Summer Life 133 



fish or meat gather up our fishing-gear and start out for some lake, seldom 

 returning before 9 p.m. If one lake yielded nothing we crossed the low 

 dividing ridge and fished in the next. The dogs were kept in camp, tied to 

 boulders, and fed on fish broth and on bones that had already been gnawed 

 clean by the natives. The children often spent whole nights in wandering 

 about, shooting at birds with their bows and arrows, and jigging for trout 

 and salmon in the lakes; they would return to camp in the morning and sleep 

 all through the day. Three or four caribou were shot, and a few birds, 

 and a sea-gull was caught in a fox-trap. The women used okauyak for 

 fuel whenever they cooked, as there was neither heather nor willow in the 

 neighbourhood. One day Higilak used her stone lamp, burning some of 

 the seal blubber she had brought inland with her. But in summer the lamp 

 seldom burns well owing to the draught inside the tent, for the front is 

 partly open and the roof half agape, while the sides are often full of rents. 

 Two shamanistic performances were given during this pericJd. Everyone 

 was busy on the 18th packing up the things that lay scattered all round the 

 camp. Whatever was not absolutely essential during the next three or 

 four months, such as skins, sinew, spare clothing, and various tools and 

 implements, was cached on top of the sleds, while the dried meat and fish 

 were piled up in heaps and covered with boulders. 



June 19: Packing everything we needed for the summer on our backs, and on 

 the backs of the dogs, we crossed Lake Angmaloktok, and camped beside 

 a small bay named Kauwaktok at the northwest extremity of the lake 

 where fish were said to be very plentiful. The distance was about five miles. 

 Okalluk's pack, which was exceptionally heavy, must have weighed over 

 two hundred pounds. The Eskimos went fishing as soon as camp was made. 

 The songs that they had learned from the Kanghiryuak natives two or 

 • three weeks before were very popular about this time, and every night they 

 were sung in one tent or another. 



June 20 — 26 : Fishing was carried on as usual. Avranna went hunting one day, 

 using Ikpakhuak's rifle. In his absence Ikpakhuak sighted a bull caribou 

 and wounded it with an arrow, but it escaped. A few loons and ducks and 

 ptarmigan were shot. The natives made lard from the fat of the eider ducks 

 we shot to carry along with them. By the 26th we were threatened with 

 a shortage of food, for our daily catch of fish was very small and the reserves 

 of dried fish and meat that we had brought with us were nearly exhausted. 

 Accordingly the party decided to spread out, and Tutsik and his family 

 moved on this day to a lake a few miles farther north. 



June 27 : Okalluk and his family moved off to the northeast, Tusayok and his 

 wife and son to the southeast, while the famiUes of Ikpakhuak and Avranna, 

 with myself, went north by west. On the way we stopped at two lakes to 

 fish, then camped towards evening on the edge of a third lake. Our whole 

 catch for the day was only two small salmon trout and two lake trout. 



June 28: We moved again about two miles north to a lake called Sagsagiak 

 laid down our packs, tied up the dogs, and began to fish. This day we had 

 more success. The women abandoned the fishing before the rest of us in 

 order to tidy up the camp. 



June 29 — July 2 : The weather was very foggy during the greater part of this 

 period. Caribou were sighted on the 29th while we were fishing, so the 

 next day most of us went hunting. Ikpakhuak, Avranna, Milukkattak and 

 Kanneyuk went north, but a heavy fog settled down soon after they left 

 and they were unable to find their way back to camp for three days. During 

 this interval they fished in various lakes, with considerable success, and 

 shot two deer. At night, having neither tent nor sleeping skins, they 

 huddled together on the ground under the shelter of some bank. This 

 little adventure in no way dampened their spirits, however; they were as 



