Sanaaq (18 page)

Sanaaq's condition was deteriorating, so her camp mates came to pay a visit.

“
Qatannguuk!
” said
Aqiarulaaq. “You'll have to go away again. It's important for you to recover completely.”

“It sure is. I can't sleep at night. I can't eat and I'm again having pains, more acute than before.”

Qalingu
went to tell the
Qallunaat.

“My wife is ill again. Maybe she didn't get enough treatment... If she has to be taken away again, I'll be unhappy, but she's suffering a lot and I don't want her to die!”

“If she's very ill,” he was told, “we won't be able to treat her here. She'll have to be taken away again, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.”

Qalingu, saddened that nothing could be done locally, added, “I really am the one to blame. A while ago, I hit her when she was behaving badly. I hit her without meaning to hurt her and it's my fault if she's not doing well now. If she must leave, I'd like to go with her!”

“You can't go with her. You're not ill. Only Sanaaq
has to go. She should get better this time, and you'll not be held accountable as long as you don't repeat the same offence.”

Qalingu went home and said, “
Aippaa!
You'll have to be taken away again, but this time you're going to be cured completely!”

“Alright, if that's what has to happen, even though it doesn't please me at all!”

When a plane arrived, she was taken away to the hospital where she would be treated.

“As soon as you're cured,” she was told, “you'll go home. Don't bother yourself about having to be taken away!”

She nonetheless longed for her family. Whenever Inuit, either men or women, are sent to hospital for treatment, they are always very anxious to return home. They fervently wish to return to their loved ones. They miss the country food and suffer from staying in an overheated place. Sanaaq, after being in pain for a long time, now noticed a daily improvement in her health. She and the other Inuit were happy, for they were being well taken care of. Yet they dearly wanted to go home. They preferred their country, where there was no overheating. Sanaaq
was thankful to the nurses and the hospital, her pains having gone. But she could not forget her son. She thought continually about him, from the moment she got up to the moment she went to bed.

After a long while, Sanaaq regained much of her strength, so much so that she often went for walks outside. She was back in shape and would soon be going home. Out of affection for her, the other Inuit at the hospital came to see her off on the day of her departure.

Her folks were likewise very happy to have her back. Everyone was on hand to greet her when the plane arrived. She herself was happy to be finally back with her family, but she was also tired from the trip and, since it was late, her whole family decided to go to bed. Sanaaq tried to sleep but could not. All kinds of thoughts came to mind.

“If my son had died, how would I have reacted? Maybe that would've broken me... Had he been the one to go away, I would've been shattered...”

She eventually fell asleep, late at night. She had an
uqumangirniq.
Her body became paralyzed and she dreamed that someone very bad was trying to enter her home. Still asleep and dreaming, she heard footsteps in the entranceway. She opened her eyes in her sleep and then tried to shut them, but could not. She feared seeing a big
tuurngaq
,
but her body was frozen. Unable to close her eyes, she thought, “I'll shut my eyes as soon as I see something!”

Another thought crossed her mind, with her eyes now closed: “Maybe if I tried to move during the
uqumangirniq,
I'd actually move and I'd break free of it...”

She made an abrupt movement in her sleep, while dreaming that the big
tuurngaq
who had been trying to enter had succeeded and was now grabbing hold of her. Increasingly afraid, she tried to kick her feet and move her body. And so, bit by bit, she managed to move and come out of her deep sleep.

“I really had an
uqumangirniq,
” she told herself, “and if I just roll over onto my other side I won't have another one!”

But before she could roll over, she fell asleep again and had a new nightmare. Fear took hold of her and she let out a scream. She tried to talk but could made no sound... Qalingu
,
who was sleeping beside her, finally awoke and saw her trying to talk while the rest of her body remained still. He grabbed her by the hand and tried to wake her.

“What's wrong with you, Sanaaq?”

“Oh, thank you! I've been having nightmares all night long... I wanted to roll over onto my other side but was just too drowsy... I dreamed that a
tuurngaq
was trying to grab me... I had the impression he was really there... If I had managed to roll over, I think I would've snapped out of it!”

The next morning, everyone woke up, but Sanaaq
was still groggy from lack of sleep. She spent the whole day not wanting to do anything.

Qumaq was growing up. She was now a young woman. Her brother too had grown up and was almost old enough to think for himself. His father had bought him a
qukiutiaruk,
and he was going to fire it for the first time. He took aim at a stone and completely missed it five times… His mother watched closely, fearing the recoil might throw him back. Sanaaq told Qalingu, “My son shouldn't fire too many times. He might hit someone by accident!”

“It's better if he's trained to shoot now,” answered Qalingu. “Otherwise, when he reaches adulthood he might be thrown off-balance even more and lack judgment. By then, it'll be harder for him to learn.”

“
Ai!
” said Sanaaq.

Her son took his new rifle and went hunting for
aqiggit
with his sister Qumaq. When they reached a small plain, Qumaq was the first to see a ptarmigan.

“Look, little brother. An
aqiggiq.
Are you going to shoot? Look over there!”

He fired.

“Yes, I got it, little sister! I broke its wing!”

Both brother and sister ran after the injured bird. With its broken wing, the ptarmigan could no longer fly… They ran for a long time, holding back their shouts of glee, so as not to lose sight of it… The little brother finally caught hold of the bird.

“I caught an
aqiggiq!
I got my first
aqiggiq
!
Come, let's go home, little sister!”

“Yes! Let me carry your rifle. It must be very heavy!”

“Go ahead!”

They came home and walked in. Their mother was inside. When her son opened the door, she said, “This
aqiggiq,
are you the one who killed it?”

“Yes!” answered her son.

“He killed the
aqiggiq
after hurting it in the wing,” recounted Arnatuinnaq.

“
Suvakkualuk!
” said Sanaaq. “We'll quarter it, all of us together. First take it to his
arnaquti!
”

Sanaaq
went to Ningiukuluk's place. She entered and said, “Your
angusiaq
has just killed his first
aqiggiq
!
”

“I'm so delighted to hear that! We'll all quarter it together… I'll hold the head of the first
aqiggiq
of my
angusiaq!
”

Ningiukuluk left with Sanaaq. She took hold of the
aqiggiq
and began calling. “
Ilakka!
come right now for an
aliktuuti!
”

“Listen! We're going to have a quartering!” said her camp mates as they went outside.

Irsutualuk,
Arnatuinnaq, and
Qalingu all came. Ningiukuluk
took hold of the head, Sanaaq a foot, Qalingu a wing, Irsutualuk the other wing, and Arnatuinnaq the other foot.

“What fun this is!” said Ningiukuluk
.

“Let's go! Pull! This is so much fun,” said Irsutualuk.

“I hope nobody will snatch the part I'm holding onto!” joked Ningiukuluk.

The boy who had killed his first
aqiggiq
began laughing heartily. The two playmates, Qumaq
and Akutsiaq, both watching closely, also burst into laughter.

“Look, Qumaq, someone's snatched what my mother was holding onto,” said Akutsiaq.

“
Ii,
look at her! She's laughing anyway!”

The quarterers stopped their work. Ningiukuluk began eating her share of the
aqiggiq.
Qalingu ended up with part of the breast, Irsutualuk with a piece of flesh, and Arnatuinnaq with a foot… Everyone was dunking their pieces in seal oil. All the eating had dirtied their hands, which they rinsed with wet snow. After cleaning themselves, they wiped their mouths. Ningiukuluk was offered a pair of scissors as a
qillaquti
gift. She was also given chewing tobacco and a bar of soap that Sanaaq brought to her home.

“Thank you!” said Ningiukuluk. “All the gifts I have here are for tying umbilical cords… This soap will be only for me… Akutsiaq, my daughter, will never use it, not even for doing the laundry… As for the scissors, I'll take great care of them… They'll never be used for metal cutting!”

Taqriasuk came back to the camp, after a long time keeping a lookout on the hilltop. He thought, “What have they been up to here? I can see a lot of footprints in the snow! All day long I've been keeping a lookout. I'm hungry and I'm going home. The whole day I haven't seen the smallest game animal… Yet I looked in all directions through my telescope!”

“
Ii,
” said Ningiukuluk. “Here comes our old man! And we didn't wait for him before quartering. We were in too much of a hurry! ...I put something aside for you to eat, have some! It's thanks to my
angusiaq
that we've got food to eat.”

Taqriasuk
began eating some of the
aqiggiq.

“I'm really happy to be eating!” he said.

Aqiarulaaq
had been gone the whole day to gather fuel for the fire and was not back yet. Meanwhile, Aanikallak had stayed home. She was old enough to make herself useful. Once Taqriasuk had finished eating, he went home.

“Hasn't my old woman come back yet?” he asked.

“No!” said Aanikallak.

Qalingu went to visit Taqriasuk. When he entered, he said, “
Ai!
”

“Qalingu,
ai!
Today, I searched high and low on all sides with my telescope, but I saw absolutely nothing, not even a seal on the ice. I'm really happy that your son killed his first
aqiggiq
today.”

“When I bought him his rifle, he couldn't hit a target... He managed to catch an
aqiggiq
today by breaking its wing. I'm not surprised he didn't kill it with a single shot.”

Taqriasuk was tired because he was very old. He went to bed. His old woman, Aqiarulaaq, came just then. She brought the fuel she had gone to gather:
kuutsiit,
sigalat,
mamaittuqutit,
issutiit,
and
paurngaqutit.
The fuel would be used for cooking outside at a place where the snow had melted. She went to bed, because it was evening, after having a bit of tea. They were still living in an igloo, although the dome was threatening to cave in on them.

Morning arrived and Qalingu awoke. The weather was very bad and it was snowing heavily. They had hardly any food left, however, so he decided to go hunting with Maatiusi, despite the weather... As they travelled by sled, the weather improved and it stopped snowing.

Qalingu spotted an
uuttuq
and decided to go after it while his companion kept an eye on the sled and dog team. He slipped a white hareskin cap over his head, took a few cartridges and, circling around the seal to the north, crawled towards his prey. He killed it. It was a female with its baby. The seal he had just killed was lying on the bed of its snow shelter. The baby seal did not even dive into the water when its mother died. It simply stayed by her. When Qalingu reached his prey, he also shot the baby seal. His hunting companion caught up to him at that moment. Now that they had a seal, they decided to go home, where they had run out of seal oil and were reduced to cooking outside with fuel gathered from the tundra.

Aqiarulaaq went out and spotted the approaching sled with its travellers. She called out to Sanaaq, “
Qatannguuk!
A dog team is coming. Why's it acting that way? Let's go, the two of us. Look cousin, they're loaded. Seems like they've killed a seal. Let's go and meet them!”

To cheer on the arriving dog team, Aqiarulaaq shouted, “
Aa,
aa
!
”
and Sanaaq began pulling on the sled's main tugline. The travellers were happy.

The same day, in late afternoon, a plane appeared.

“Listen to that drone. Sounds like a plane!” said Qalingu. “Over there! It's arriving… There are two men aboard!”

It was a single-engine airplane. The Inuit were very nervous and the children were crying. Everyone went to greet them. When the door to the airplane opened, little Qalliutuq was very afraid.

The two
Qallunaak
spoke the Inuit language. Their chief asked Qalingu, “Who are you?”

“I'm Qalingu!”

“Do you want to come and work among the
Qallunaat?
”

“No! I've never been away from here. I don't know the language of the
Qallunaat.
”

“If you accept, you'll be treated very well. You'll start off receiving two hundred dollars a month and your family will get a house. The plane will be back in a week.”

“OK,” said Qalingu, who decided to help his family. “I'd like to give it a try.” Speaking to Sanaaq, he added, “I'll be away working for two months. You'll be given assistance.”

She agreed.

Qalingu made his preparations. He was afraid he would not be allowed to come back. Airplane travel scared him, this being his first time... and the plane was very fast. His family — Qumaq, Sanaaq, and Qalliutuq — broke into tears at the thought that he might never come back... When the airplane disappeared in the clouds, they went home very sad because Qalingu was gone.

While the family looked after the home, the
iksigarjuaq
would drop by with food — all kinds of things in tin cans. Sanaaq was invited to his place and she went with a bag. She found the tins to be quite nice-looking.

“Look, Arnatuinnaq!” she said, coming back. “Look at the presents we've been given: canned food!”

“I'd like to see if it's any good. May I have a taste? It's pretty good, the stuff in this can. And these
usuujait,
what are they? They're too salty, throw them away. Yes, they've got a very bad taste!”

They were not accustomed to
Qallunaat
food, so they did not like it. But they did appreciate the oranges. Just then, Qalliutuq began to vomit.

“The boy's throwing up!” said Sanaaq. “Hand me the pot! Toss those cans out! We can't keep the bad ones.”

The next day, at dawn, the airplane came back. The weather was very nice and everybody went out to the plane, even old Taqriasuk. The
Qallunaaq
was an Inuit agent. He said hello, shook hands, and smiled. But no one understood a word of what he said. The airplane stayed for the night. Taqriasuk carried the visitors' baggage into the Catholic missionary's house and Maatiusi too carried some in. When they were done, they were offered a dollar. Thinking it was something important, they showed it to the missionary.

“Look!” said Taqriasuk. “Look at what we just got, I and Maatiusi! A simple piece of paper. What is it?”

“It's money,” said the missionary. “If you take it to the merchant, you'll be able to buy anything with it.”

“
Ai!
” said Taqriasuk.

Night was falling. The Inuit agent, using the missionary as an interpreter, asked, “What's your name?”

“I'm Taqriasuk!”

“How old are you?”

“I have no idea!”

“You're probably very old because you look quite elderly. You'll regularly get money without having to work, because you're old. You can spend your time doing nothing. You'll buy what you want every month. You'll get money for your children too, for anyone who isn't sixteen yet. When they pass that age, the money stops. But for the old there won't be any age limit.”

After this conversation, Taqriasuk went home and said, “I was told I'll get money.”

“
Ai
!
” said Aqiarulaaq. “That's great!”

As for Sanaaq's family, they would get a house next summer, a real house, she was told. That evening the Inuit agent paid a visit.

“
Ai!
” she said.

“Hello,” he replied, while lavishing much affection on her child. He then said to her, “Next summer a house will be built for you. In addition, starting tomorrow, you'll get money for your children.”

Sanaaq was astounded to be promised so much when she had never been helped before. After the
Qallunaaq
went back to his place, Aqiarulaaq
came to visit Sanaaq.

“Hi,
qatannguuk!
Tomorrow we're going shopping! This has completely taken us by surprise, cousin! We were told that my old man would regularly get money at the end of every month.”

“Looks like our children too will be getting money!” said Sanaaq.

Qalingu,
meanwhile, was working among the
Qallunaat.
He was made to do just about anything. At times he yearned to go home, because he missed his little boy and his wife. He had never been gone so long from home. Often, the thought even came to his mind that he would never be allowed to go back... At bedtime, he frequently could not fall asleep, for the thought haunted and bothered him.

Back home, those who had stayed behind were also feeling his absence. They had never been apart for so long and Sanaaq often found her little boy crying because he missed his father so much. The next day they went to the store. The Inuit agent was already there with the company clerks. Ningiukuluk also came in. She was very old and went about her purchases without knowing how much anything cost, for she had never paid attention to the prices of different items. She bought felt, flour, chewing tobacco, baking powder, and printed fabrics to make a dress for Akutsiak
and a sweater for her younger sister, Tajarak. Sanaaq and Aqiarulaaq were also making their purchases. They bought a lot of things and wrapped the ones that would be hard to carry away. While Ningiukuluk was still in the store, Sanaaq and Aqiarulaaq went to look for a small sled.

“
Qatannguuk!
We'll haul away our purchases together. Give me a leather strap to pull with. Too bad we won't have any more straps to tie down the load. I'll hold it down while you pull!”

When they came back with the sled, they spoke to Ningiukuluk.

“We've just got back,” said Sanaaq
.
“It took us some time to get ready!”

“I'm not at all tired of waiting,” replied Ningiukuluk.

“We tried to be fast,” added Aqiarulaaq
.
“We were afraid you'd get cold!”

“I'm not cold. Just a little cold in my feet. My feet are giving me a headache!”

“You should get going,” said Sanaaq. “Walk all the way home!”

“I'm going. I'm tired of standing in one place!”

Qalingu was busy working but had trouble concentrating on his work, worried as he was about his family and thinking a great deal about them. “I don't know what my family is doing or how my little boy is… They may be short of food and hungry… They must be missing me and thinking I'll never come back... My wife's probably trying all the time to console my little boy, who's crying and unhappy… As for Qumaq and Arnatuinnaq, they'll both be working non-stop, even during snowstorms… So when will I go home? Maybe next month?”

He was becoming increasingly despondent. He had been away for a long time and for two months now had not stopped working. Then came spring and the
Qallunaat
told him, “Qalingu! You're going home next week.”

On hearing this, he was overcome with joy. He smiled all the time now and prepared for his departure. His pockets were full of
kiinaujait
because he had been working for a long while.