My Little Corner of Canada, April 3

Qakutalik was born in the summer. Blind and helpless, he snuggled close to his mother for the first two weeks of his life.

Nourished by his mother’s rich milk, he grew quickly and his eyes opened. He was one of eight puppies born to Kayuq, the team’s alpha female.

Qakutalik got his name because he was all black except for his white toes and a white diamond in the middle of his forehead.

As soon as their eyes were open, the children of the Inuit family began to handle and play with the puppies.

Mitsima, the youngest girl, treated Qakutalik like a doll. She often put him in her amautik and carry her around like a living doll. Qakutalik got to recognize her scent when she came by and bonded with her.

When the pups got big enough to run and play around the summer camp, Mitsima, Kayuq, and Nashalik, the alpha male and father of the pups, kept their eyes on them.

Whenever another dog from a different family came close, Kayuq would emit a deep growl and the intruder would move away.

When fall and the snow came, the pups got too big to be treated like dolls and the boys of the camp took over their training as working dogs.

In the winter months, as Qakutalik grew larger, Suyuq, the oldest boy, became responsible for his training.

He would harness him along with one or two other young dogs and hitch them to a small qamutik. They learned to pull the qamutik and learn Suyuq’s commands to turn right, left, run and stop.
They would get very excited whenever they caught the scent of a fox in the air or hear the sound of a lemming burrowing under the snow.

Sometimes Suyuq’s mother would send him and his young dogs to a nearby iceberg to bring back glacial ice for the family’s drinking water. Suyuq was so proud of being entrusted with such an important task for the family. Suyuq and Qakutalik became close and trusted each other.

The father of the family began to see qualities in Qakutalik which could make him a lead dog when he was mature. He was smart, loyal, and strong.

When spring arrived after a long dark and cold winter, Qakutalik was now mature enough to be taken on hunting trips. He learned to be quiet and still when the father was stalking seals basking on the sea ice.

Qakutalik nearly went haywire when he smelled the scent of a polar bear for the first time. The whole team took off in the direction of the scent and the hunters knew a polar bear was close.

Qakutalik’s natural instincts came to the surface and he was determined to confront the bear, no matter what.

The most experienced dogs were released to catch up with the fleeing bear while the rest pulled the qamutik and the hunters.

In a short while the hunters caught up with dogs they had released. They had the bear surrounded and nipping at its hind legs and snout.

After the kill, Qakutalik never had so much adrenalin flowing through his body. He was a hunting dog. He was a bear hunter.

(Continued next week)