Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk - Sanaaq - An Inuit Novel

Qalingu set off in his qajaq for another tow. Again and again he went back and forth, towing seals killed by his hunting partner. Back on the ice once more, he said, “I was thinking… You said you couldn’t even make out the front sight on your gun anymore, yet you’re still a very good marksman!”

“Sometimes my vision gets better!”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“Do you think I’m not telling the truth?”

The two of them headed to dry land. Their kinfolk were watching from a hilltop. As she climbed the hill with Aqiarulaaq, Sanaaq suddenly shouted, “Look at them! They’ve come quite close… They’re heavily loaded… What could they have possibly killed?”

“I’d say that Qalingu has killed an ujjuk. I’m sure it’s not my old man who killed it!”

With the hunters arriving, the women walked down to the campsite. The hunters had to climb up the shore, having arrived at low tide, and they halted several times because of their heavy load. During these stops the panting dogs pulled on their tuglines.

“ Uit! ” said Qalingu. “The runners on our sled are no longer upright… It’ll really be something if we manage to climb all the way!”

“That’s true!” said Taqriasuk. “Let’s get at it, let’s try to get all the way up!”

By the time their sled finally reached dry land, its runners had become completely skewed and were no longer upright.

“Leave it here ai! ” suggested Qalingu. “I’ll go get my little sled!”

He went to fetch it and arrived at his tent, saying, “I’ve come for a sled. The runners on ours have gone askew!”

“Drink some tea first ai! ” said Sanaaq. “The bannock has just been baked.”

“I’ll just have a drink. My hunting companion must be tired of waiting.”

He then returned to his companion, pulling his little sled behind him.

“I took a while,” he said on arriving. “I was thirsty and wanted to have some tea.”

“I was starting to get really cold after you left!”

They transferred their load to the new sled, which proved to be more suitable. When they arrived at the tents, Aqiarulaaq said to her old man, “I really didn’t think you’d catch so many seals. I thought only Qalingu would get any. But now I’ve completely changed my mind about you!”

“My vision got better,” said Taqriasuk, “so today I hit bang on while Qalingu shot very poorly!”

Qumaq was growing up and for the first time went for a walk alone. She wandered back and forth, walking very fast and gathering uqaujait, sursat, killapat, kakagutit, and all kinds of other plants. Unaccustomed to being alone, she was afraid and easily startled. She soon headed home, collecting willow leaves on the way. She mused, “I feel like gathering plants, but there are many igutsait. So I’ll go home… And so what if my cup isn’t full… That’ll be enough, for I’m very scared of big bumblebees.” She saw another bumblebee and began to run away. “It’s tiny and it still scares me,” she thought. “Yet it’s just a little insect…”

She pretended to be unafraid and tried to feel confident, while heading straight home and giving up on any further gathering. Her brother saw her and came to meet her.

“My little sister’s coming! I must go and meet her. Little sister, let me see the plants you’ve gathered,” he said, approaching Qumaq.

“But there are very few!” said Qumaq.

“I don’t think there are too few! I’ll spit oil on them, to moisten them… Those ones look like bumblebee food or willow catkins.”

“No, there are none of those here. I didn’t gather any bumblebee food, because I was afraid.”

When her brother got home, he went inside and said, “Look, Mother! Arctic willow leaves collected by my sister. Look at all of that! Mother!”

To Sanaaq it did not look like much. “Is that all you gathered? Did you have trouble finding them?”

“No!” said Qumaq. “On the contrary, there were a lot!”

Sanaaq’s son cut off a piece of blubber from an ujjuk in the aki and tried to spit oil from it onto the little willow leaves…

“Son! Your manu is getting stained,” said Sanaaq. “Don’t spit any more oil! There’s enough already. They’re well oiled.”

Oil trickled down his forearm as he ate the leaves. “Take some ai! ” he said when he was done and getting ready to leave again. “Father, make me a little boat!”

“Out of what?” asked Qalingu.

“Out of this piece of wood.”

“Let’s go to it!” said his father, and he set to work making a little boat.

“Use that for the mast. Father! Hurry! I want to go and play with the little boat!”

Qalingu began to hurry.

“Is it done, Father? Give it to me quick!” insisted the child.

As he was about to leave, his father said, “Take care not to fall into the water!”

He played with the little boat, chattering non-stop. “There it goes… It’s going over there… Wait a moment, we’ll first go a bit out to sea… It’s got a heavy load!”

He repeatedly waded into the water, and several times the water came up over the top of his boots. He had been told many times to be careful, yet he went ahead and climbed onto a rock with a very slippery surface. The soles of his soaked boots had meanwhile shifted to one side. Suddenly he slipped and fell into the water… He stayed there a long time, for he was all alone. He wailed and whimpered but could not shout that he had fallen into the water… His parents had no idea what was happening.

“Listen! Does that sound like someone crying?” said Sanaaq, suddenly worried.

Qumaq went out to see.

“It’s crying alright… He’s probably fallen into the water!”

“Out of my way! I’m coming!” shouted Sanaaq as she rushed outside. “ Autualuk! My son has fallen in!” She hurried over and rushed to pull him out. “ Aalummi! Did you slip, little one? Come! From now on, you’ll no longer play all by yourself with the little boat! My son fell into the water! He got out just in the nick of time… We didn’t know what was happening for quite a while!”

She carried the boy, who was weeping and dripping with water, so much so that she got all wet too. She took him home, pulled his boots off, removed his clothes, and put other ones on.

“Keep your boots off for a while. Your boots are soaking wet and need to be dried.”

She left him bootless on purpose, for fear he would fall again into the water. He said, “Mother! I want to put my boots on.”

“Later! Wait for them to dry. You’re being really unreasonable! Remember, you just fell into the water!”

He would not let up, so his mother lay down beside him on the sleeping platform until he fell asleep.

Qumaq went to wash the clothes that her little brother was wearing when he fell into the water. Akutsiak came with her.

“Let’s wash here,” suggested Qumaq.

“Yes, let’s! But I’ll be clumsy like before… I’ll never manage to get the dirt out and I’ll be slow.”

“No wonder. You’re always taking a break from your work!” said Qumaq.

On hearing this, Akutsiaq went home to tell her mother how she had been offended. She simply left her wash behind, because she felt so humiliated.

“Mother! I’m home because Qumaq has been very mean to me!”

She voiced her discontent by telling lies. She felt badly treated although what she had been told was merely the truth.

“ Suvakkualuk! ” exclaimed Ningiukuluk. “Let me handle this. I’ll find her… Qumaq! Why did you tell my daughter off again?”