Uki the Inuit

Chapter 3

"Uki, it's time for bed now," my dad told me.

"Okay," I sighed, "but can aanaa (grandma) tell me a story?"

"Sure, but only if you get ready quickly," he replied.

As fast as I could, I got dressed into my sleeping clothes, and was lying down on my bed of willow twigs and fur. Aanaa came over to me, and sat on the edge of my bed.

"What story would you like to hear today, Uki?" she asked me.

"Something about when YOU were a child!" I responded cheerfully.

"Well then, how about I tell you a story my aanaa told me about when she was a child?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay. So, this story has been passed down from grandmother to granddaughter for many, many generations now. Along the way, sometimes stories are added to it. The earliest parts of this story are from when the Inuit came to be! Some of the newer stuff, like how we can now vote, are also in it."

"But aanaa, why would something new be in the story? I already know about it!" I asked.

"But when you pass this down to your granddaughter, it will be something from the past!"

"Ohh, I get it now! What might be normal now, would be an interesting story in the future!" I said.

"That's right! Anyway, carrying on with the story. The Inuit have been around for a long time. Thousands of years! Like now, they'd build igloos to live in, and would create their own hooks, harpoons, and nets for fishing. They'd hunt seals, caribou, small birds, fish, and more. We don't have a lot of significant history. For something to be considered "history" for the Inuit, it is usually a way for us to inform our young of who we are as Inuits. We don't want our history to tie us to the past, and do not divide the past from the present, or use terms like 'prehistory.' However, we did have an extremely memorable event around 5000 years ago. One of our ancestors developed a special technology," she said.

"What kind of technology?" I asked, curious.

"The technology, knowledge, and skills to hunt through the thick winter sea ice to be able to hunt sea animals for food! That was so fundamental because without it, how would we hunt all those seals, whales, or fish in the winter?"

"Mom says we don't hunt many whales anymore. Something about a ban?' I asked.

"Oh yes. Around twenty-five years ago, Canada withdrew from something called the 'International Whaling Commision,' which basically means that if we hunt whales anymore, we'd be breaking the law."

"Really? That's so mean!" I thought aloud.

"Well, if we did continue killing the whales, there might not be any more whales to kill eventually. So stopping us from killing them is potentially helpful."

"I guess that's true," I said. "Hey grandma, what happened when us Inuits first met other people? Were they Canadians? Were they mean? Were we mean?"

"Well, the first people we met weren't Canadians. Canada wasn't even a country yet! We actually met the Europeans first, when Captain John Ross's crew were stranded on their search for the Northwest passage. Nothing really exciting happened, are you sure you want to hear this story?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think it would be really interesting!" I replied.

"Ok, if you say so. The story began when a group of our ancestors were out on a hunt. They were just walking about when they spotted a large ship in the distance. They approached cautiously, and as they neared, they saw a bunch of people gathered on the land by the ship. They looked lost and confused, but they also seemed to be armed with weapons. Not knowing whether or not it was safe to approach, our ancestors just watched from afar. After a couple minutes, the people noticed their presence, and came closer. Both parties dropped their weapons, in a sign of peace. Then the Europeans conveyed peace by greeting each other warmly, and inviting us onto their ship. The Europeans offered gifts, such as iron to us. In exchange we tried to give them our spears, but they respectfully declined our offer. They did, however, agree to meet up the next day for a tour of our village. After that, it was pretty much it. We all went our separate ways," Aanaa finished.

"Nothing happened? What do you mean? That was a great story!" I exclaimed, incredulously.

"Hush now Uki, others are trying to sleep, remember?" she responded. " I just didn't expect you to be this interested in our history!"

"Well, that story was awesome! I can't wait to tell it to my granddaughter," I said.

"Let's hope you remember it, because that's a long ways away!"

"I think I will. Goodnight, aanaa," I yawned.

"Goodnight, Uki. Have a good sleep."