Both father and son stood staring at each other. The rifle slowly dropped from Enuk's hand and as if in a trance he began to walk towards his son.
Napachee broke into a run once more and rushed into his father's arms.
Enuk embraced his son and rocked back and forth. He looked into Napachee's eyes as tears began to drift down his cheeks.
"I am home Father," Napachee whispered in Inuktitut. "I am home where I belong."
Hagiyok charged at his mother who began to lick his face.
Napachee led his father over to where Jo had been standing some distance away.
"Hi. I'm Jo."
"I know who you are," Napachee's father said. "I met your father when I was in Edmonton to help with the search and I know he is going to be very happy when he finds out you are alive! We will call him as soon as we return to town."
Enuk placed his hand on his son's arm and Napachee turned to face his father.
"I am sorry I have been harsh with you," Enuk said.
Napachee tried to speak but his father raised his hand for silence.
"I have been a hunter as your grandfather was and his father before him. I have seen our world changing and have tried to ignore it. What is right for me is not necessarily right for you. You have been proud and strong to make this journey back to our land, and if it is truly the white man's world that interests you then those are the feelings that you should follow."
Napachee smiled at his father and nodded his head. "I do not want to be a part of the city. I have learned that I am not meant to be a great hunter like you. We are great hunters. We must protect that, our language and all of our customs, but we must also work with the other peoples of the North and those from the South if our culture is to survive. I know I want to play a part in this."
Enuk smiled and nodded to his son. "Let us go home," Enuk said softly.
As they walked towards the komatik Napachee stopped and turned, looking for Hagiyok and his mother. He could see them slowly moving off across the snow. Hagiyok stopped and looked at Napachee. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air, taking one faltering step forward. Hagiyok's mother gave a low grunt and with one last glance, he moved to join her.
"Goodbye my brave friend," Napachee whispered. Jo placed her hand on Napachee's shoulder.
"You are welcome here, Jo," Enuk said warmly. "The fact that you have made this journey with Napachee shows that you respect the land and the way of the Inuit and Inuvialuit peoples. You will be a special guest in our home until we can get you to your father."
With a soft click of his tongue, Enuk set the dogs in motion. Napachee and Jo jumped onto the sled and Enuk hopped on in front of them. The sled swooshed across the ice in the fading light of an arctic evening.
GLOSSARY
Aklavik
A community located in the Mackenzie Delta. Aklavik means "Place of the barren land grizzly".
Amoute
A special parka with large hood used to carry babies and small children.
Arctic Char
Salmon-like fish known for their fight who run the waterways to the ocean to spawn each year. They range in size from 2óndash;30 pounds.
Arqviq
Inuktitut for "bowhead whale".
Dene
The name preferred by aboriginal people in the North who are neither Inuit nor Inuvialuit, and may be called "Indian" or "First Nations" elsewhere.
Doge
Slavey for "Dall's sheep".
Enuk
Traditional Inuit male name meaning "person".
Fan Hitch
A method of hitching dogs to a komatik. It allows dogs to spread out in a fan formation in front of sled as opposed to a single line as with other sleds.
Gwich'in
The Dene people located in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories. The name can be translated with several meanings, including "living there," "the place where you live" or "people".
Hagiyok
Inuktitut for "strong one".
Hareskin Dene
The Dene people located in the Sahtu region or Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories.
Igloo
A snow house built in a dome shape from blocks carved out of the snow piled on top of each other.
Inuit
Eastern Arctic aboriginal people formerly called "Eskimos" who live in the territory now called Nunavut. The name translated means "the people".
Inukshuk
A figure composed of stones piled on one another used as a landmark by Inuvialuit and Inuit. It is also used to mark the path of caribou and the locale of caches of meat.
Inuktitut
The language of the Inuit, sometimes written using geometric symbols and syllabics or using Roman orthography.
Inuvialuit
Western Arctic aboriginal people who live in the Northwest Territories. The word translated also means "the people".
Inuvialuktun
The language of the Inuvialuit, which is rarely written.
Inuvik
The main centre of the Western Arctic with a population of approximately 2,500. Inuvik means "the place of man".
Itsé
Slavey for "moose".
Iqaluit
A community in the extreme Eastern Arctic and the capital of Nunavut. Iqaluit means "where the fish are".
Komatik
Inuit for a flat, low sled, also called Qamutigruaq.
Mountain Dene
The Dene people also found in the Sahtu region or Mackenzie Valley.
Muktuk
Whale skin eaten by the Inuit and Inuvialuit peoples for its taste and vitamin C.
Napachee
Traditional Inuit male name.
Nodah
Slavey for "mountain lion".
Northern Lights
Otherwise known as the Aurora Borealis. Greenish-blue lights that appear in the northern night sky.
Nunavut
The official territory created in 1999, which borders the Northwest Territories to the west and Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the south. It was formerly part of the Northwest Territories and now recognizes the distinct society and lands of the Inuit. The name means "our land".
Okpik
Inuktitut for "snowy owl".
Omingmak
Inuktitut for "muskox", a large prehistoric-looking animal with shaggy hair and curled horns that roams wild before being herded and killed for meat.
Pannik
Often pronounced "Bunnik". Inuktitut for "daughter".
Qanuripit
An Inuvialuit greeting meaning "hello".
Qinalugak
Inuktitut for "beluga whale".
Quaq
Raw, frozen fish or caribou.
Slavey
The Dene language spoken in regions of the Northwest Territories including the Sahtu, Mackenzie Valley. It is spoken by the Hareskin and Mountain Dene.
Talik
Traditional Inuit female name meaning "arm".
Tasó
Slavey for "raven".
Toogalik
Inuktitut for "narwhal", a whale with a unicorn-like horn on its head found in the Eastern Arctic/Nunavut.
Tsiigehtchic
A community formerly known as Arctic Red River. Situated where the Mackenzie and Red Rivers meet. It means "Red Stones" in Gwich'in.
Tuktoyaktuk
An Inuvialuit community on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, Beaufort Sea. It means "where the caribou are".
Tulita
The community formerly known as Fort Norman. It means "where the rivers meet" in Slavey.
Tundra
Northern barren land without trees and minimal vegetation, covered in permafrost.
Ulu
A knife used by the Inuit and Inuvialuit shaped like a half moon used to skin and slice meat.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to David and Annie Akoak, Lyall and Mary Trimble and Loretta Trimble, Angela Grandjambe, Stella Beyha,
Tom Beaulieu and Betty Firth without whose help Napachee would not have been possible.
Napachee Page 8
