Sanaaq Read online

  13

  ARNATUINNAQ CATCHES HER FIRST GULL

  The sea had not completely frozen over yet. This provided Arnatuinnaq with a chance to hunt gulls on the water with an ii. She recited the following charm: “My ii, my ii, swallow it, make a mouthful of it, stuff your beak with it, even if you have begun to spit it out! Stick into the inside of its throat, stick into it!”

  This is what the Inuit recite when they hunt gulls with an ii. They say they want to make it swallow the ii.

  “I got a big gull to swallow the ii!” said Arnatuinnaq to herself. “Several times it tried to fly away, but it was firmly hooked to my ii!”

  Here is how an ii is used. It is set down on the foreshore and attached to a long line anchored by a stone. A little piece of wood will keep it afloat and the hook is a metal nail smeared with blubber.

  Arnatuinnaq headed to the big gull and took it back to shore. When she came home, Sanaaq said to her, “Arnatuinnaq! Is it really the first gull you’ve caught?”

  “Yes! It’s the first gull I’ve caught!”

  Sanaaq exclaimed, “We’ll quarter it! Let’s go!”

  Qalingu went outside holding the gull in his hand and shouting to his camp mates, “Come and quarter!”

  “Yes, we’re coming right away!” replied Aqiarulaaq.

  And she added, speaking to her old man, “He’s asking that we come and quarter!”

  “Yes, with great pleasure!” answered Taqriasuk

  All the people were outside and they began to quarter the bird: Taqriasuk and Jiimialuk each held down one of its feet, Aqiarulaaq grabbed a wing and Sanaaq the other wing, Qalingu held its tail, and Arnatuinnaq its head. Arnatuinnaq shouted, “Let’s go! Everyone pull on our side! This is really fun! i i i i i! But I haven’t got anything! It’s a really tough one to quarter, i i i!”

  All the participants laughed heartily. Taqriasuk, the oldest of the group, got a foot and started to eat it raw while boasting, “I’m eating raw foot... uumm! Is it ever good!”

  But no sooner had he eaten some of it than he felt sickened by the gull’s taste and began to throw up uncontrollably.

  “Ua! ua! Ua! ua! Water! I really feel sick to my stomach... I threw up something that’s got an awful gull taste... It’s really not meant to be eaten raw!”

  Once they were done, the participants went home and undressed for bed.

  At that moment Ningiukuluk’s family arrived within view of the camp, having been overtaken by nightfall during their move to the campsite.

  In her tent, Aqiarulaaq was scolding her adopted child, Aanikallak, who, though already a big girl, frequently wet her bed and still had fleas. “Aanikallak! Undress for bed and, since you often wet your bed, take this dog skin to put under yourself!”

  They all undressed for bed. As they were falling asleep, their dogs began to howl in the black night, “Muu, muu, miuu, miuu!”… disturbed as they were by the arrival of strangers. Ningiukuluk’s family was approaching. Qalingu heard something and said, “Listen! There are dogs barking loudly. Sounds like harnessed dogs pulling on their lines!”

  The members of Ningiukuluk’s family were pitching camp in the dead of night. They were erecting their tent, for the snow had melted in spots following a rise in temperature. Ningiukuluk said, “The moon is bright! Let’s put the tent up quickly. We’ll get our things in order tomorrow at daylight!”

  Akutsiak and her younger sister were shivering with cold, having travelled at night. After raising the tent, they took their things in. Irsutualuk, their old man, was there too. They unharnessed their dogs, settled in, and undressed for bed, but not before having the tea they had made over a small fireplace for want of a camp stove.

  At daylight, they were visited by Aqiarulaaq, who exclaimed, “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you come and have an arrival meal? You arrived without my even noticing!”

  “We refrained from having one so as not to wake you up!” answered Ningiukuluk.

  Meanwhile, everyone having left Aqiarulaaq’s tent, it was now being invaded by the dogs.

  “Listen!” said Aqiarulaaq. “Sounds like the dogs have gone into someone’s tent... Yes! It’s mine they’ve gone into! Our home is full of dogs!” She chased the plunderers away. “Uuit! Pack of no-good mutts!”

  She hit the dogs with a stick, seriously hurting one of them in the spine, one of Irsutualuk’s dogs. She was very embarrassed about the injury and did not dare talk about it. Irsutualuk went to Aqiarulaaq’s place in a fit of anger.

  “Who hurt our dog? Our only good dog… Someone had better get me another one! Were you the one who hurt it?”

  “I hurt it, but not on purpose, when I was chasing away the dogs that had invaded my home!”

  14

  FROM TENT TO IGLOO

  Qalingu, Taqriasuk, and Irsutualuk were going to move from a tent to an igloo. It was very cold and they were going to look for good snow, near the foot of the hill. They each had their snow knife. Qalingu said, “The foot of the hill, up there, often has lots of snow!”

  “Yes,” replied Taqriasuk, “but I’ll probably have trouble building an igloo because of my advanced age, and because Jiimialuk, my son, hurt himself while fetching some bear meat... He got thrown onto a big stone, his behind is all swollen!”

  The snow was indeed very good and they began to cut a large number of snow blocks to build their igloos. Qalingu did not feel cold at all while cutting the blocks out. Once enough had been cut, he laid the first circle of blocks for the base. He plugged the outside cracks and packed snow around the base to keep the blocks from sliding or turning. Once the base was done, he cut new blocks out and laid the spiral of the snow dome. He then took a break from work to have some tea at home. To get out of the igloo under construction, he made an opening in the wall and emerged covered with snow. He told his companions, “I’m taking off for a short while to have some tea and to get a box that I’ll use as a stepladder. I can no longer reach the top of my igloo.”

  “Makes sense,” said Taqriasuk, “but I haven’t finished the base yet.”

  “I’ll go for some tea, too,” said Irsutualuk. “I’m really thirsty!”

  They went to join their wives, at home minding the tents. Qumaq, who was often darting in and out, spotted them. “Aa! My ataataksaq is coming! I’ll go meet him!”

  She ran to him and Qalingu called to her, “Are you coming to meet me? Watch out for the dogs!”

  Qalingu walked into the tent. Arnatuinnaq was trying to light the stove. She added some fuel, which she ignited after spitting a mouthful of oil onto it. She then started to heat some tea. Qalingu was eating half-frozen meat that he had taken from the aki. Dipping it in rancid seal oil that tasted a bit piquant, he exclaimed, “This misiraq is really good. It’s got a fairly sharp taste because it’s rancid. Iirq! We’ll soon be able to start moving!”

  When he had finished eating, he said, “Hand towel!”

  Sanaaq poured him some tea, saying, “The bannock to be used for our moving-out meal is completely frozen. Arnatuinnaq! You’ll make bannock while I go and pack the snow by trampling it.”

  “Yes!” said Arnatuinnaq.

  Qalingu left again for his igloo under construction. For use as a stepladder, he took along the case that he usually kept his camp stove in.

  Arnatuinnaq was getting ready to make bannock. “Flour!” she called out. “And also baking powder!” After adding baking powder, she scooped out a hole in the middle of the flour and spat oil into it. The cold, however, had congealed the oil, making it painful to sink her teeth into. Even her mouth felt the freezing pain. “Aatataa!” she shrieked. “My mouth has been burned by the cold!”

  After spitting the oil, she went for salt water on the foreshore and told Qumaq, “Qumaq ai! Mind the tent for a moment. I’m going to get a dipper-full of salt water!” She went to fetch some water and began to draw it. “Ii!
It’s full of kinguit. Nothing but scuds!”

  Qumaq was calling for her, and weeping. “Come! Hurry! A a a!”

  Arnatuinnaq came, bringing not only salt water but also qiqruat because she felt like eating. Now home, she laughed and poked fun at Qumaq.

  “Qumaq ai! iii! Have you been crying again?”

  “It’s because you were taking so long to come!” answered Qumaq.

  Arnatuinnaq was hard at work making dough. She used an ulu to cut a piece of blubber from the aki. She crushed it with her teeth and spat the oil out. Qumaq, who was beside her, took the remaining bits of blubber and, in turn, tried to extract oil from them with her teeth. But in the process she completely stained her manu with oil. Arnatuinnaq shouted at her, “Ii! Qumaq! Don’t spit oil. You’re dribbling a lot of it away. Your manu is all stained with oil now!”

  When Arnatuinnaq had finished spitting oil, she poured a little salt water into the flour and kneaded her dough. She said, “Bring me a bit more flour. I’ve put in too much water!”

  As soon as the flour was added, she kneaded the dough and made it consistent. She then adjusted the flame of the oil lamp with a tarquti cut from a dwarf willow branch. She started to bake the bannock for their moving-out meal. She turned it over and flattened it several times.

  Now, back to the igloo builders. The domes were almost done. With the top of her igloo almost completed, Sanaaq, who was on the outside, shouted, “I can no longer reach the top! To plug the holes I’ll have to climb up on top!” She tried to clamber on top. “Ii! I’m slipping… I’m scared!”

  On the inside, Qalingu had now finished building the dome. He installed the igliti and built the aki with snow blocks. He next made an opening in the kilu. Sanaaq could now get in to trample and pack the snow while Qalingu brought in the snow blocks needed inside. Sanaaq cut them into thin slices with her knife. From the outside, Qalingu shouted towards the interior, “Is it packed?”

  “Just about! It’s almost ready!” answered Sanaaq.

  Qalingu crawled in and helped her flatten the sleeping platform’s surface properly. The two of them packed the snow with their feet. Finally, when it was well packed, they crawled out and Qalingu plugged the opening with a snow block. They headed back to their tent, to prepare for the move.

  “The wind’s blowing the powder snow, up there on the hilltop!” said Sanaaq. “Good thing we’re ready to move into the igloo!”

  They both arrived home. Qalingu told Qumaq, “Qumaq ai! We’re going to move. The igloo is finished!”

  And so they busied themselves with moving. Sanaaq and Arnatuinnaq, the two women of the family, would put the belongings into bags. Sanaaq said, “Arnatuinnaq! Let’s get all the stuff together. Just roll the fur bedspreads up and bag any odds and ends you find around the bed.”

  They filled the bags while Qalingu took the full ones out and loaded them onto the sled. Arnatuinnaq hurried to get everything packed. She would say, “Uuppaa! Uuppaa!” while filling a bag and stuffing it with all her might. Because the door remained open for Qalingu to take the baggage out, the dogs came in and rooted around everywhere. Sanaaq shouted, “Uit! Pack of good-for-nothings! A piece of wood to hit them with! Those bums! They’ve invaded our tent!”

  She hit one dog and it began to whimper, “Maa maa!” Qumaq, for her part, was very happy to be in the midst of these preparations. She put on her mittens and a scarf while singing softly, “Taka taka taka! I’m so happy! Mother, let’s go riding off on the sled!”

  “Yes, we’re going to leave!” said Sanaaq.

  When all the pieces of baggage had been taken out, Sanaaq and Qalingu lashed them solidly with leather straps to the sled while Arnatuinnaq went to harness the dogs. “Hau! Hau! Hau!” she called to them. They came running to be harnessed. Arnatuinnaq slid each dog’s head through the neck of a harness, and its forelegs through the shoulder straps. She then slipped the loops of their tuglines onto the nuvviti. They were now set to go. Qalingu ordered a rightward turn by shouting, “Uit uit! Auk!” When all the dogs had fully stretched their lines, Qalingu rearranged the ones that were poorly placed, and the dog team was on its way and soon pushing ahead at a good speed. Sanaaq and Qumaq were on foot. Sanaaq told her daughter, “Daughter! Let’s walk hand in hand.”

  “Yes, yes, yes, Mother! Give me your hand!”

  They kept walking and soon arrived at their future snow house. Meanwhile, the dog team was climbing uphill slowly, with the help of Arnatuinnaq, who pulled on the nuvviti. Sanaaq turned around, walking back to the dog team and calling her dog, “Hau Hau! Kajualuk! Hau!”

  Qalingu pushed the sled to the igloo. They could now move in. Arnatuinnaq, Sanaaq, and Qumaq crawled into the igloo through the kilu opening and Qalingu handed them the pieces of baggage. Arnatuinnaq took them while Sanaaq set them down inside. On the sleeping platform she laid the dwarf-birch mats and fur mattresses, leaving the fur bedspreads in their bags. Now that he had finished bringing everything in, Qalingu closed the kilu opening completely. He said, “I’m plugging it because I’m going to make an entranceway.”

  “Plug it!” replied Sanaaq.

  She now began to install the paugusiit. With a knife, she made a hole in the wall of the igloo and said, “Pass me something to hit with. Something I can use as a hammer. Even a simple piece of wood.”

  She pounded away. Tak tak! Once the first paugusiq had been driven in, she made a second hole with the snow knife and inserted another rod, which she likewise hammered in. Next, she installed the vertical supporting post, also called a paugusiq. As soon as it was secure, she attached the first two rods to it and hung a strap from this rack with a hook at the end for the cooking pot. Finally, underneath, she placed her oil lamp. It was set on a base consisting of four wooden rods stuck into a piece of board. An old tin can would collect any oil dribbling down from the lamp. She also installed a shelf and tidied up her ungati. This being done, she filled the lamp with oil from the blubber pieces crushed by Arnatuinnaq and lit it after adding some moss as a wick. Once the lamp was lit, she adjusted the flame with her wooden poker. She then said to her daughter, “Qumaq! Bring the drying rack in because I’m going to be melting snow for tea... Arnatuinnaq! Put some snow to be melted ai! And my lamp will tend to smoke because it burns seal oil and that kind of oil won’t heat well.”

  Qalingu was building the entranceway. He asked the people inside, “Is there any tea?”

  “No,” answered Arnatuinnaq. “It’s not boiling yet because it’s snow that had to melt... It’s already melted though!”

  She made tea despite the lack of water. Outside, night was falling and little Qumaq was having fun sliding. She was sliding with Aanikallak. Just then, Qumaq tumbled into the hole where the snow blocks had been cut out. She began to wail, “Aatataa! Ataa!” And she began to weep.

  Aanikallak took her by the hand and led the girl to her mother’s home, saying, “Qumaq! I’m going to lead you to your mother’s place because you’ve hurt yourself, poor little girl... Cry no more, little one! Let me make you aappuu!”

  “Aatataa! Ataa!” continued Qumaq, louder than ever.

  The two of them entered.

  “Ii! What’s wrong with you?” exclaimed her mother.

  Aanikallak recounted what had happened. “While sliding down the hill, she tumbled into the hole where the snow blocks were cut out.”

  “Ii!” said Sanaaq. “Ii! Aiguuq! Come quick! She’s really hurt herself... Her head is all swollen! She must have hit her head on her little sled!”

  Having finished the dome for the entranceway, without having taken time to plug the cracks, Qalingu immediately rushed in and said, “Ii! Autualu! But what did she do that with?”

  “She says she banged her head on her little sled!” answered Sanaaq.

  “Is it serious?”

  Aanikallak went home to tell what had happened. She told her adoptive mother, “Mother
! Little Qumaq had a nasty tumble while sliding!”

  Aqiarulaaq, thus alerted, ran over to Sanaaq’s place. She entered, saying, “Ii! Autualu! Did she hurt herself very badly?”

  “She doesn’t really appear to be very hurt,” answered Sanaaq. “But she’s got a bump and bruises on her head!”

  Qalingu ran to the trading post to ask the White employees for help. They were the only Whites around. He told them, “There’s someone at our place who’s hurt! I’ve come looking for an ointment to treat her with.”

  The chief factor answered, “I’ll come. I’ll go see her.”

  They left together but the White man felt very cold coming over. He was blue from cold when he came in, his face completely numb. Sanaaq saw him and said, “Poor thing! He’s completely frozen! Even his face has been numbed by the cold... Arnatuinnaq! Give him something really hot to warm him up. He’s been chilled through and through.”

  Arnatuinnaq poured him some tea and offered it. “Here you are ai!” she told him.

  He declined and began to rub Qumaq with an ointment. Qumaq did not wish to cooperate.

  “A! A! No! No! Aa!” she screamed, weeping.

  “Don’t cry!” said her mother. “You’ll be healed fast!”

  “Yes,” said Qumaq.

  After rubbing the ointment onto her, the chief factor went home. He stumbled many times because night had fallen. He continually bumped into hummocks of snow, tripping again and again. He even fell into hollows several times. And then, with all his stumbling, the dogs came yelping from behind. “Muu! Muu! Muu!” He tried to fend them off by throwing snow at them but, although they would slip away, they always came back. He finally arrived home and staggered in completely out of breath. “A a a” — this was the sound of his breathing, after keeping the dogs at bay.

  Everyone in the snow house went to bed now, and to sleep. But because their dwelling let in more light than the tent had, and because the howling of the wind was harder to hear, Qalingu and his family had trouble falling asleep. During the night, holes began to form in the wall behind each of the two drying racks and, while everyone slept, the holes grew larger.