Introduction-E

How old were your sons when you started teaching them how to use a
dogteam?
Pauloosie: Our learning took place when we went along on trips. We didn’t use paper.
Our learning took place outside when we would go along on trips. It’s only now that we
understand this. Women also learned by observing their mothers. That’s how they
learned. They didn’t go through formal education, but learned through observing and
watching. We as men learned more about what men do, and the women learned more
about what women do, that way. That’s how it was. Today it seems like men’s and
women’s skills are more mixed.
Were you informed what you should do if you were approached by a
bear or if you were out hunting and ran into one?
Pauloosie: Bears were not a protected species back then. Today, when it’s not bear
hunting season, we have to chase them away. Back then, we used to be able to hunt
them.
When they unexpectedly approached camps, what were you advised to do?
Pauloosie: I was never advised as to what to do exactly. But if they approached, they
could not be kept away.
If you were out hunting and you were attacked by a bear,
what would you do?
Pauloosie: When hunting wasn’t regulated, animals tended to come around if you were
a hunter, probably based on how willing you were to catch game. That used to be a way
of life, but today with the wildlife officers around, the bears are chased away if it is not
bear hunting season. I lived around the Qikiqtarjuaq area and I helped to chase bears
away especially around this time of year, when it was still boating season. There were
shacks around that could be entered and used by anyone. There were a number of
shacks out there. When we were in one, we were approached by three bears. Even
though there were attempts to chase them away during the night, the next morning
while our canoes were pulled up on land, I saw a bear hanging around the end of the
canoe where the outboard motor was. The bear went up to the starter that you had to
pull. I have heard that bears think like humans. I heard that a long time ago. He bit it
and started pulling at it. My belief that polar bears have the capability to think like
humans became stronger after I saw for myself how the bear pulled and released the
starter repeatedly. There were a number of us. I started to worry that the bear would
damage the outboard motor, so I asked one of the hunters to shoot at it and chase it
Life Stories – Pauloosie Angmarlik 121