Introduction-E

Qimmiqsuuq. My great-grandmother used to go see her elder sister with another
couple.
Take my father for instance. Whenever we ask him to move here,
he never says yes, because he does not want to leave my mother’s body.
He has been like this a long time. Has this always been so?
Saullu: Yes, we don’t want to leave our mother’s body. If we die in a different place,
maybe it is better if we get buried in the same area. Not long ago I told the people in
Pangniqtuuq to save me a spot beside my deceased husband. They would have their
bodies taken to where they had requested, even out in the open with just some stones
around, without being covered. This was according to their wishes and that’s how they
would be left. This didn’t happen to everybody, only to the ones who had requested this.
They didn’t fear that their bodies would be eaten by animals?
Saullu: They didn’t think they would be moved. Deceased Nutaraq’s first husband is
buried like that on the land, with just stones around him, at the bay of Uummanarjuaq.
What was his name?
Saullu: Nuqinngaq, her first husband.
Sometimes it is scary to sleep close to a grave site because it causes you
to have bad dreams. Is it because the dead person is said to tarniqsuq
(be present)?
Saullu: Yes, some souls can’t ascend.
Because they are unable to ascent they tarniqsuq?
Saullu: Yes. People were supposedly scared of them. At least that’s what I heard.
What was tarniqsuq?
Saullu: It’s a soul that cannot ascend. We’ll only understand this at the end of the world,
every one of us.
Was it also a tradition, that if somebody touched a bone from a grave
by accident, they would have to whistle?
Saullu: I used to quickly take teeth, because I liked them. They used to have really nice
teeth.
114 Introduction to the Oral Traditions