I encourage you to point out that people need to be out of personal debt as soon as possible since it has taken great effort and possibly many years to pay off personal debt which has exhausted many a productive people and is a great burden to many people here. Our determination to reach our goals can only strengthen us and encourage the Inuit to be a people of courage and sense of self-worth that we need on the long term effects that will determine our accomplishments and goals. Saputivasi Sivulirtusi nalligitsusilu!

• April 11, 2005
• Bobby Patsauq

Sharing

My parents, friends, relatives and the elders emphasized the importance of sharing food. It didn't matter what food it was that they insisted be distributed equally. Their advice even extended to store-bought items. Such insistence was not to be taken lightly, for it had been passed down from a generation that had encountered starvation.

Two summers ago there were 53 households. That number mattered when it came to having to share meat that had been harvested. As much as possible, the understood rule was to share it among all the households, no matter how many persons are in each.

More recently, that number rose by 8 more households, making it harder to distribute the meat among the 61 or 62 houses. Nevertheless, an effort is made to see to it that the meat is evenly shared.

This understood rule is practised up to date. There are certain difficulties encountered during the distribution to such a large population. However, hardly anyone is totally disappointed, for people have a tendency to help each other when it comes to food anyway.

If any hard-to-get meat is harvested in small quantity, it is then given to the elders and the widows, first and foremost. Great respect is shown to these Inuit because although they have no means of hunting and fishing, they are the ones to turn to for wisdom and guidance in times of lack of knowledge and difficulties.

A large beluga white whale has to be butchered in a way that takes into consideration all of the community members. The AMIRRUQ, or the lower part of the whale, and the TALIRRUUK (flippers) have to be given to the spouse of the hunter that got the animal. She, in turn, has to soon invite her fellow female friends over to her house to feast on these parts.

The SARVEEK (the flukes), are cut into thin slices that represent each household. Similarly, the meat is cut into as many pieces, on the understanding that it will either be dried, boiled, frozen or consumed as is by all ages. The MUTTAQ is painstakingly cut into as equal a part as possible.

Such butchering of the white whale is done at the same place in an rocky terrain, as opposed to a sandy area, so the animal parts will not be soiled. Furthermore, the people are invited to be there, to all participate in the happy occasion of obtaining such desireable food. Men do the cutting under the elders' advice, women get busy in getting the fat that she will later allow to transform into oil and the youth help in the carrying of the heavy pieces. Children watch in hopes of consuming the succulant food. Everyone is in high spirits and there is a lot of mutual consversation and assistance.

The same kind of comraderie is evident when men come to the village from a remote fishing ground. IQALUITT are brought in from the rivers and lakes where gill-nets had been used.

The same rule is followed when an UDJUK (bearded seal) is caught or a TIRILLUK (a young bearded seal) has been harvested. NANUITT (polar bears) are regarded as the same type of animal that has to be shared. However, their liver is toxic and the meat has to be cooked well in order to avoid sickness.

AIVEETT (walrus) is another animal that is usually caught after a prolonged hunt by men on a community boat. This animal is caught on a remote island called Tujjaat (difficult terrain for trekking on) during the time the ground is beginning to freeze. The meat of this animal was also reserved for the QIMMEETT (husky dogs). While some of it is distributed among the community members, a big part is taken to an area when they can put it into QINNEETT (cairns), covered by boulders to keep away Nanuitt in a spot where there will likely be none of them to vandalize. Then the men later return to these sights during the winter months to again distribute evenly among the community members.

Again, men and women exclaim, "YAY!", with great enthusiasm and loudness to express their gratitude. It is to no one in particular that they say it to, but it is understood that they are expressing appreciation to the unforeseen force that allow such good fortune for the community at large. It is also an expression recognizing the end of a period of hunger and hard times. And the more you age, the more you begin to comprehend the meaning of that expression.

• September 21, 2007
• Adamie Kalingo