Taissumani: July 16, 1948 – The Passing of Ataguttaaluk, Queen of Igloolik (Part 2)

KENN HARPER

Last week, this column recounted the first part of a story told by Tagurnaaq in 1922. Tagurnaaq recounted the tragic events that befell Ataguttaaluk, who, to save her own live, ate the already-dead bodies of her husband and children. Tagurnaaq’s narrative continues:

(Continued from last week.)

“And when she was once more able to speak, she told us how it had come about. They had gone up country hunting caribou, but had not been able to find any; they then tried fishing in the lakes but there was no fish. Her husband wandered all about in search of food, but always without success, and they grew weaker and weaker. Then they decided to turn back towards Iglulik, but were overtaken by heavy snowfalls. The snow kept on. It grew deeper and deeper, and they themselves were growing weaker and weaker every day. They lay in their snow hut and could get nothing to eat. Then, after the snow had fallen steadily for some time, there came fierce blizzards, and at last her husband was so exhausted that he could not stand.

“They kept themselves alive for some time by eating the dogs, but these also were wasted away and there was little strength in them as food. It simply kept them alive, so that they could not even die. At last the husband and all the children were frozen to death; having no food, they could not endure the cold. Ataguttaaluk had been the strongest of them all, though she had no more to eat than the others. As long as the children were alive they had most. She had tried at first to start off by herself and get through to Iglulik, for she knew the way, but the snow came up to her waist, and she had no strength, she could not go on. She was too weak even to build a snow hut for herself, and the end of it was she turned back in her tracks and lay down beside her dead husband and the dead children. Here at least there was shelter from the wind in the snow hut and there were still a few skins she could use for covering.

“She ate these skins to begin with. But at last there was no more left, and she was only waiting for the death to come and release her. She seemed to grow more and more dull and careless of what happened. But one morning, waking up to sunshine and a fine clear sky, she realized that the worst of the winter was over now, and it could not be long till the spring. Her snow hut was right on the road to Tununeq, the very road that all would take when going from Igloolik to trade there. The sun was so warm that for the first time she felt thawed a little, but the snow all about her was as deep and impassable as ever.

“Then suddenly it seemed as if the warm spring air about her had given her a great desire to go on living, and thus it was that she fell to eating of the dead bodies that lay beside her. It was painful, it was much worse than dying, and at first she threw up all she ate, but she kept on, once she had begun. It could not hurt the dead, she knew, for their souls were long since in the land of the dead. Thus she thought, and thus it came about that she became an inuktumajuq, an eater of human kind.

“All this she told us, weeping; and Palluq and I, realizing that after all these sufferings she deserved to live, drove her into Iglulik, where she had a brother living. Here she soon recovered her strength, but it was long before she could bear to be among her fellows. It is many years now since all this happened, and she is married now, to one of the most skilful walrus hunters at Iglulik, named Ittuksaarjuat, who had one wife already; she is his favourite wife and has had several more children.”

The terrible events that Tagurnaaq described took place in the spring of 1905. Although it is rare that an event that forms part of Inuit traditional lore can be accurately dated, this tragic story is an exception.

Atuat, the adoptive daughter of Tagurnaaq and Palluq, had accompanied her parents on the trip they had taken to the Pond Inlet area to trade. Captain James Mutch had wintered at Erik Harbour, just to the east of Pond Inlet, in the winter of 1903-04 and the news of his arrival had spread quickly among the Inuit, for Mutch had trade goods and was the first whaler to winter in the area. In her old age, Atuat retold the story of Ataguttaaluk’s ordeal. The tragic events, she said, took place during the winter and spring following Mutch’s first wintering.

After her rescue Ataguttaaluk spent several months recovering. In the fall, a famous hunter, Ittuksaarjuat, took her as his wife. With her marriage, Attaguttaaluk acquired status and influence. The explorer, Knud Rasmussen, referred to her as the “first lady” of Fury and Hecla Straits. White people in the region would later call Attaguttaaluk and her husband the “king and queen of Iglulik.”

Attaguttaaluk was one of the first to be baptized in 1931 when Father Bazin established the first mission in the area, on the island of Avvajja. Her husband was finally baptized nine years later.

In June of 1948, Ataguttaaluk fell ill when an influenza epidemic hit Iglulik. Father Rousselière visited her and she began to complain about her illness. Then her tone suddenly changed. “Come, come,” she said, “it’s your turn to say beautiful things to me.” The priest spoke to her about her impending death, but she, who had lived with death, cut him off. “I am not afraid,” she told him.

In early July she was moved to a camp, Kangiq, on Melville Peninsula. Refusing to stay inside her son’s tent, she awaited death outside. On the 16th of July, having outlived her husband by almost four years, Ataguttaaluk passed away peacefully. She was buried on a hilltop overlooking the shore. In memory of her, a school in Iglulik bears her name.

Taissumani: A Day in Arctic History recounts a specific event of historic interest, whose anniversary is in the coming week. Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.