Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk - Sanaaq - An Inuit Novel

“ Maa maa maa! ” whimpered the pups as they scampered away.

The women had finished sewing. The entire team would now fasten the covering of skin to the frame. While the men rinsed the stitched skins in the sea, Taqriasuk daubed the qajaq frame with oil to make it slippery, using a piece of sealskin. The men then came back and the women began stretching the skin over the frame. Meanwhile, Jiimialuk was preparing boiled meat in a large pot and filling it with whatever could go in. As he cut the meat into morsels, he said, “I’ll set up a windbreak because the wind is blowing hard and the meat is really going to take too long to cook.”

He erected a windbreak using a large mangittaq of old qajaq skins. He could now go ahead with the cooking… The flames were already high. When the meat morsels began to boil, he turned them over with a long metal pick. But as he was turning them over, he splashed himself in the face with the boiling hot water. He screamed, “Aatataa! I’ve scalded myself something awful… My eye has been burned open! Aa! Aatataa! All I’ve got is my left eye now… There’s fluid spilling out of my burned eyeball. It’s stinging really bad.”

“ Ii! ” exclaimed Aqiarulaaq. “My son has lost an eye. His eye is wide open. It’s been burned open by boiling liquid! Who will provide for us now that our only provider has lost an eye?”

“Mother! I’m probably going to die. My eye was burned open when the boiled meat I was preparing was almost done. I’ve lost my lens… Ii! There it is, a tiny little lens! Look! That used to be my lens! But what’s to be done with it now? It may end up being eaten by the dogs…”

They knew nothing about the existence of doctors or even big ships. When the women working on the qajaq had finished their work, they got down to eating some of the boiled meat.

“Come and have some boiled meat!” shouted Sanaaq to her companions. “Have some!”

“I will!” answered Aqiarulaaq, “but my son can no longer have any. He’s burned himself very badly… Look at this. It used to be his lens!”

“ Ii! Autualu! ” said Sanaaq.

Qumaq was beside her. She saw the lens and, still not knowing many things about life, said, “Mother, I want to eat that eye!”

“ Ii! It’s just not done. You can’t eat an eye like that. It’s a man’s eye. It was your little cousin’s. It was his eye!”

“I want it! Give it to me!”

“But I told you it was a man’s eye! It is said that the eyes of people who eat human flesh turn completely white… We’ll throw it away because your eyes would turn white.”

“Yes!” said Qumaq, who seemed to understand.

Night had fallen. They undressed for bed. Jiimialuk soaked a cloth compress in water and placed it over his eye. Unable to fall asleep, he tossed and turned because of his burn. Everyone else went to sleep, leaving him alone with his pain.

While they slept, at daybreak, a very large boat arrived. Arnatuinnaq was taken aback when she left the tent that morning. It was the first time she had ever seen such a thing. She shouted to her kinfolk, “Ilakka! Wake up! What’s this thing standing still in front of us?”

Just as her last words trailed off, the ship made a loud booming sound and, coming nearer and nearer, made several more. The strange sight filled everyone with fear, and they made frenzied efforts to hide behind tent covers. Some, like Arnatuinnaq and Qumaq, even began to cry. Finally, a large outboard full of Qallunaat headed to shore. These beings were clearly human, and the camp’s inhabitants, though still surprised, were no longer afraid. The Qallunaat had come to visit.

Once they were ashore, Aqiarulaaq shouted to the Big Eyebrows, “ Ai! ”

They failed to understand, not making the slightest response. They began to talk among themselves. The Inuit were astonished to hear them speak and greatly appreciated the many gifts that they handed out, even the empty tin cans.

Sanaaq left to go visiting. She had heard about the Qallunaat and told everyone, “People say the Big Eyebrows are really nice! Don’t be afraid. It’s even said that they have doctors.”

Qumaq was not at all intimidated by the Qallunaat. They were soon well liked because of all the gifts they handed out.

The Qallunaat went back to their big boat, to get things ready for moving ashore. Once they were inside, a loud clanging and banging could be heard. The Inuit were filled with astonishment and cried out, “Listen to that! There’s an awful racket going on!”

“You said it!” said Aqiarulaaq. “But what can they be up to? Look over there, that little boat is full of stuff!”

The outboard landed on the shore again and the Inuit went to meet the newcomers, who began unloading large wooden crates. The Inuit watched with amazement.

“It’ll be nice to have them in our country,” said Sanaaq. “There’ll now be Big Eyebrows here!”

Jiimialuk hardly felt any pain in his eye anymore. He accompanied those who welcomed the newcomers. He shouted, “Isn’t it great that the pain has almost gone from my eye?” He even began to sing, “ Laa laa laa. Isn’t it just great? What does it matter that I’m now one-eyed? Who cares, the pain’s going away!”

The newcomers continued to unload. They picked things up and laid them on the shore while the others worked at building a large house.

Qalingu had returned from hunting in his qajaq. His sister-in-law, Arnatuinnaq, and his stepdaughter, Qumaq, came to meet him by the shore. His load was a very heavy one: an utjuk and also two natsiik that he had killed. Arnatuinnaq hauled the qajaq out of the water by pulling on its usuujaq. She was dragging it by the bow to dry land.

Seeing her pull it all by herself, Qalingu spoke up. “Hold on! It’s really loaded… I’ll get out first. I’ve just killed an ujjuk! I had to chase it a long time before I finally caught it. It came up for air. I fired and shot it. It was wounded so I had to keep chasing and whenever it broke the surface I shouted ‘ ua! ua! ’ while firing my rifle. Tikkuu! That made it dive. I paddled ahead as fast as I could while it was still under water. And when it reappeared at the surface, I kept on yelling and trying to make it dive again right away. After a while it was running out of breath and coming to the surface more often. I got closer and closer. I fired and finally shot it again when it was just alongside. It almost sank, but its back rose to the surface twice and I rushed ahead to grab it before it could sink.”

Qalingu had finished his story. The two began to carry part of the animal away, each taking a chunk of meat they had carved off. Their folks, Sanaaq and Aqiarulaaq, came to help. When all four were together, Sanaaq said, “ Qatannguuk ai! Once we’re done carrying all of this away, we’ll have a feast with the kujapiit of the utjuk. ”

They hauled the meat away two by two. The qatannguuk were carrying off a haunch between the two of them, chatting all the while. Sanaaq said, “ Qatannguuk! Let’s take a break. I’m really tired.”

“Yes,” said Aqiarulaaq. “But let’s rest up there ai! Where there’s no sand!”

“Sure! I’m really tired… i i i i. ” She burst into laughter. “Don’t you think I’m tired? Just look: my hand has gone all white… Let’s go! Time to get back to work. We’ve almost reached our tent.”