Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk - Sanaaq - An Inuit Novel

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.

The people in the snow house awoke and had breakfast. They were short of bannock and had to make do with tea. But this just made Arnatuinnaq and Sanaaq feel sick because they were not used to doing without solid food in the morning. Qumaq began to weep and wail, “ Apaapa! Something to eat! Mother! Apaapa! ”

“Don’t cry,” said Sanaaq. “There’s nothing. You’ll get some later.”

Arnatuinnaq stayed in bed under the covers, for the tea made her feel nauseous. She cried out, “ Irq! I’m about to throw up! Pass me the chamber pot! I’m about to throw up! Ua! Ua! ”

Qalingu very much felt like laughing. He passed her the qurvik, saying, “Here’s the qurvik! ” He began to laugh. “ I i i! ”

Arnatuinnaq decided to get dressed and said, “I’m getting dressed for fear of the cold. I’m less and less inclined to move around… I can no longer put my boots on. They’re frozen stiff! I’ll let them thaw out first on the drying rack.”

Because many holes had formed in the snow wall overnight, Qalingu got to work plugging them from the outside. Meanwhile, Sanaaq was laying out a sealskin, to be traded at the trading post, to catch any bits of falling snow. Qalingu asked from the outside, “Have you laid down something to protect against the bits of snow?”

“Yes, go ahead!” answered Sanaaq.

Qalingu cut out some pieces of hard snow, for use as plugs. He asked, “Where should they go?”

“Put one of them a bit lower,” said Sanaaq. “That’s enough. Irq! You brought down quite a few bits of snow! Over here too! But it’s not a hole. It’s a cavity made by the heat… Will you plug it? Wait a little and let me pierce it!”

“Yes, there it is! Go ahead! Lay down the protection against the bits of snow!”

“You can plug it,” replied Sanaaq. “It’s protected on my side!”

Qalingu came in to examine the wall and said, “ Ii! Autualu! There sure are a lot of cavities from the heat. They can’t be seen from the outside.”

“Leave them be!” said Sanaaq.

Qalingu and Jiimialuk wanted to go hunting on the fresh sea ice. Jiimialuk went to the home of Qalingu, who told him, “ Ai! Jiimialuk ai! Let’s get ready!”

“The ice looks dangerous to me!”

“It should be safe enough to walk on. It was very cold overnight.”

The two headed out to the new sea ice. They were carrying their rifles, tied to their backs with ipiraq. In their hands were their cutting knives and harpoons. They waited for the tide to go out, the water having risen very high and partly covering the ice. Now they tried to make their way to the pack ice.