Tuktu- 12- His Eskimo Dogs (the importance of dogs to Inuit culture)

[Music] our Eskimo ways are changing and I want to tell you a story of the old days when people were different from now we had a certain dog and she had many fine pups I remember a little she once had more than you could count on the fingers of one hand when they grew up they were the best dogs my father ever owned she was a good mother and looked after the young with care and attention they were all different in color some black some white or gray but they all liked to eat and they were sleepy and lazy puppies as you all know are meant to be played with my children our dogs were always spoiled in this way and grew for a while thinking how soft and easy everything is nothing to do all they would eat and be rocked to sleep by the young girls you but pups grow up and soon must learn to work in summer they carry packs for us they quickly learned what their legs were for they carried their share of the burden when we journeyed to look for girls eggs to spear salmon or to pick berries on the hills my young legs would grow tired then my father a patient man and very strong would take me on his back as he walked along he would sing to me I love to go walking far and far away and my soles are worn through as I pluck the buds of willow that are furry like the gray Wolf's beard the waters of the river are icy cold cold as the heart of the glacier waters of the river come from far and far away and flow to the goddess of the sea sometimes my uncle would come with us on a trek and he would carry me he was a great talker and told many tales once she told me a story about a dog who died of hunger because his master was a bad provider his spirit turned into a wolf and he ate people up I thought this was a fine story I asked my uncle did you see the wolf spirit and he said yes but I gave him meat then he went away when we rested we ate caribou I can tell you I fed our dogs very well when the time came [Music] sometimes we carried our packs into the high hills where no man lives in springtime the snow is not gone from such places and is slow to melt our dogs would carry heavy loads through great drifts but snow is no colder than the icy water of rivers our dogs were learning to stand great hardship and we were thankful in winter the wind blows down from the hills and the great snows come [Music] our dogs would be trained to the harness and talked the ways of a sled the whip crash yeah yeah swiftly swiftly they pulled the sled brother and sister side-by-side the whip cracks who is master who is the cunning one the deceitful one the thankless one my father was a patient man as I have told you but often with those young dogs he lost his temper and was angry he would then use language terrible to hear when the seas frozen Nets earth the seal comes up to breathe net Zerg is shy and his nervous of any strange sound he can hear your breath he can see you blink your eyes [Music] our dogs were great hunters of net suck the seal they were clever at sniffing for his hiding places beneath the ice net suck would hide but our dogs would sniff him out then the hunt would begin the seals dwell beneath the sea with the sea goddess my uncle told many tales of her kingdom beneath the frozen ice she is Guardian to all creatures that live in the sea a seal is a gift from the sea goddess and only the best hunters receive her gift the seal has sharp ears the dogs were taught to lie still to stay apart from the blow homes oh yes the seal has the sharpest ears if he hears the slightest creaking in the snow he will take warning and swim away [Music] if net circ is the feet of our dogs or the breath from your nose he will be frightened he will then dive to the kingdom of the sea goddess he knows she will protect him and save him from the harpoon of the clumsy hunter she asks are you patient does your dog have a sharp nose when it's hurt he's your harpoon strong and well-made when a seal was caught our dogs were anxious to share in the kill we have found the blowhole for you they say therefore we have a right to part of the catch the wise hunter will reward his dogs dogs that are rewarded are anxious to please and fear nothing my father was a great hunter his harpoon was straight and shocked our bellies were never empty and we had seal skins to make many things hunting was sometimes bad but my father would nearly always bring back a seal often he was the only hunter in our village who did patiently he waited at the blowholes coming back sometimes with a bearded seal or sometimes with a ringed seal I remember the excitement among the people when the hunter returned everyone would run out to lay claim to a share of the meat and praise the kill [Music] my father was modest and much admired by all the young girls he told them about the Hat my dog is a wretched creature and my arm is weak he said but you see how luck comes even to the poorest hunter when my father brought in a fresh seal he would declare himself quite unworthy of praise that his harpoon was poorly made and his dogs were useless as the fleas in their coats no no his friends would say your dogs are the best at finding the blowholes your harpoon is envied by all then my father would smile and be condemned then my mother would cook parts of the seal and serve the guests then my father would smile and be content as I told you the hunter did not forget his dog he borrowed the dogs nose the dog guided him to the seal and the hunter was grateful but the hunter was careful not to feed his dog too much for it is well known that a fat dog is lazy a dog either for meat moves quickly it has a sharp nose a dog will keep warm in the snow curled up with his nose under his tail the snow will cover him yet he will sleep and rest himself and be eager for the harness the time came for us to leave a village to find new seal hunting on the frozen ice of the sea the weather was bad and the wind howled about our ears I remember my father harnessing the dogs loading us with all our belongings on the big sled we are going on a trek he said the journey is not easy this will be a time of testing for the dogs [Music] as soon as we could we left the old place the igloos were empty and silent in a long line once led behind the other we started out the dogs strained at the harness this was the first trek in winter that I clearly remember our dogs are unworthy I thought we shall perish in the snow we shall be eaten by wolves or polar bears but my father was strong and a great hunter he shouted at the dogs and they understood then I thought surely our dogs are the strongest and best in the land because they are my father's dogs and obey his voice [Music] at last we came to the end of our trek in the new place there were many seals and the hunting that winter was very good and that is the way we used to live [Applause] you

Channel: Alaska Extreme

Views: 595,385

Keywords: tuktu, eskimo, eskimo culture, inuit culture, inupiaq culture, eskimo igloo, how to make an igloo, eskimo joes, eskimo pie, native pride, indigenous, homesteading, hunters and gatherers, native americans, alaska history, canadian history, native canadians, yupik culture, native american history, iditarod, sled dog race, kuskokwim 300, yukon quest, a tribe called red, pumyua, supaman, igloo, huskies, eskimo dogs

Id: SIsXsXBw6oI

Length: 14min 13sec (853 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 25 2017