... Look at this. It used to be his lens!”

  “Ii! Autualu!” said Sanaaq.

  Qumaq was beside her. She saw the lens and, still not knowing many things about life, said, “Mother, I want to eat that eye!”

  “Ii! It’s just not done. You can’t eat an eye like that. It’s a man’s eye. It was your little cousin’s. It was his eye!”

  “I want it! Give it to me!”

  “But I told you it was a man’s eye! It is said that the eyes of people who eat human flesh turn completely white… We’ll throw it away because your eyes would turn white.”

  “Yes!” said Qumaq, who seemed to understand.

  Night had fallen. They undressed for bed. Jiimialuk soaked a cloth compress in water and placed it over his eye. Unable to fall asleep, he tossed and turned because of his burn. Everyone else went to sleep, leaving him alone with his pain.

  8

  THE FIRST QALLUNAAT ARRIVE

  While they slept, at daybreak, a very large boat arrived. Arnatuinnaq was taken aback when she left the tent that morning. It was the first time she had ever seen such a thing. She shouted to her kinfolk, “Ilakka! Wake up! What’s this thing standing still in front of us?”

  Just as her last words trailed off, the ship made a loud booming sound and, coming nearer and nearer, made several more. The strange sight filled everyone with fear, and they made frenzied efforts to hide behind tent covers. Some, like Arnatuinnaq and Qumaq, even began to cry. Finally, a large outboard full of Qallunaat headed to shore. These beings were clearly human, and the camp’s inhabitants, though still surprised, were no longer afraid. The Qallunaat had come to visit.

  Once they were ashore, Aqiarulaaq shouted to the Big Eyebrows, “Ai!”

  They failed to understand, not making the slightest response. They began to talk among themselves. The Inuit were astonished to hear them speak and greatly appreciated the many gifts that they handed out, even the empty tin cans.

  Sanaaq left to go visiting. She had heard about the Qallunaat and told everyone, “People say the Big Eyebrows are re
ally nice! Don’t be afraid. It’s even said that they have doctors.”

  Qumaq was not at all intimidated by the Qallunaat. They were soon well liked because of all the gifts they handed out.

  The Qallunaat went back to their big boat, to get things ready for moving ashore. Once they were inside, a loud clanging and banging could be heard. The Inuit were filled with astonishment and cried out, “Listen to that! There’s an awful racket going on!”

  “You said it!” said Aqiarulaaq. “But what can they be up to? Look over there, that little boat is full of stuff!”

  The outboard landed on the shore again and the Inuit went to meet the newcomers, who began unloading large wooden crates. The Inuit watched with amazement.

  “It’ll be nice to have them in our country,” said Sanaaq. “There’ll now be Big Eyebrows here!”

  Jiimialuk hardly felt any pain in his eye anymore. He accompanied those who welcomed the newcomers. He shouted, “Isn’t it great that the pain has almost gone from my eye?” He even began to sing, “Laa laa laa. Isn’t it just great? What does it matter that I’m now one-eyed? Who cares, the pain’s going away!”

  The newcomers continued to unload. They picked things up and laid them on the shore while the others worked at building a large house.

  9

  QALINGU TRIES OUT THE QAJAQ

  Qalingu had returned from hunting in his qajaq. His sister-in-law, Arnatuinnaq, and his stepdaughter, Qumaq, came to meet him by the shore. His load was a very heavy one: an utjuk and also two natsiik that he had killed. Arnatuinnaq hauled the qajaq out of the water by pulling on its usuujaq. She was dragging it by the bow to dry land.

  Seeing her pull it all by herself, Qalingu spoke up. “Hold on! It’s really loaded... I’ll get out first. I’ve just killed an ujjuk! I had to chase it a long time before I finally caught it. It came up for air. I fired and shot it. It was wounded so I had to keep chasing and whenever it broke the surface I shouted ‘ua! ua!’ while firing my rifle. Tikkuu! That made it dive. I paddled ahead as fast as I could while it was still under water. And when it reappeared at the surface, I kept on yelling and trying to make it dive again right away. After a while it was running out of breath and coming to the surface more often. I got closer and closer. I fired and finally shot it again when it was just alongside. It almost sank, but its back rose to the surface twice and I rushed ahead to grab it before it could sink.”

  Qalingu had finished his story. The two began to carry part of the animal away, each taking a chunk of meat they had carved off. Their folks, Sanaaq and Aqiarulaaq, came to help. When all four were together, Sanaaq said, “Qatannguuk ai! Once we’re done carrying all of this away, we’ll have a feast with the kujapiit of the utjuk.”

  They hauled the meat away two by two. The qatannguuk were carrying off a haunch between the two of them, chatting all the while. Sanaaq said, “Qatannguuk! Let’s take a break. I’m really tired.”

  “Yes,” said Aqiarulaaq. “But let’s rest up there ai! Where there’s no sand!”

  “Sure! I’m really tired... i i i i.” She burst into laughter. “Don’t you think I’m tired? Just look: my hand has gone all white... Let’s go! Time to get back to work. We’ve almost reached our tent.”

  The two of them started carrying the meat again. Suddenly the part that Aqiarulaaq had been hanging onto ripped away.

  “Iirq! My handle has ripped off ai! There it goes. My handle has ripped off!”

  “Ii! Autualu! Qatannguuk, did you get grease on you?”

  The dogs were now assailing them and they tried to get into the tent.

  “Uai! Uai! Ii!” exclaimed Sanaaq. “They’re biting into the meat we’ve been carrying, those dirty dogs! They’re really starving. Ii! That dog bit into the heart I was holding... Uai! Dirty no-good mutt!” Sanaaq grabbed a rock and threw it. “Ii! Missed ... My aim must have been off!”

  They finally got in. The other two, Qalingu and Arnatuinnaq, were together carrying a shoulder and the adjoining head. They had left behind the other shoulder, a haunch, the two ringed seals, the skin of the utjuk, and the viscera. Those remaining pieces were being guarded by Qumaq on the shore.

  Before leaving her, Qalingu had said to Qumaq, “Don’t stop throwing stones at those dirty dogs ai!”

  “I won’t!”

  Now left to herself, she was beginning to feel very afraid. She yelled, “Uai! Dirty no-good dogs!”

  Qumaq had some stones in her hands to throw at the dogs but was very afraid. “Iaa iaa a a a!”

  The poor girl started to cry, letting her guard down. Immediately, the dogs descended on what she had been guarding. They fought amongst themselves and devoured almost whole the haunch and shoulder they had torn off. Qumaq wailed, “Mother! Come!”

  Her mother saw her trembling with fright and came running right away. She was now by her side and showering her daughter with affection.

  “Umm! Cry no more, my poor little child... Aalummi!”

  Qalingu also came running to chase the plunderers away. He pitched some stones and the dogs he hit ran off yelping, “Maa maa!” The pillage was over. The shredded pieces of meat no longer mattered much to Qalingu.

  “There’s no point in guarding those two pieces of utjuk anymore. They’ve been bitten into all over!”

  He began to drag the utjuk skin to a stone cache. After stashing it away in the cache, he went home and started eating some boiled chunks of meat for his arrival meal. He dipped them in misiraq.

  The women, meanwhile, were making preparations for a kujapiit feast. On the ground they stretched a mangittaq on which they laid the kujapiit as well as the utjuk heart and some pieces of blubber. Sanaaq shouted to her camp mates, “Come and get some kujapiit!”

  “Yes!” agreed Aqiarulaaq, adding, “but where’s my ulu?”

  “Behind your oil lamp,” replied Jiimialuk.

  “There it is!” she said. “I’m going to get my ulu too and join in the feast!”

  When she entered the tent, Sanaaq said, “Ai! Come and eat some kujapiit. Ai! Qatannguuk!”

  “Go ahead!” she replied.

  Aqiarulaaq tried to cut one of them off, slicing away at the tendons holding them together. This was no easy job, as she admitted good-naturedly. “I’m a big liar because I can’t cut through these joints... Ia ia ia!” she laughed.

  She began to eat, holding a kujapik with blubber in one hand and her ulu in the other. As she ate, Aqiarulaaq talked about her plans.

  “By the way, I’m planning to visit Ningiukuluk tomorrow to adopt her daughter, the middle one... Ningiukuluk once told me in so many words that I could have her... I’ll go tomorrow. We’ll both go, my old man and I.”

  “If you’re going,” replied Arnatuinnaq, “I’ll go too... And I’ll sew something to the soles of my boots. I might wear holes through both of them, while we’re walking tomorrow... Qumaq and I will follow if it doesn’t rain... Little niece! I’ll get what you’ll need for your trip tomorrow. We’ll take something to carry you on my back with and a strap to hold you in place.”

  She was busy sewing patches to her soles and heels... She was soon done. As dusk darkened the sky, large snowflakes started to come down. The freshly fallen snow was wet. Arnatuinnaq exclaimed, “It’s snowing big snowflakes and here I was planning to go on a visit tomorrow... Our things are too close to the side of the tent. They’re going to get ruined!”

  Night had fallen. They undressed for bed and, knowing they had to leave early the next day, went to sleep.

  10

  A DAUGHTER IS ADOPTED

  They awoke with the rising sun, had some tea, and prepared to leave. Aqiarulaaq came in and said, “Qatannguuk ai! I’m going to look for a girl to adopt and I’m not coming back empty-handed.”

  “Good for you!” said Sanaaq. “You’re lucky she was promised to you!”

  They set off, all three of
them. A few dogs tagged along, the same ones. On the way they saw some ukpiit. A male and its mate came very close... One of the two sank its claws into a dog while letting out a shriek.

  “Au!”

  It swooped down on the women several times. They were terrified, not having even a rifle. Seeing it prepare to dive again, they flipped their hoods over their heads... Arnatuinnaq tried her best to hit it with a stone but missed. Qumaq clung to her aunt’s skirt for dear life, so much so that she ripped it off.

  “Qumaq!” exclaimed Arnatuinnaq. “You’ve made a big rip in my skirt by hanging on so tightly! It’s torn to pieces now and we’re almost at our hosts’ place!”

  Just then, the two snowy owls dive-bombed the dogs again. One even stripped some fur off one of them. The Inuit started walking again to get away from the owls. As they walked, Arnatuinnaq said to Aqiarulaaq, “Look at the rip that Qumaq made. When one of the owls went after us, she clung to me for protection, even though I too was very afraid...”

  They came within sight of Ningiukuluk’s home. The oldest of Ningiukuluk’s daughters spotted them and cried out, “Over there I can see people coming. They’ve got a child with them. It’s probably Qumaq!”

  “Ai!” shouted back Ningiukuluk.

  “They’re close. They’re arriving. They’re coming in.”

  Aqiarulaaq entered first and said, “We’re paying a visit, Ningiukuluk! Ai! Let’s shake hands!”

  “Ai! You’ve just got here? Let’s shake hands! Qumaq! And your mother?”

  “She’s at home!”

  All three of her daughters were eager to play with Qumaq. There was Akutsiaq, the oldest, Aanikallak, the younger one, and Tajarak, the youngest.

  “Let’s play, Qumaq!” exclaimed Aanikallak.

  But no sooner had her daughter spoken than Ningiukuluk broke in, “First have something to eat!”

  “Have some of this ai! Qumaq!” said Aanikallak. “Over there, eat some mattaq. Use the knife!”