Introduction-E

site of the HBC. The RCMP lived in the HBC quarters while their house was being
constructed and completed in 1922.
I have heard from Jacopoosie Peter that Qaumauq once beat RCMP members in a
fight. I wanted further information from Pauloosie on this and he told me that he knew
about that and that he knew it to be true. Qaumauq was challenged to a wrestling match
by the RCMP members in Pangniqtuuq. Pauloosie suggested that they wanted to
challenge him because they heard that he was strong. He thought that there was more
than one challenger. Qaumauq was unbeaten and got things such as uniforms, so
Pauloosie had seen him wearing an RCMP uniform. Pauloosie especially seems to
remember Qaumauq wearing the hat.
When I asked Appitaq about the wrestling match, he offered the following story.
There were three policemen in Pangniqtuuq when Qaumauq and my mother were there.
The policemen knew that Qaumauq had been unbeaten by his fellow Inuit in
competitions amongst each other, even though he was getting old and was very short.
Two of the men kept on wanting to have a match with Qaumauq but he kept on refusing
them. It was Appitaq’s opinion that the two men kept on challenging him in the hope
that they would show the Inuit their dominance, and that Inuit could not beat qallunaat.
One day the men tricked him into the RCMP house. Then the third policeman, who was
higher ranking than the two challengers, told Qaumauq that he was witnessing the
insistence of the two men and if Qaumauq should kill them, Qaumauq would not be
held responsible. Qaumauq finally agreed to the match. The first man who fought with
Qaumauq was a martial arts expert and got Qaumauq down right away as he was
caught off guard. After Qaumauq had been felled, he thought that he would treat the
men as if they were the animals that he hunted. The martial arts expert never got
Qaumauq down again. The second man was very muscular and was a weight lifter and
as soon as the first man stopped for a while, he took over. He, too, could not beat him.
The two men took turns and never gave Qaumauq a chance to rest. The policemen could
not beat him and the weight lifter even had to go out of the house where the match was
and cool down. Appitaq said that he almost had a heart attack as he was so exhausted.
Qaumauq was unbeaten and was told to take anything that he wanted from the police
storeroom. At that time of the year (spring) the Inuit of Pangniqtuuq were low on
supplies such as sugar and tobacco, as there had been no supply boats yet. By winning
the match, Qaumauq was able to give his fellow Inuit some of these supplies.
According to Pauloosie, Qaumauq never returned north again and is buried in
Pangniqtuuq. I have no information about how he died as I did not think of asking
Pauloosie if he knew about it.
I found out quite a lot about Qaumauq in the sessions. I was interested in finding
out more information about Qaumauq as I had heard that he was a very able man. I
thought that it would be very good if I were able to tell stories to my children, and, if I
Essays – Qaumauq 149