Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk - Sanaaq - An Inuit Novel

“Where are they?”

“In the tin can!”

“There aren’t any.”

“Let me see! I’ll look for them.”

“Could these be the ones?” asked Sanaaq.

“Yes! Those are the ones!”

That evening, when they had finished, they undressed for bed. Sanaaq undressed her son and said, “ Ii! His feet are wet because he’s been splashing around… He probably won’t be able to wear his boots tomorrow if the weather doesn’t dry them out… Son, your feet are soaking wet!”

They then went to sleep.

It had rained overnight. Early in the morning, Qalingu awoke and said, “ Autualu! We’re completely flooded! Wake up! The ground’s covered with water!”

They all woke up and hurriedly dressed. With his knife, Qalingu hacked out a channel to drain the water away from the tent. As before, his son was already splashing in the water and, as before, was soon soaking wet.

“ Irq! Autualu! My son fell flat on his stomach in the water. His clothes need to be wrung dry.”

“But what will he wear when it stops raining?” asked Sanaaq. “I was wanting to go fishing for iqaluk. .. Arnatuinnaq ai! We’ll quickly sew him some new clothes. The lake ice should now have lots of holes.”

“It does!”

When the rain stopped, Qalingu left to hunt for uuttuq, taking along his hunting screen. Pools dotted the sheets of land-fast ice and, further out, meltwater covered the pack ice too. He sighted an uuttuq. He crawled to get nearer and killed it. Plugging the wound with a cartridge case, he walked back, dragging his catch behind him. There was a long trail of blood because the seal was bleeding profusely. His family spotted him.

“He’s killed a seal!” shouted Arnatuinnaq. “He’s dragging it behind him. We’ll get some tea ready… Let’s make an arrival meal!”

When he arrived, he said, “I’ve killed a seal ai! Its back has lost some of its fur. All that dragging has left a mark because the ice has sharp edges… It’s not a good idea to drag seals over the ice.”

“Arnatuinnaq!” said Sanaaq. “Remove its small intestine and make some nikku! ”

“Don’t!” said Qalingu, cutting in. “We’ll make a meat bag out of its skin. The skin has no market value, Sanaaq.”

Sanaaq said, “I feel like going iqaluk fishing today. I’ll talk to my qatanngut about it!”

She went to her cousin’s place and entered.

“ Qatannguuk ai! ” said Aqiarulaaq. “Have a seat!”

“No, I’ve only come to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“I want to go fishing for iqaluk today!”

“Let’s go now ai! Will there just be the two of us?”

“No, Arnatuinnaq will come too. We’ll walk, but I’ve got to go and prepare myself ai! ”

“Sure! I’m coming right away.”

Sanaaq prepared a load of everything she would be carrying on her back. Aqiarulaaq prepared her load too. “Since my load is too heavy,” she said, “I’ll carry my teapot in my hands. Let’s go! Let’s start walking.”

“But I’m not ready yet,” said Sanaaq.

“You’re really slow getting yourself ready ai! ” replied her cousin.

They set out on their way and walked for a long while. They then took a rest and cooked outside. Arnatuinnaq, the third one in the group, gathered fuel for a fire. She yanked up heather and small shrubs of black crowberries.

“ Qatannguuk! ” shouted Aqiarulaaq. “Go look for something to put the teapot on. I’m going to build a fireplace!”

They built a support out of stones. Arnatuinnaq went for water, filling the teapot by dunking it. She came back and started cooking. They lit brushwood and stoked the fire continually, in the lee of the wind. The smoke made blowing on the fire bothersome.

“My eyes are all swollen because of the smoke! The cooking’s not coming along right. The water’s hissing, though.”

They had their meal. Sanaaq’s son ate eagerly, completely smearing his face.

“ Nuakuluk! ” chided Arnatuinnaq. “Looks like you’ve bitten somebody to death!”

When she had finished eating and the water was boiling, she added some cold water to the teapot. They then started walking to their fishing ground, which soon came into view. Arnatuinnaq said, “The sole I sewed on has come unstitched and slipped to one side. I’m going to remove it.”

Once they had arrived, they went onto the lake with their fishhooks and bait.

“Is the ice breaking up?” asked Sanaaq.

“No!” said Aqiarulaaq.

The lake had many holes. To fish in them, they jerked their lines with their hands. They were now angling for fish at the ice holes, each angler at her own.

“Listen!” said Sanaaq. “Sounds like a trout!”

They could see straight to the bottom. Aqiarulaaq leaned over for a closer look and immediately saw something.

“An iqaluk! Look at it! But it doesn’t seem to be hungry.”

“ Ii! ” said Sanaaq. “I’ve caught an iqaluk ai! ”

Arnatuinnaq had not had any bites yet. It was now Aqiarulaaq’s turn to catch an iqaluk. When she pulled it in, she tried to remove the hook but the iqaluk was wriggling vigorously.

Sanaaq pulled in a second one from the same hole and said, “This is really fun! I’ve caught another one!”

“Mother!” said her son. “I want to eat the eye! Come on, let me eat the eye!”

Sanaaq removed the eyes. “ Ii! One of them has burst,” she said.

Arnatuinnaq had not caught any iqaluk yet. She went over to Sanaaq, saying, “I’m so envious of those who catch lots of iqaluit! I haven’t caught anything yet, but I’m going to fish here. Move back, let me take your place!”

“Go ahead, take it!”

Arnatuinnaq was angling. Still not getting any nibbles, she said again, “I want to go home. I won’t catch any iqaluk! ”

“Wait a little!” said Aqiarulaaq. “Let’s go over there and leave the iqaluit we’ve caught here!”

Leaving their catches behind, they walked further out and began fishing again. Right away Arnatuinnaq caught a very big iqaluk.

“Look, both of you, at the big iqaluk I’ve caught!”

Her two companions, however, were catching nothing, so they got up to return to their first fishing hole.

“What’s that over there?” said Sanaaq.

“Whereabouts?” asked Arnatuinnaq.

“Those things, over there, like spots?”

“ A-ii! ” said Arnatuinnaq. “Something’s moving about there… What could it possibly be?”

“What could it be, qatannguuk? ” echoed Sanaaq. “Looks like where we left our trout… Those wouldn’t be dogs, would they? Have the trout we caught been eaten? Arnatuinnaq, hurry up and run! Our trout have probably been eaten!”

As they came close, the things flew off.

“They’re gulls!” said Arnatuinnaq. “They’re flying off, filthy creatures! Look at that filthy creature still holding a trout in its beak!”

“Did they take everything?”

Once her companions caught up to her, Arnatuinnaq said, “The trout the two of you caught were all devoured by the gulls. Everything is gone!”

“What a shame!” said Aqiarulaaq. “Gang of gluttons! Big throats! Big throats that gulp down a whole trout without even chewing. Suvakkualuk! ”

“Let’s try fishing a little bit longer, qatannguuk! ” said Sanaaq.

Although they did some more angling, no more fish were caught.

“Let’s go home ai! ” said Sanaaq.