Sanaaq (8 page)

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.

“We could get there by this small point of land,” said Qalingu
.

“That's right. Let's go
ai!
”

“OK!”

They walked out to the pack ice, which the ebbing waters had left fairly high and dry. In places, however, the sea was still partly open with cakes of floating ice. They crossed these cakes while talking.

“There are a lot of ice cakes,” said Qalingu, “and they're separated from each other. Hope we don't fall in!”

“I'm scared,” answered Jiimialuk. “I want to go back to dry land. I'm scared! I'm scared! There I go, I'm starting to fall into the water! I'm telling the truth. I want to go home!”

Qalingu smiled to hear such words from his companion, who really was very afraid. But Jiimialuk persisted in wanting to turn back and said, “Let's go home!”

“Why?” retorted Qalingu. “We'll get to the solid pack ice by steering the floating ice cake we're on now!” He took the opportunity to lecture him. “Jiimialuk! You must always remember that you are a hunter and that at all times you will face danger and live through unpleasant moments. You should act in such a way that your loved ones will never suffer from hunger and you should think more about them than about yourself. You should never sit still and do nothing when an opportunity comes to provide for their needs,
ai!
”

Jiimialuk complied. They began to steer the ice cake, a tiny floating slab, by rowing with their harpoons. They navigated their way to the pack ice, even though the slab tipped dangerously back and forth. Jiimialuk could no longer hold back his fear and panicked.

“I'm scared! I'm scared! We're capsizing! I'm falling in! I'm telling the truth, the honest truth!”

“You really think so? You're telling me the truth? What a fearful person you are!”

They finally made it to the solid pack ice and began walking on it to small stretches of open water. When they got to one, they several times saw
puiji.
Jiimialuk shouted, “
Ai!
Look! A
puiji!
”

But the animal would not let itself be easily approached and, after Jiimialuk whistled at it several times, it quickly slipped away. They soon saw another one, not at all shy, which began to swim in their direction upon seeing them. It even came quite close. Qalingu fired a bullet into the animal but failed to kill it.

“
Ii!
I didn't kill it! I just hit it. It's lightly wounded... I'll try to get to wherever it's swimming to!”

He went to where his prey, pushed by the wind, would land. He stayed put, immobile, and waited. Then he fired once more but missed again, and the seal simply swam away. Although they saw many
puiji,
they failed to kill any. It was now late in the day, and they were both hungry.

Just then Jiimialuk again saw a
puiji
in a small stretch of open water. He whistled at it several times, and suddenly the seal headed toward him, coming very close. Jiimialuk grabbed his rifle, aimed, and fired.
Tikkuu!
He killed it. Being quite far from his companion, he started thinking, “
Aa!
My stomach is just aching... As soon as the animal gets to the edge of the ice, I'll eat it, for my stomach is really growling. I'm hungry for seal meat.”

He began shouting and waving to his faraway companion. “Come quick! I've killed a seal. It's floating!”

Qalingu came hurrying over. When he arrived, he said, “I never did get the one I wounded! You really ought to be thanked for killing one that floats... But it doesn't look like it's coming to the edge... I'll steer an ice cake over there and fetch it!”

“But it does look like it's getting closer,” replied Jiimialuk
.

“
Ai
!
Never mind,
ai!
We'll try to catch it by tossing a weighted line.”

“It's floated to the edge! I'll get it,” said Jiimialuk
.

The animal had indeed come closer but was stuck against a few small pieces of floating ice, and Jiimialuk was unable to grab hold. He nonetheless tried to reach it by stretching his arm further and further. Then he cried out, “
Ii!
I'm falling in!”

Trying to grab his prey, Jiimialuk
had fallen into the sea. Qalingu rushed over. He saw a Jiimialuk's head poke out of the water, then disappear and, despite his efforts to look under the ice, saw nothing more... His companion had been swept under the ice by a strong current and was gone... Yet Jiimialuk's seal was still afloat. Qalingu caught it. The one who had killed it had drowned, the very man who had said he would eat the seal…

Qalingu was now all alone on the ice, with night falling and his companion dead. He had to go home and Jiimialuk's seal had to be dragged there. To do this, he tied a leather strap to one of its rear flippers as well as to its lower jaw, by means of a slipknot. He set off, obsessed by the memory of his drowned companion. He was very unhappy thinking about the man's kinfolk, whom he would have to tell the news. The prospect filled him with some apprehension. He thought, “I'll soon arrive alone... Our companions still think that Jiimialuk is out hunting... They'll be very unhappy about Aqiarulaaq's only son dying while still young... He was saying not long ago he was going to eat, not thinking that death was close at hand... He had no idea he was going to die…”

Qalingu stood still a long moment, as if in a daze, thinking, “And what about me, when will I die? I have no idea! And Jiimialuk, where has he gone? If he's gone to
kappianartuvik,
it'd be because death had taken him unexpectedly, but if he's been sent to
quvianartuvik,
he'll already be very happy... And what about me, what will become of me? I too will die like him, even though it doesn't seem like I'll be dying soon... Death may take me by surprise the same way...”

Such were Qalingu's thoughts as he plodded home. Even though he had not been instructed yet about Christianity, he could still ponder these matters.

Back home, their folks were hoping to see the two arrive soon. Night having fallen, nothing more could be seen. They listened keenly for the sound of footsteps. Arnatuinnaq, after going out to listen, entered the igloo of Aqiarulaaq, who asked her, “Have you heard anything yet?”

“No! I haven't heard anything!”

It was a time of night when one trips while walking, for the moon had not yet appeared in the sky. It was a time of year when the moon was taking longer and longer to show itself. Arnatuinnaq, who had gone out again, heard a voice, crying from afar. As soon as she heard it, she ran inside and cried out, “Listen, there's shouting from far away!”

All the members of Aqiarulaaq's family went outside, that late autumn night, and heard the voice crying from afar. They did not understand the words because of the wind. Aqiarulaaq hurried over to the homes of her camp mates and shouted, “Sanaaq! We hear a voice! It sounds like the voice of someone in despair!”

They rushed out as the moon gradually rose over the horizon.

“
Ii!
Listen!” said Sanaaq. “But what can he be saying? Arnatuinnaq! Go out to them, and take Maatiusi
with you. Little Qumaq is asleep, so she can be left alone.”

The two went to meet the hunters. But Qalingu was alone. When they reached him, he told them, “
Ajurnamat!
I'm by myself because my companion fell into the water. I couldn't do anything to help because of a powerful sea current!”

“
Ai!
” said
Arnatuinnaq.

Two of them got to work dragging the seal across the land-fast ice and arrived almost at the shore. Arnatuinnaq was trying her hardest.

“
Uuppaa!
Uuppaa!
... I've just stepped into a big hole!”

They finally arrived at camp and were joined by Aqiarulaaq's and Sanaaq's families, to whom they told the sad news about the death of Aqiarulaaq's only son. When Aqiarulaaq learned the news straight from her brother Qalingu, she was horrified, for she would never even see her son's remains. She went back to her home in tears. Once inside, she told her old man, “I've just learned about my son's death. I was told the news of his death!”

“
Suvakkualuk!
” said Taqriasuk
.
“He was taken away unexpectedly. He died very young, while really trying to tackle the risks of life!”

The little girl and her adoptive parents were now the only three left in their snow house: Aqiarulaaq, Taqriasuk, and Aanikallak. It would be the last time that their igloo would receive a seal killed by Jiimialuk.

During this time, Qalingu and his family were together in their snow house. Qumaq had awoken during the evening. She was starting to grow up now but did not have the slightest inkling that they had lost a family member. She spoke up, “Mother, let's both go to Grandmother's place!”

“We'll go tomorrow. It's getting late.”

They undressed for bed. Sanaaq exclaimed, “
Ii!
Water's dripping on the bed! It's dripping there... Is it ever! Frost crystals will also be falling... Pass me an ulu
with something to put those dripping knobs of ice in!”

Arnatuinnaq gave her an ulu and a plate for the broken icy knobs dripping with water... This was the sound they made as they fell down:
Tak tak!
Sanaaq
added, “
Ii!
It's also dribbling on the
kilu
down there. That's been happening without making the slightest sound. There's already a small pool! Put a pad of snow here. It doesn't seem that cutting those icy knobs off has changed much!”

She put a pad of snow under the dripping knob of ice.

Arnatuinnaq was busy drying Qalingu's boots. They were waterproof, made of dehaired sealskin, for use at sea. She removed the boot socks and softened the soles with a
kiliutaq.
After softening the soles and removing the stockings and boot socks, she turned the socks inside out and hung them on the drying rack, saying, “I'm going to fill my oil lamp with oil residues because we'll soon be short of fuel… But with oil residues, we might not get much of a flame and it will flicker without good fuel, or even go out… And we'll no longer be able to dry any boots!”

They now tried to sleep and, as predicted, the oil lamp went out, because it had been filled with oil residues.

Sanaaq and her entire family awoke the next morning, at daybreak. As soon as Qumaq was awake, she began to tell her dream. “Mother! I dreamed I had been given a little brother, a poor little thing with no eyes who cried because he had tumbled...”

Sanaaq started to laugh, “
I i i i i i!
” She could not hold back her laughter...

Because they would be running out of oil, Akutsiaq came early that morning from the igloo next door to offer some in an old tin can. Sanaaq thanked her warmly, saying, “Akutsiaq
ai!
Thank you so much! Dry your hands on this gull skin.”

“Sure!” said Akutsiaq.

Sanaaq then said to her sister, “Arnatuinnaq! Pour this oil into the lamp and try to light it. If the lamp won't light, it's probably because it ran out of fuel and had water in it... Just a moment
ai!
Let me take the residues out first. Then I'll try to light it.”

She removed the residues with a spoon, put them onto a small plate, and threw them to the dogs. But the dogs were already harnessed because Qalingu
was going to look for oil in his reserve. They rushed to devour this meagre offering of food and eagerly fought amongst themselves.

“
Uai!
” exclaimed Arnatuinnaq. “Filthy creatures!”

Arnatuinnaq clubbed them one after another with a stick as they whimpered, “
A a ma a maa!
” She went back in and said, “Dirty dogs! They all went after it.”

Qalingu's dogs had moved around a lot and their tuglines were completely tangled. He had to unravel them before leaving to go for oil. Finally, he shouted, “
Uit!
”

Sanaaq, Arnatuinnaq, Qumaq, and Akutsiaq — who was visiting — were in the igloo with frost crystals falling and the temperature becoming ever colder for want of lamp oil. Qumaq was penetrated through and through by the cold and was almost turning blue. She played on the floor and on the sleeping platform, humming, “
Siu siu siu si si siu!
” Because she was right next to the edge of the platform, her mother told her, “
Ii!
Qumaq, don't fall!”

She complied and moved a little further into the
kilu.
In some spots the packed snow had melted and turned into ice. So Sanaaq decided to go looking for some fresh snow and pack it with her feet. She said to her daughter, “Qumaq! Put your boots on. I'm going to pack some fresh snow!”

She chewed on Qumaq's boots, which were on the drying rack, and turned them inside out. She began to soften them with the
qauliut
that she had hung there. Then she said to her daughter, “Let's go! Come, I'll put your boots on.”

She slipped the boots onto the child's feet, straining, “
Uuppaa!
Uuppaa!
” After Sanaaq had put the boots on and tied the bootlaces, Qumaq stood up on the floor and almost slipped and fell several times.

“
Ii!
” shouted Sanaaq. “Take care not to slide! Oh, she won't stop sliding!”

Sanaaq packed the snow with her feet while Arnatuinnaq went for some fresh water. This is what Sanaaq
did: she moved her things off to the side; she lifted the dwarf-birch mats and held them up with a snow stick that she stuck into the base of the platform; she went out and cut some blocks of soft snow, which she crushed and packed in the igloo.

Qumaq was very talkative. “Should I bring this snow block inside?”

“Wait a little!” answered her mother. “I'll first cut it in two because it's too big... Take that one in.”

“Sure!” answered Qumaq.

The two of them brought the snow blocks inside. When Sanaaq had finished placing the blocks on the sleeping platform, she cut them into thin slices with her knife and packed them down with her feet. She then said, “There's still a little missing here. Qumaq, go and get me a little more snow!”

“Sure!” answered Qumaq. “Here's some snow. Should I put it here?”

Sanaaq now put her things back into place. She unrolled the dwarf-birch mats and laid out the fur mattresses and bedspreads. When she was done, she made some tea. She adjusted the flame and wick of the oil lamp with her poker.

Meanwhile, Arnatuinnaq had gone for fresh water, taking along an axe and a bag in which to put the pieces of ice and carry them away on her back. She went to the frozen lake where people usually got ice and began to hack away at the edge of an ice crack to split pieces off, putting them in the bag one by one. When she was done, she headed home. She was tired, though, and found her load heavy. She said, “
Uu!
Am I ever tired!”

But she kept on walking, intent as she was on providing her folks with fresh water. On arriving, she tried to enter and, speaking to those inside, said, “Take that in!”

“You really deserve to be thanked!” said Sanaaq, grabbing hold of the bag.

She began melting the ice in a bucket, breaking it up into small pieces with a knife, but the coldness of the ice burned her fingers. She screamed, “
Aatataa
!
I've burned myself!
Ai!
A mitten!”

Arnatuinnaq gave her one.

“Here
ai!
”

Sanaaq pounded away again at the pieces and filled a pot with ice in order to make water. She then melted the ice by hanging the pot over the lamp.

Qalingu had gone looking for oil, as well as food for the dogs. He now arrived at his oil reserve. With his knife, he scooped congealed oil out of the wooden barrel he had kept it in and filled a large tin that he used as a jerry-can. He also added the hard blubber rinds. In doing so, however, he stained the front of his shirt and the cuffs of his sleeves. Once his can was full of
misiraq,
he covered the barrel again with a piece of beluga skin on which he placed stones and pieces of wood. He told himself, “Even the dogs won't be able to undo that... So it should be safe from predators...”

He headed to one of his stone caches and tried to open it, but the stones were completely stuck together by the cold. He had to pry them apart before he could open the cache. In this way, he came across a food bag that had once contained oil and gamy meat, but it had not been full for a long while... It had been eaten into by voles and no longer contained any liquid at all. There was not even a drop of
misiraq
anymore, for the bag had been pierced by many holes. With a leather strap, Qalingu tied a slipknot around the end of the bag and tried to draw it towards himself by pulling with all his might.

“
Uuppaa!
Uuppaa!
” he said while pulling. “It no longer contains any liquid at all. Yet it had been prepared for oil storage!”

He then began loading his sled for the trip home. He tied his load down and untangled the tuglines while shouting at the dogs, “
Au!
Au
!
” When he was done, he counted the tugline loops as he slipped each one over the
nuvviti,
to make sure none were missed... All were accounted for. “
Uit!
Uit!
” he shouted to the dog team, to urge them forward and up the slope. He himself pulled on the
nuvviti,
for he had a heavy load of dog food — a load of gamy meat.

The people minding the igloo had almost no flame left. Qumaq remained on the sleeping platform with her boots off because it was so cold. Sanaaq was sewing. She was making boot socks. Ningiukuluk came to visit Sanaaq, who told her, “
Ai!
Ningiukuluk
ai!
Sit down!”

“Yes!” said the other, complying. “I can no longer do anything because I'm an old woman. My feet are cold.” She talked non-stop, also speaking to Qumaq. “
Umm!
” but not as an
mmm.
.. of affection. “
Umm!
My little girl
ai
!
Let me tell you a story.”

“First have some tea,” said Sanaaq.

Ningiukuluk agreed and said, “Arnatuinnaq! Cool it off with some ice. It's very hot!”

Ningiukuluk drank abundantly and began telling a story from the old times.

“A very long time ago, it's said, there once was a man, an Inlander, who was alone, without even a dog, in a tiny snow house whose floor was covered with large trout he had caught with a hook and fishing line. During the time of the long winter nights, he was awakened one night by sounds of footsteps on the snow. Right away, his snow house seemed to be surrounded by a galloping noise, by creatures that had come without warning. The man began to think to himself, and to talk to himself, for he knew full well that they were wolves, and that there was no way for him to escape. ‘Let it be! Let them enter like humans! Let them eat some trout!' And then, so it is told, they entered. The she-wolf had taken human form and pushed inward the snow block that plugged the doorway. She said, ‘Let's enter like humans! Let's eat some trout!' During the night, the pack of human-looking wolves — the old male, who was with them and also his many offspring — ate trout. The she-wolf munched on trout all night long and told stories. This is what the she-wolf told the man, who had no fire. She often chased caribou, so she said, while her folks trailed far behind and only caught up after she had killed the animals whose tracks she had been following. She said she was the fastest one. When the wolves caught up to her and began to eat, the old male left her offspring with very little to eat. For that reason, she said, she was very angry with him, describing him — the one always last to arrive — as a selfish brute.... They ate trout during the night. They crunched away in the darkness. The Inuk began thinking once again, ‘Given that the wolves haven't stopped eating, they'll probably use up my supply of trout during the night.' The she-wolf further recounted that, as soon as she had caught a caribou, she took out its tongue, which was delicious. The female that had taken human form and was a very good person again told her host, ‘Tomorrow you'll follow our tracks!' At that point, all the wolves left and no sooner had they gone out than they began to race away. When the Inuk awoke, at daybreak, the trout that had been eaten overnight were intact. He then remembered the she-wolf's advice and followed the wolf pack. He walked a very long time, following the tracks until he saw before him two cadavers, one of a wolf and one of a caribou, lying side by side. They were the gifts of the she-wolf. The dead wolf was her old male, gnashed to death by his own female. She hated him because he left their offspring with so little to eat. The man felt grateful for the caribou and for the wolf...”

Ningiukuluk's story was over. But Qumaq
wanted more. “
Aalaalaala!
” she hummed. “Grandmother
ai!
More!”

“It's over for now because I'll be going home!” answered Ningiukuluk.

“Do you have tea at home?” asked Sanaaq.

Ningiukuluk indicated a “No” by grimacing and raising her nostrils. She said, “We get by, thanks to gifts. Just this morning we breakfasted on food from others.”

“
Suvakkualuk!
” said Sanaaq.

She then prepared some tea leaves to offer her, wrapped in a small piece of cloth. She tied them up with a leftover bit of sinew and said, “Take this! Here's something to make tea with!”

Ningiukuluk stood up and said, “Yes! My back really aches. Where are my mittens?”

“Grandmother! There they are, up there, on the drying rack!” said Qumaq.

Ningiukuluk left.

As night fell, Arnatuinnaq played a guessing game on the ice window, as Qumaq looked on. If enough marks were made, it meant that visitors would arrive... She played
aakut-tuasi
by scratching the frost on the ice window, with the aim of making the right number of marks. She said, “
Aakut-tuasi
nikut-tuasi
the big wolf that I meet says
ai!
Yes!”

This is what the marks looked like:

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

It was now the height of winter. Qalingu had come back and was busy putting away the harnesses, his load, and his sled. He had removed the harnesses from the dogs and was starting to coil up their tuglines. His dogs were very warm but covered with frost. They were nosing around in the refuse heap by scraping the ground with their feet. Arnatuinnaq went out just then and said, “
Ai!
Pack of no-good mutts!”

She coiled up the tuglines, after Qalingu had unravelled them. He then took the dog food in by rolling the meat bag and the blubber into the igloo. Qalingu cautioned, “
Uuppaa!
Uuppaa!
Irq!
Qumaq! Make sure you don't get clobbered by the meat bag!”

“I won't! I'm in no danger,” replied Qumaq.

“Step aside a bit,” said Qalingu. “This big thing might hurt you!”

“Really, I'm in no danger!” she asserted.

But, always wanting to have the last word, she was hit by the bag. She wailed, “
A!
Aataata!
” Feeling greatly distressed, she began to cry, because she had really been clobbered.

Qalingu said, “Listen! Sounds like she was bowled over.”