Ilatsiak - 58 - Looking for Agayuq

During the days that followed, people in the camp kept talking about what had taken place. Secretly, they began calling David a shaman. They gave him a new name, but kept it to themselves, not sure what David would think.
Slowly as the days went by, people began moving on to other places for the summer, and David began feeling it was time for him to start looking for Agayuq and Qayaq once again. It was also time to distance himself from the strange things that had happened. Things he couldn’t explain to anyone, not even himself.
He travelled south towards the Fish River, thinking that perhaps Agayuq had gone there looking for him. He had been told that Agayuq and Maneetaq were lonely for him and Qayaq. However, after finally arriving at the mouth of the river about mid summer, none of the people he met there had seen either of them. When an opportunity opened to him, David decided to go kayak hunting along the west coast of Chantrey Inlet with some friends he’d met a year or two earlier. This would get him nearer to King William Island and perhaps give him a better chance of finding his two families.
In the weeks that followed, David truly found himself at home in a kayak. The rougher water of the Inlet and the longer distances they travelled, gave him more skills and confidence than he’s ever gained on the small river and lakes inland. He also learned to care for the craft, repairing the skin and delicate wooden parts are they required fixing. One thing David could not get his companions to do was consider changing the shape of the bow to allow it to run over oncoming waves better that it did. They were also reluctant to make repairs, let alone consider making a full cover, with sealskins rather than the caribou skin covers they were accustomed to using. David suspected they watched his sealskin repair efforts closely to see how they faired. Perhaps they would make the switch later when he wasn’t around.
By the time they reached the point at the northern-most tip of the Inlet, the other hunters decided to return home. They’d been away from their families long enough and then hunting hadn’t turned out to be all that successful. David wanted to continue around the point and westward in hopes of finding his people. Agreeing to separate and meet the following spring, David now set out alone going westward along the coast. He knew he’d be able to cross the strait at the narrows within a few days and from there he could reach the southern shores of King William Island.