47 A BROKEN HEART AND POSSESSION
Maatiusi was out walking alone in late summer. He was feeling down. All kinds of thoughts were turning over and over in his mind, even bad ones. He had been warned, in keeping with Inuit customs, that it was not good to dwell too much on something, but he ignored these warnings and let his despondency run free. He became used to mulling over his thoughts, in which Arnatuinnaq was first and foremost. He found her very desirable, thought much about her and, suddenly, while walking, caught sight of someone who looked like her. He believed it was Arnatuinnaq. Maatiusi saw a woman with the edge of her hood folded back and he really thought it was Arnatuinnaq. Being alone, he took her as a companion and talked and made love with her. He felt euphoric…
Members of his family began to be wary. No one understood why Maatiusi was often away at night and yet did not seem to be out hunting. Qalingu now usually went hunting alone, with only his little boy for company.
And Arnatuinnaq always stayed home. In fact, Maatiusi was possessed by a nuliarsaq. He no longer seemed to find any pleasure in going home. And his nuliarsaq, who was a very pretty girl, had great powers. She could make herself invisible. With her, he was happy, being himself a handsome Inuk. It was like having a real wife. He did not even notice her missing navel…
Maatiusi was unaware that he had changed, but those close to him, his camp mates, could see he was not doing well at all, even though they did not know why. His way of life was not the same as before. He seldom talked anymore, had become closed-minded, and avoided the company of other Inuit while still eating and working with them. He sometimes went hunting but no longer took care of his clothes. He dressed shabbily. Sometimes, his behaviour puzzled his camp mates. They would hear him talking aloud while alone and even making eyes at someone. At times, it looked as if someone was calling him. At other times, he would suddenly take off without warning. At still other times, it looked as if he was fainting… All this was the effect of his nuliarsaq, who was making love to him… People noticed too that his skin was damp. Those who lived with him found that Maatiusi often had a very foul odour…
Qalingu asked Maatiusi, “Are you sick?”
“No, I’m not sick!”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re living a life that’s not like the one you lived before!”
“Not at all. I haven’t changed!”
Clearly, he was not going to say anything. Qalingu no longer enjoyed him as a hunting companion and began to think, “Maatiusi must be possessed by a nuliarsaq because sometimes he converses with nobody and he smells very bad.”
For her part, Aqiarulaaq was thinking, “All the Inuit feel that Maatiusi is in a bad way. It’s probably because he doesn’t want to say anything while having bad thoughts due to personal problems. If he doesn’t talk, his condition will get even worse. We’re his life companions and we should talk to him.”
She decided to approach him.
“Maatiusi, what’s with you? Maybe you have a relationship with a nuliarsaq. Could that be it?”
“No, not at all!”
Because he did not want to talk, the questioning led nowhere, and his condition only got worse.
Aqiarulaaq went to speak to Sanaaq. “Qatannguuk! Maatiusi clearly isn’t saying a thing. Please, would you like to try and question him some time?”
“Maybe if I were alone with him,” answered Sanaaq, “I could get him to talk. Couldn’t I, cousin?”
So Sanaaq questioned him.
“Maatiusi, I’m going to talk to you because your condition is getting worse. You no longer appear to be the same person. You’ve got a nuliarsaq! You sometimes give off a nuliarsaq odour. If you stay that way, you’ll go to kappianartuvik!”
Maatiusi was overcome with sorrow on hearing this from Sanaaq, but his nuliarsaq forbade him to talk and continually reminded him of this. Yet he very much wanted to talk to Sanaaq. Because his nuliarsaq feared he would, she tried to frighten him with a large knife and lashed him with a whip.
“I’ll kill you!” she repeated again and again. “As soon as you talk, I’ll kill you. I’ll no longer have you as a husband!”
So, he did not say anything, fearing that he would be killed if he did so. Although he almost confessed to Sanaaq, he stopped himself, believing his nuliarsaq. She had worked hard to make him fear greatly the consequences of a confession. He had several reasons for saying nothing: the fear of punishment and also his deep fondness for his nuliarsaq.
“He hasn’t talked yet, qatannguuk!” reported Sanaaq to her cousin. “He seems to fear the consequences of confessing. He’s probably under someone’s influence!”
His nuliarsaq was very grateful to him for not talking. She visited him more and more and Maatiusi became even more possessed. His sense of reason was almost gone and, whenever he left for the night, people were afraid he would lose his way. His camp mates were increasingly worried.
Arnatuinnaq’s baby was growing and Qumaq and Aanikallak were back.
“It’s really nice to have them back, our two absent girls!” said Aqiarulaaq.
Qumaq loved the baby as soon as she saw her.
“Little cousin Ai! You’re so tiny. I’m going to take good care of you!”
And she recounted to her mother everything that had happened since her departure.
“Anaanak! I saw big houses for the first time. They were very beautiful. And cars, many of them too. And lights that often lit themselves. And stores, statues, plenty of things… Ships too. There are very many Qallunaat. Even at night, they don’t stop. And there are animals that produce milk, and many other things. Over there we learned a lot at school. We were treated well all the time. We never went out. Sometimes it wasn’t nice. It was very tiring. All the time we were made to sleep during the day so that we would get cured. Finally, because we were both cured, I and Aanikallak, we came back by plane. What happiness! The nurses loved us a lot!”
“Thank you so much, Qumaq, for being cured! The chief factor will be leaving very soon, even though he’s liked so much by Arnatuinnaq and by all of the Inuit. He’ll be leaving next week. Ever since she found out, Arnatuinnaq has been distraught because her lover will be going. Another person will surely take his place, but that one, the chief factor who’ll be leaving, is the one she loves the most.”
Maatiusi was often home and made only short visits with no real thought of working. He was very absent-minded, talked rarely, and disliked being with the Inuit.
48 CONFESSION AND CURE
Sanaaq loved her nuakuluk, who was at the stage of beginning to chew. She gave her fish to eat. And Qalingu often went fishing.
On the day that the chief factor departed on a big boat, his replacement arrived. Everyone was sad. Arnatuinnaq cried. The chief factor left a few little things behind for everyone, but his baby and Arnatuinnaq received more than the others. Arnatuinnaq was sad and thought again and again, “My handsome lover is going away. There’ll never be a man as kind as him, and I no longer even enjoy staying home. I always feel like crying! He’ll probably never come back!”
The new chief factor was often engaged in trade and the Inuit felt intimidated by him. He too found Arnatuinnaq to his liking and tried to seduce her, but Arnatuinnaq detested the man. She could not love her friend’s replacement. She thought constantly about the first one.