Introduction-E

Are dogs absolutely quiet when they are about to maul somebody?
Pauloosie: Yes, that’s what they say. They are absolutely quiet when they are ready to
maul somebody. When they are fighting with another dog they make noise. But they
are very quiet when they are about to maul a person. I’ve never witnessed a person
being mauled.
Were your dogs trained to go bear hunting?
Pauloosie: When I lived in Illungajut and used to have a dogteam, there were no polar
bears. But when I moved to Qikiqtarjuaq where there were bears, I didn’t have a
dogteam. There, I always kept one or two dogs because of the bears. If I was out on the
land, I used to bring a dog to warn me in case a bear came.
You said that you used to have your dogs tied up in the spring?
Pauloosie: Yes. They were harnessed and the harness was tied to a rope. All the dogs
would be tied in groups in the spring camp.
They did not chew the ropes?
Pauloosie: If they did not develop the tendency, they didn’t do that. But the ones that
would chew the ropes would start eating the ropes. But if they did not have the
tendency to chew them they didn’t do that.
They didn’t even chew their harnesses?
Pauloosie: No. In the winter we tended to go up north where there were seals and I
needed to keep them tied up. I would grease fuel on their harnesses when I needed to
keep them tied up during the night. That’s how I would teach them not to chew on their
harnesses, by greasing the harnesses with fuel. It worked.
Did you make your own whips?
Pauloosie: Yes. They were just swung over the sled, dragging along.
Saullu: She is asking if you made them yourself. Did you make your own whips?
Pauloosie: That was the only way. I also even used to sew skin ropes because I didn’t
just cut holes in them to make an extension. I would sew it in a way called miqsaq (a way
of sewing). It is the stitch used in sewing a tent (akittittuq). As Saullu explained when
you sew a tent and one is outside and the other is inside it was called akittittuq. Sewing
the harness like this is called miqsaqtuq.
120 Introduction to the Oral Traditions