Clyde River on Saturday morning looked abandoned. Gray clouds dominated the sky and heavy fog settled between houses creating a gloomy atmosphere. All the institutions are closed, children and teenagers are sleeping off last night of hanging around and the only people on streets are hunters and fishermen preparing their nets and boats for another day of hard work.
One of them is William Kautuq, an Inuk around 40 years old, who came to the dock with his only child, a 5-years old girl. While she was playing in the shallow water with sand and stones, William filled the tank of his boat with fuel and checked all the ropes attaching it to the port. We were looking, amazed, at this honest man working and decided to ask him about his job.
William caught his first seal at the age of 6 and from this day he used to go with his grandfather and father hunting regularly. They taught him everything about the life-giving land: plants and birds of tundra, migrating caribou, different species of seals living in the Arctic Ocean. He also learned to respect the animals offering themselves to hunters, enabling survival in the high Arctic. Now he goes hunting every second day, hoping to catch a ringed seal or some Arctic Char. Skinning the seal belongs to the responsibilities of William’s mother, who lives in the same house. Using an ulu knife, she separates the skin from a layer of fat. Seal fins are being cut and holes in the skin – closed. A dried skin might be sold for 50 Canadian dollars in local trade point, or given to neighbors who would sew clothes out of it. Sealskin is waterproof and isolates from chilling wind. Some hunters still prefer natural leather and traditional clothing from modern fashioned mittens and William is one of them.
He hopes to get a grant for hunting a polar bear this year again. Until now he was successful only once and managed to hunt a polar bear. Apparently, this was not the hunt he recalled during our talk… What William decided to share with us was a story of a cold, cold night in the Arctic tundra, when he went hunting for caribou with his cousin. Only after catching a big caribou, they have realized that they only had a small knife to cut the meat with. It was a pocket knife, something they would always have easily accessible and wouldn’t forget just because it was always there. Thanks to a pocket knife, the two hunters could return back home with precious meat for their families.
We were extremely happy to have met William – a hunter who wanted to share his culture and traditions with us, complete strangers interested in Inuit survival skills. We are sure that the knife is going to be an appreciated gift and a useful tool, that will remind William of us coming to Nunavut. He said he will use it for cutting the skin, cooking when he is in the land and in many, many other unexpected situations. Now we’re very glad to take part in this Wenger project, because we know that it is very useful, and it gives people an easier life.
