“Auntie, did you catch a sculpin?”
“Yes, I caught one, but there goes another. It’s sliding underneath the big stone. Wait a bit ai! I’ll force it out with a stick. Watch to see if it swims that way!”
“Yes, the water’s swarming with all kinds of uquuqu! I’m going to catch a big uquuqu!”
“Get a good grip on it with your hand! There’s nothing to be afraid of!”
“Oh! It got away!”
Many swam away from Arnatuinnaq but she still caught quite a few. Inside the pail, the captured sculpins were flipping their tails and thumping against each other. The two had stopped looking for sculpins and were now in search of clams.
“It’s full of clams! Their holes are everywhere,” said Arnatuinnaq. “I’ll dig this one up. It’s just under the mud. Over there is another clam squirting water. I’ll dig it up…” After a while she spoke again. “We’ve gathered a lot of clams and it’s time to go home. The water’s rising now. I’m done filling my pail, let’s go! We’re going home!”
“Sure!”
They headed home. Arnatuinnaq exclaimed, “Look at all the kaugaliat, Qumaq! Let’s eat some limpets!”
“Yes!”
“I’ve got a stone to break them open… Uu! I just love sucking the innards out of a clam! Uu! Are they ever good! What a great taste! Look, the water’s really rising now. Let’s go home. Your mother’s minding the tent all by herself.”
So they went home. After all, they had to move the next day. When they arrived, Qumaq’s mother was overcome by affection for her daughter. “Daughter! U! Aalummi! Come to me, my little one! Did you learn all the tricks of fishing on the foreshore? Aalummi! Have some tea, both of you… I have some ready for you. Let’s eat clams! Pass me a plate. I’ll put them on…”
Kuu kuu kuu! One by one the clams clunked down onto the plate.
“Let’s also get a container for the juice dripping out of them and another for the empty shells,” added Sanaaq. “Daughter! I’ll crack your clams open and you’ll collect the juice. That’s how you’re going to eat them. Do as I say… Take this one. Enough! I don’t want any more!”
“Me neither!” chimed in Arnatuinnaq, followed by Qumaq.
Sanaaq said to her sister, “Put these aside. As for the empty shells, toss them onto the rubbish heap!”
No sooner had Arnatuinnaq taken them out than the dogs came bounding after her, yelping, “Muu muu muu!”
They began to yap and fight amongst themselves. It was too much for poor Arnatuinnaq. “Uai! Look at all those dogs! Scram, you filthy creatures! If only I had something to throw at them!”
She went back in. Night was falling.
“The water has stopped rising!” she announced.
“Ai!” said her older sister. “We’ll probably be moving tomorrow to our camp mates’ place over on the other side of the bay. We’ll take our stuff there on our backs.”
Then they undressed for bed, for night had fallen, and went to sleep.
5 MOVING DAY AND SANAAQ’S REMARRIAGE
Day broke and Sanaaq was already awake. She called out, “It’s high time that both of you got up. We’re well into the morning! We’ll start getting things ready right away. Have some tea. It’s going to be a long trip.”
Her sister had been shaken out of a sound sleep.
“You said it! I really don’t feel like getting up. Eating those clams has left me feeling hot all over.”
She was now wide awake and starting to put her clothes on. Sanaaq spoke again. “Daughter! Get dressed. Time to get going!”
They got everything ready. Sanaaq and her sister stuffed their things into a big bag while chattering away. Arnatuinnaq said, “I’ll put the tent on my back, a dog will carry the tent poles, and I’ll take my bedspread as well.”
“Since we’re ready, let’s go! Let’s get walking!” said Qumaq.
Arnatuinnaq was less sure. “Hold on! We’re not at all done getting things ready! Take this stuff out. The mats can be left in a cache.”
Sanaaq added, “We’ll come back for them today, the two of us. Come on, let’s take the tent down!”
“Sure!” replied Arnatuinnaq. “Which way should it fall?”
“To the left!”
Little Qumaq sang softly beside them, as they made their preparations.
“Lalaa lalaa lalaa!”
“Uai!” shrieked Arnatuinnaq. “Those dirty dogs are wolfing down our food, bunch of good-for-nothings! They’re helping themselves to the provisions we stored in the aki. Throw some stones at them!”
A stone struck one of the dogs in its paw. It ran off yelping, “Maa maa maa!”
“I got that no-good Ukiliriaq. I pitched a stone right in its paw and it can’t stand on it anymore. Those dirty animals are now fighting amongst themselves!”
“Maa maa maa!” The dogs were leaping back and forth as they fought over the provisions from the aki.
Sanaaq shouted, “Daughter, stay out of harm’s way! Come here!”
Qumaq was growing into a young girl who increasingly knew the ways of the world. She spoke up. “Mother! The two of us can go ahead. Auntie can follow with the rest of the stuff.”
“Yes, let’s go! Let’s get walking, the two of us… Hau hau! Kajualuk! Hau!”
She was calling for her packdog. Mother and daughter set out on their way, up a slope. Soon Arnatuinnaq left too. Although they were taking a shortcut, the route proved to be long and tiring. Qumaq cried out to her mother, “Mother! Let’s stop awhile. I’m very tired.”
“No need to stop now. We’re almost right where we’re going to pitch our tent. Aren’t we almost there? Yes, we are! This nice stretch of gravel seems to be a good spot for a tent!”
They pitched their tent. They had arrived at the Ujararjuaq campsite and its inhabitants came out to welcome them. Among them were Aqiarulaaq, the wife, and Taqriasuk, her husband, with their grown son, Jiimialuk.
“Ai! Sanaaq ai!” said Aqiarulaaq. “Let’s shake hands! So you made it safe and sound?”
“Yes! We got here early because we had to leave some of our stuff behind at the other campsite.”
“Ai! Suvakkualuk! But don’t you have anyone to help you? Ai! Let’s shake hands! But who is this girl?”
“It’s Qumaq, my daughter… And here comes my sister. You can see her over there, in the distance.”
“A ii! Is she ever loaded down! Come, have an arrival meal with us.”
“Sure, let’s go. We’re very hungry. We didn’t have any tea on the way because we thought it would take too long.”
So they ate together while telling each other about the latest happenings.
Aqiarulaaq recounted: “My son killed a seal today, right in front of our place… He simply wounded it, so his father went after the animal in an old, broken-down qajaq. He harpooned it, only to discover it was a skinny little seal, a little siiqrulik that had lost its mother.”
It was now Sanaaq’s turn to talk. “Ai! Am I ever lucky! Irsutualuk has fallen in love with me. As soon as I found out, we moved away. I don’t want him. He really looks old and I won’t settle for just any wretched man who comes along.”
“Ai! Qatannguuk ai!” said Aqiarulaaq. “I’ll fix you up with my brother in no time at all. You need a man to help you out. Not right now, of course. First, get your tent up!”