Ilatsiak - 36

David removed his coat and tried to shake the wetness out of it before crawling into the tent. It seemed as wet after it’s shaking as before. Later in the morning, when he tried to put it on, it had frozen stiff. The weather had turned even colder and the rain became blinding snow once the wind began to pick up. Before mid-day a blizzard had begun to blow new snow across the sheets of ice now covering the land, making it almost impossible to even stand up on the slippery surface. The children had fun sliding in their furry parkas during the late morning, but Agayuk knew hungry times would be ahead for those people not camped close to their cached supplies. No one could hunt in conditions like these. He decided it was wise to head eastwards to be closer to the sea ice off the coast where seals might be out on the ice next to the breathing holes they keep open all winter. No matter how thick the ice became, the seals would stay near their holes. His fish caches would be closer too, just in case. Before the move, David considered finally discarding the last of his English clothing. In the end he couldn’t part with his coat and pants, but there seemed little point in keeping the rest any longer. He gave his mother, Maneejaq, the coat’s buttons and had her sew the front up to make an anorak-like jacket. She was always joking about how she wanted the shiny gold coloured buttons and now at last they were hers.
No one looked forward to the trek to the coast, but all knew it was a better place to look for food than their present camp inland. They would try not to grumble as they slipped and slid along.

* * *
The winter passed quickly for David. Unlike the previous winters on the Erebus, there was always something that had to be done living with Agayuq. He was a good provider for his family, spending much of his time out hunting and David soon found himself able to help as he was now the oldest, Aliktu and Kanguajuq the other children being only 4 and 1 years old. Maneejaq, his adopted mother, a happy jovial woman, probably in her late twenties, was ever helpful as well. David awoke one morning in early winter to find his old clothes missing. They’d been replaced silently by a full set of caribou skin clothes, inner and outer, as well as boots. He was astonished at this gift. He had seen her sewing, as she always did, but had no idea she was working on things for him.
Now he was equiped with these new clothes, it was assumed that he would accompany Agayuq out on the sea ice to hunt seals at their breathing holes. Even in skin clothing, as warm as they were, it was cold, silent work, but David learned the system quickly. Just before the sun disappeared for good, he made his first kill. He was treated to the usual rituals associated with this passage, although he had no mid-wife ‘mother’ to act for him. The whole ceremony was treated with lots of humour as everyone present knew how unusual the situation was. For David, it was yet another indication of how far he had distanced himself from the expedition and how close he now felt to these warm, welcoming people with whom he now made his life.
As the months passed by, he gained a certain amount of fame for being a good hunter. He made a trip over to Boothia in early spring, once the light returned. He traveled with Agajuq and two other men to hunt caribou. When they returned, they were grateful to have dogs to help transport the carcasses and skins. Their arrival home was a happy time for everyone as the diet of seal and fish was wearing more than a bit thin. They’d eaten nothing else since late fall, almost five months previously.

* * *
It was half way through the brief arctic summer, probably July or early August, when David and Agayuq’s family made it back again to the big lake called Amitsoq near the center of King William Island. He’d been with these people for over a year, he realised while walking past their old camp site where Fairholme had found him. On the way there, they had met up with several other family groups, who were already forming hunting parties to snare the caribou on the island, squeezing them into a funnel shaped trap where they might be taken more easily. In this way, the 30 or so people arrived at the lake laden with fresh meat and many skins suitable for use during the coming winter. Most were still thick with long winter fur and would be suitable for bedding and so on, but a few had shed enough of their old coat that the new summer fur was showing underneath and these the women began to work on. Making the under-parka was the first chore and was best made from the shortest fur. The heavier outer layer could wait for the August hides which had slightly longer, thicker fur. These would be the ones where all the talents of the seamstess's arts could be displayed, with the contrasting strips of fur patterns, the fancy edging frills and cold stopping fringes along the parka’s lower edges.
While walking about visiting and being shown off by his younger brother and sister, David entered the tent of Tulukaq’s family in order to have another peek at their pretty daughter sitting quietly behind her mother, softly chewing on a tiny piece of skin intended for a baby’s boot. He had never before thought of the prospects of finding an Inuk girl to befriend, but suddenly the idea was in his head and he found it stuck there, unable to be shaken away. Even the knowledge that the Erebus could soon be sailing away with him on board did nothing to rid this alluring girl from his thoughts.
In the meantime, his friends were off for another round of visiting, of fishing at one of the many weirs, racing each other over the tundra, or splashing in the warm waters of the shallow ponds which dotted the landscape near the lake. This time of fishing and socializing with the many Inuit groups from both Boothia and the mainland to the south was always a happy time for all, especially for those with love in mind.
As it happened, the cute girl - he had discovered her name was Qajaq - and her family were vaguely related to Agayuq. About two weeks after their arriving at the lake, it was decided that the two families would move further south and west on the island to look for caribou together. By now the caribou having dropped their young, where beginning to filter towards the narrows where once the sea was frozen, they would return to the mainland for the winter. It was a good time and place to hunt for furs for winter clothing and to cache some extra meat for the long winter ahead.