Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk - Sanaaq - An Inuit Novel

After she was dressed, she stood up on the floor of the igloo. “ Aa! I’m sliding! My boots are really slippery!”

She slid several times, falling on her rump and hurting her behind. She then went out with the chamber pot to empty it. Once outside, she was harassed by the dogs again.

“ Uai! Pack of bums!” Angry, she splashed some urine on one of the dogs and smiled…

Qalingu was getting ready to leave. For the trip, his provisions would be flour, tea, tobacco, and salt. He was also taking some gamy meat and blubber. His travelling companion was Ilaijja, from Ningiukuluk’s family. His companion harnessed the dogs and then tied the load down, the two men helping each other from opposite sides of the sled. They then slid the loops of the dogs’ tuglines onto the nuvviti. After completing their preparations, they entered Qalingu’s igloo for their going-away meal. They ate some gamy meat and frozen meat, dipping it into an old tin full of oil thickened by the cold. They had some tea and were now ready to go. As Arnatuinnaq’s family looked on, they left and called out to the dogs, “ Uit! Hra! ”

The dog team took off down the sloping shoreline to the pack ice. Because of the incline, the sled raced so far ahead of the dogs that one of them was dragged along after the sled’s runners passed over its tugline. The runners hit and crushed another dog, causing serious injury. It began to whimper, “ Maa! Maa! ” Because he was badly hurt, the dog was simply unharnessed. They were leaving on Alliriirtuni, the day when their camp mates used to greet many new arrivals, and heading inland because their families were short of food, even though a little meat remained.

At the camp, Akutsiak paid a visit to Sanaaq’s home in the hope of being offered a bit of gamy meat to eat. She crawled into the igloo and drew her head down completely between her shoulders, after pulling her hood as far as it would go over her head. Qumaq was glad to see her.

“Akutsiak! Let’s play together!”

“In a moment,” she replied. “My hands are very cold!”

Having not eaten, Akutsiak had nothing to heat her body with. She was cold, all the more so because the igloo was not at all warm. There were even frost crystals falling from the ceiling. She drew her head firmly down between her hunched shoulders.

Sanaaq said, “Arnatuinnaq! Feed her some gamy meat from the meat bag in the entranceway… and get her something hot to drink.”

Arnatuinnaq obeyed and went to the entranceway with an iron hook. She pulled out the pieces of meat and put them on a plate, for they were dripping with misiraq. She covered the meat bag with a piece of skin. Even in the entranceway, flecks of frost were falling from the ceiling. She said to Akutsiak, “Eat this gamy meat.”

Akutsiak slipped her arms out from under her atigi and slid them into her sleeves. She grabbed an ulu and began to eat some of the gamy meat. As might be expected, she devoured the food, wolfing it down. She started to cough and choke — “ U u uaq! ” — almost throwing up as she choked. When she finished eating, she said, “Hand towel!”

She wiped her hands and mouth and then began to play with Qumaq. While chattering together, they played who-can-make-the-highest-mark-possible-on-the-ice-window. Qumaq called out, “We’ll make our marks while standing with arms stretched up. Then we’ll make our marks standing on tiptoe. Akutsiak! Because you’re much taller we’ll make our marks while jumping!”

“Sure! Here I go,” answered Akutsiak, who had started jumping. “Go ahead, Qumaq! Match my record!”

“Since I can’t match you,” replied Qumaq, “let me make a mark with a piece of wood!”

“No! Only with our hands!”

Both of them stopped playing. Akutsiak went home to her family. She crawled in and told them how happy she was to have been so well treated.

“I had tea and ate some gamy meat!”

“Good for you!” replied Ningiukuluk. “Since you got some, it’s as if I got some!”

Sanaaq’s baby was beginning to get plump. He started to cry, “ Ungaa! Ungaa! ” Sanaaq wanted to change his diaper and said to her sister, “Housemate! Turn the flame up. The baby has no more dry diapers!”

She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and, because he continued to cry, she stood him up on his little feet.

“Oh! He’s smiling for the first time! Qumaq, look! Your little brother is smiling!”

“Yes! Let me see!” replied her daughter, feeling very affectionate. “Let me take him and have fun with him!” Qumaq was eager to devour her brother with affection. She even ground her teeth and started to act more and more recklessly.

Sanaaq said, “Give me the baby. He could easily get hurt!”

“Not at all. He won’t get hurt!”

“Give him to me. He could bump his head!”

“In a moment! I’ll hold him right!”

As could have been predicted, at that very moment she bumped the baby’s head against the baseboard of the sleeping platform. “ Ungaa! Ungaa! ” he cried, apparently inconsolable because the bump had been a hard one.

Sanaaq acted as if she felt her child’s pain. She seemed to lose all self-control out of affection for her baby.

Qumaq was frightened by her mother and began to ponder things a bit. She had again hurt her little brother while believing herself to be right and her mother wrong. She said to herself, “A while ago, I too bumped myself because I’d do only what I wanted to do, despite being warned by my mother to pay attention… And now here I’ve hurt my little brother, because once again I thought I knew better… Clearly I don’t know more than my mother does. So the next time I’m told to pay attention, I will…”

Qalingu and his hunting companion were travelling, with spring drawing nearer. It was the day of their departure and they now stopped for their daily meal. The wind was blowing about the powder snow that covered the ground and the sky was somewhat hazy on the side from which the wind was blowing. Qalingu’s companion built a windbreak with his snow knife. He dug a hole in the snow, cutting out snow blocks that he laid in a row to break the wind. He then plugged the cracks. Next he untied the case that contained the camp stove and which, placed at the front of the sled, had been his seat for driving the dog team. He set the camp stove behind the windbreak, lit it, and on it placed the teapot, which he filled with snow to get water. He stirred the water constantly, to keep it from getting a burnt taste. Once all the snow had melted, he added a little more snow and then some tea. He and Qalingu got ready then to have their daily meal.

While his companion was busy making tea, Qalingu took a walk and saw two migrating willow ptarmigans in a little willow grove, apparently resting there after having eaten. Qalingu ran back the way he had come as fast as he could. He shouted to Ilaijja, “Bring me my rifle and ammunition! Get them out of the satchel!”

His companion darted off to the sled and then ran back to him, bringing the rifle and ammunition. Qalingu told him, “I just saw some ptarmigans but wasn’t able to shoot at them.”

“ Ai! Will you run out of ammo?” asked his companion.

“No, that should be enough. There are only two of them.”

He went back, keeping his head down to avoid being seen. Then he began to fire: Tikkuu! Too far to the right… He tried again. This time too far to the left. He tried again: Tikkuu! He had hit short of the target and missed the birds… Tikkuu! He had hit beyond the target. All of his ammunition was used up. He could no longer do anything, although he had said there would be enough bullets… He returned to get some more ammunition and said, “They got away on me. I couldn’t get them with the gun!”