Introduction-E

had become orphaned. They couldn’t adopt a child if it was still feeding from the
natural mother because they didn’t have bottles then. They sometimes fed the children
the broth of cooked meat. I remember my mom saying that my grandmother had
problems with her breasts so she was fed egg yolk and breast milk by my
grandmother’s friend. Some waited to adopt until the babies could eat and were not
breast feeding anymore. Nowadays, with bottles around, they can adopt newborns
right after birth.
Young girls were taught how to sew by making doll clothing. They also helped
their mothers to chew on the sealskins for the soles of kamiik. They were married off
when they were still learning how to make clothing. But one of the elders said the
women couldn’t be married off if they hadn’t learned how to make proper clothing yet.
So the men chose women who could sew or make the best clothing.
Another thing Saullu pointed out was that she used to help out women who were
in labor. She used to be behind them, and her husband also helped sometimes. It was best
not to have too many people around because the woman might take longer trying to give
birth. She also demonstrated the position during labor but I wasn’t in class at the time.
The men were taught to make a rope from bearded sealskin. They would chew on
the skin too. The men also had a way of treating their dogs differently. They say that
puppies born in winter become the strongest dogs. They each had their own ways of
telling their dogs which direction to go: for example, Pauloosie would say “ai, ai” - to
the right, “qua, qua” - to the left , and “hau” to stop; and when he wanted to start his dogs
after harnessing them, he would say “atii,” and they would go. The men/boys would
train their dogs by walking them around when they were puppies. He also said that
dogs listen better when you try to stop their fighting with a whip.
I read an article by Jean Briggs (1979: 21), about the seriousness of play. People
would teach their children by asking the child who his aunt or cousin was. I think in that
way they taught them how to address relatives. I didn’t have a chance to ask our elders
because I didn’t have enough time to read all the literature.
There are lots of things that we need to learn more about, such as using the stars to
go in the right direction. They used them before they had clocks. There are so many
more things that I should have gone into, more specific things. If I had to do it all over
again, I’d try harder and explore things more deeply. I would want to have more time
to think. I would like more time to think instead of only at the last minute. I would also
like it if our instructors would explain more clearly before we start next time. I also
learned that the things I asked the elders are very different from today. I think this was
important for me and for others.
I’ve had a great time interviewing the elders and learning what they think about
teaching children today. I hope that what I’ve written is understandable.
140 Introduction to the Oral Traditions