WHITIE AND LITTLE OUMAUK
It was a very jubilant hunting party that returned to Eskimo Town that
night. The komatiks were loaded with five hundred pounds of bear meat,
which makes a fine variation in the menu of the poor Eskimo. Besides
that, the great, white robe of the Czarina was an important part of the
kill; not to mention the fat Nik-Suk, who is always welcomed with joy
in the igloo.
But the most astonishing thing that the three hunters brought was
Whitie, the little polar bear. And the most excited person in all
Eskimo Town was little Oumauk, who at once appropriated the small bear.
Although it was well on in the evening when the hunting party returned,
yet half of the people in the village flocked to Eiseeyou's igloo to
see the small bear. But little Oumauk was very jealous of them all, and
would hardly take his hands off the cub long enough for the rest to
admire it.
The first question which at once arose was what and how to feed the
cub. Meat was out of the question, and there was no milk in the
village. The life of the cub might have ended then and there by slow
starvation had not Eiseeyou remembered a case of evaporated milk which
had been brought to the village the winter before, during an epidemic
among the children. They had brought several cases, but only one was
still unused. So Eiseeyou at once went to a deserted igloo where the
milk had been cached and dug it out. A can was quickly opened, and some
of the milk diluted with water to what Eiseeyou thought would be the
proper bear thickness.
This was placed in a small pewter dish which the igloo boasted.
Eiseeyou then took the small bear on his lap and by putting his nose
partly in the milk, and also by putting the tip of his little finger in
the bear's mouth, the ingenious Eskimo had Whitie drinking in a very
few minutes.
When he had drunk all the milk that he would, little Oumauk claimed
him. So he was wrapped in the lightest warmest fur that the igloo
contained and placed on the sleeping bench beside little Oumauk, and
the musk ox robe was covered over both of them.
Eiseeyou cautioned his son to be careful not to roll on Whitie, and not
to handle him too much until he should get stronger.
Five minutes later when Eiseeyou's kooner lifted up the edge of the
robe to see them, both were sleeping soundly and the head of the child
rested against that of the small bear.
Eiseeyou was awakened very early the following morning by Oumauk, who
wanted all the family to arouse themselves in order that they might
attend to the cub. But Eiseeyou, who was very tired, for once asserted
his parental authority and made Oumauk keep still while the rest slept.
When they did at last arise, the cub was the first of the family to get
his breakfast. And from that very day he became one of the family as
well as a very important inhabitant of Eskimo Town.
For the first few days Eiseeyou had to admonish frequently to keep his
small son from loving the bear to death, for he hugged and squeezed him
continually. Finally Eiseeyou explained very tragically that if they
did not let the cub sleep a lot just as sister did, he would die and
they would have to bury him, just as they had Oumauk's favorite puppy
the summer before. It had the desired effect and after this Oumauk was
very careful.
It was hard, though, when the winds howled outside, and the snows blew
and all the children in the village had to stay inside, for Oumauk to
keep his hands off his small bear companion.
On pleasant days, Oumauk would go forth having wrapped Whitie up in a
warm fur, although really there was no need of that as the cub had a
very warm fur of his own. But Oumauk would wrap him up nicely and then,
putting him on his small komatik which his father had made for him,
would go about the village exhibiting his pet to all the children.
There was great rivalry among the boys to be allowed to help draw the
komatik, but Oumauk would suffer only his best friends to help.
When Whitie grew steady on his legs, and larger and stronger, he was
allowed to shuffle about for himself with the children. But Oumauk
never allowed him to get more than ten feet away, and he was quite
jealous of the other children who wanted to pet Whitie.
When the spring finally came and the sunbeams were warm, great
rejoicing filled Eskimo Town. Although they bear the long dark winter
stoically and do not grumble at their hard lot, yet it is probable that
no people on earth so rejoice at the coming of Spring as do the Eskimos.
The children swarmed forth from the igloos to romp with the puppies,
which had also made their appearance with the coming of Spring. These
puppies were legion in number and of all sizes and colors.
But these little snow children loved them just as much as they would
have the most pedigreed dogs. So the children, the puppies, and the
small white bear all rioted and rejoiced in the glad Springtime.
With the coming of Spring, the traps were all brought in and put
away until another season. Walrus hunting and seal hunting was also
temporarily given up; as the seals, the walrus, and the foxes would
follow the icefloe northward.
Perhaps next to the enjoyment of the warm sunshine and the coming of
certain spring flowers, which abound in surprising profusion even in
these north latitudes, the return of the birds was the most wonderful
thing enjoyed in Eskimo Town. Of all the feathered friends that
returned in the spring the Eskimo most joyously welcomed the little
auk, which is to him the most useful of all the Arctic birds. It also
rejoiced their hearts to see great flocks of eider ducks, and Brant's
geese go by. Full well they knew that when they had gone to their
summer quarters in Eskimo Village they would find good eating from
these great birds. But first of all the auk claimed their attention.
These birds are about the size of the screech owl, or a little larger
than the robin. They are gay of plumage and very pleasing to the eye
when they come in large flocks. They are so tame that if one goes to
the top of a high hill and sits down on the ground perfectly still,
they will light upon one's head and shoulders. They seem to be entirely
fearless.
So when the auk had come back in great numbers, Eiseeyou, Oumauk, and
Whitie went to the top of a high hill near by Eskimo Town to catch them
in the nets.
Whitie was almost as much interested as the rest. Little Oumauk was
all eagerness, as helping with the net was a sort of initiation into
becoming a great hunter.
The net was something like a fish net. The two ends were secured on the
tops of two tall poles about twelve feet apart.
The net was held open slightly on the south side by a spreader. When
the auk had once flown into the net, he either got entangled in its
meshes, or did not seem to understand that he could fly out in the way
he had come. So by setting up the net every few minutes and by taking
it down and killing the entangled birds, the work of catching the poor
auk went merrily on.
It would have been cruel sport had not these bright skins been most
useful to the Eskimo; but as it was, he was merely killing the auk as a
farmer would his chickens.
He brought along a large gunny sack in which to carry back the catch.
If he was lucky and the birds were flying freely, in an afternoon he
would net from three to five hundred birds.
When we remember that the skins of these birds are made into the
Eskimos' winter shirt, and also that the meat is very fine eating, even
for a white man, the usefulness of the auk is at once appreciated.
When Eiseeyou, and Oumauk and Whitie finally trudged back to Eskimo
Town with their sack full of dead birds, Oumauk was the proudest boy in
the village.
There was one menace from which little Oumauk had a hard time defending
his pet, and that was the wolfish sledge dogs. These savage canines are
very little removed from wolves and are always quarreling and fighting
among themselves.
The first time they attacked Whitie, it might have gone hard with him
had not his young master happened along at just the right time.
Whitie was then only four or five months old and not large enough to
defend himself. When Oumauk found him, he was backed up against a
komatik, and several dogs were snapping at him. He was striking out
with his cub paws and defending himself the best that he could but one
of the dogs had already gashed his face and the red blood was streaming
down his white cheek.
Little Oumauk was fairly wild with rage and, although he was but
a small boy himself, yet he went at the dogs like a whirlwind. He
snatched up a club and rushed into the fight with such ferocity that he
sent the pack of mongrels yelping in every direction. After that, he
always kept a sharp watch on Whitie when he was outside. But as time
passed and the cub grew, this danger lessened.
Late in the summer, however, Oumauk discovered that his companion was
growing rapidly and could defend himself. Again he came upon the dogs
who had cornered his pet and were worrying him. Whitie had backed up
against a boulder and was striking out so vigorously that the dogs did
not dare to venture too near to him. Finally he landed a blow upon the
face of a venturesome pup and sent him sprawling on the ground. Then
little Oumauk knew that Whitie was fully able to take care of himself
as far as the dogs were concerned.
It was a most important day in Eskimo Town when the belongings of the
town were packed upon the komatiks and the inhabitants started on
their annual migration to Eskimo Village, about a hundred miles to the
northward. Of course they only took such of their belongings as they
knew they would need during the summer.
The snow was nearly gone, and the komatiks scratched and bumped along,
so the dogs had all they could do to pull the load.
The reason for this move was that the walrus and the seals had all gone
northward with the icefloe. Also, many of the ducks and the wild geese
nested on islands further north, and all the best cod fishing grounds
were there also.
So the Eskimo followed the walrus, the seals, and the icefloe along the
rather bleak coast of Eskimo Land.
Little Oumauk and Whitie trudged after Eiseeyou's komatik. Oumauk was
much excited about the trip, for he saw many new things. His father
pointed out to him all the interesting sights, and told him the names
of the birds that they saw. Finally after about ten days, they arrived
in sight of Eskimo Village.
It was on the side of a gently sloping hill, with a fine view of the
sea. As soon as the komatiks halted, the dogs were let loose, and the
men set up the cloth tents in which they would live during the summer.
It was surprising how rapidly pale flowers and grass sprang into being,
under the rays of the eighteen hours a day sunlight. When they came
to the season of continuous day in July and August, then these plants
would grow even more rapidly.
As soon as the summer quarters were put in order, the Eskimos turned
their attention to fishing.
Each day both the men and the women would go forth in the large
square-ended boats to fish. These boats are very steady and so are
especially good for fishing. The Eskimo name means women's boat and it
is used derisively. But they are much better for fishing than is the
unstable kayak, which carries only one person.
The fishing is done in rather shallow water corresponding to the
Newfoundland Banks, only it is several hundred miles further north.
The best fish that they take is the cod. They use two brightly painted
hooks which are kept rapidly moving up and down just above the floor of
the ocean. This kind of fishing is called jigging.
If the cod fishing is good, it will not be many days before all through
Eskimo Village the fish will be seen drying on poles which keep them
well up out of the way of the ravenous dogs.
Little Oumauk and Whitie were left very much to themselves during these
long, warm days and they had the finest kind of a summer. They played
upon the rocks or in the sand along the seashore, or even went half a
mile inland; but Oumauk did not like to go very far out of sight of
Eskimo Village.
Whitie was always doing strange things which both interested Oumauk and
piqued his curiosity. He discovered that the young bear was very fond
of ants and grubs and Oumauk soon learned to turn over the stones for
him and to help him dig in the likely places. Whitie also liked certain
roots and whenever he came to such as pleased his taste, Oumauk would
have to wait until he had satisfied his appetite for that particular
day.
Whitie was also very fond of certain wild berries which grew upon the
marshes. These were a sort of wild cranberry.
The first time that Oumauk saw his companion jump from a shelving rock
into the sea and start to swim out from shore, he was much frightened
and ran to his father crying that Whitie would be drowned.
But Eiseeyou hastened to inform his young son that Whitie's ancestors
had all been good swimmers and that Whitie could swim in the water
almost as well as Oumauk could walk on the land.
He did not have to be taught to swim either, as a boy would. He simply
kept his head up and his feet paddling. He was not afraid, and that was
more than half the battle.
Whitie was very fond of fish, but he did not like them dried.
When they cleaned the great cod, he would lie nearby watching for the
heads which Oumauk would throw to him.
Finally in July the sun came northward and stayed with them for about
two months. So then they had to go inside the cloth tents and sleep
for a certain part of each twenty-four hours, even though the sun was
shining. But they did not need as much sleep then as they did when the
days and nights were more apparent.
One day Eiseeyou took Oumauk and Whitie with him in his large boat to
the fishing ground. Oumauk was all excitement to see how the fish were
caught. But Whitie finally concluded it was very dull sport and lay
down on the bottom of the boat and went to sleep. Or at least they
thought he was sleeping soundly, but he finally aroused himself enough
to spoil one of the best cod by gnawing into it.
At last the long day ceased and the short nights came for an hour or
two each day. Then there came a chill in the air and frosts during
the nights. So since they had laid in a good supply of dried fish and
eider ducks' down, not to mention eggs and dead birds, the inhabitants
of Eskimo Village began to think of returning to Eskimo Town which was
always their winter quarters. But they usually waited until the first
slight snowstorm made the komatiks pull easier. This generally came
late in September.
Finally one cold morning when Oumauk arose and looked out of doors, he
saw that the ground was white with snow. There was but two or three
inches, yet it would serve the purpose for the sledges. So after
breakfast the cloth tents and the Eskimos' belongings were packed. The
supply of fish and eider ducks' meat and eggs was made safe and in two
or three hours the entire village was on the march.
When they had come northward, Whitie had been a timid, playful cub,
but now he was several times larger than he had been then, and rather
boisterous. He could hold his own with any of the dogs in battle, and
he had acquired much independence. But little Oumauk could do anything
with him. A month or so before they left Eskimo Village Oumauk had
learned to ride on Whitie's back, so the bear now carried his little
master for the better part of the long one hundred-mile march.
But once they were back in the igloo, Oumauk's mother protested against
having so large a bear as Whitie had become in the igloo all the time;
so he slept much of the time in a deserted igloo nearby. Even now he
was beginning to suggest what a monster he would be when he should
attain the stature and weight of a full grown polar bear.