Introduction-E

I did not quite understand something. The woman that delivered the
stillborn, she kept it a secret?
Paniaq: She never meant to keep it a secret but she got scared so she ended up keeping
a secret.
Because of her secret, the people went hungry?
Paniaq: Yes, they were going through hard times.
The shaman discovered the reason?
Paniaq: Yes. Because she kept a secret, they went hungry.
1 From Alexina Kublu: I remember this to be around 1958 because I have a vivid recollection of
the death of that baby as it was the first death close enough in my family to make an impact on
me.
2 Paniaq’s younger sister Paumik clarified that their mother kept her children up until the birth
of the next child. In the case of Kupaaq and Aaluluuq, they stayed with Ittuksaarjuat and
Atagutaaluk; therefore, they moved back and forth between parents and grandparents.
Arnarjuaq ended up remaining with Inuaraq and Illupaalik (up in the Tununiq area);
Nutarakittuq remained with Kalluk until her death. Both Kupaaq and Paumik claim that their
sister Qannguq was “stolen” because the couple who took her picked her up out of her
mother’s amauti and took off by dogteam. They then returned to the Kivalliq area and settled
in Churchill.
3 When Ataguttaaluk was found, the family Quliktalik was with the party, as Susan Enuaraq
heard from her aunt Qaapik. The family Atagutsiaq were practicing Christians at that time. At
the time of the interview Susan was not aware of this.
4 Alexina Kublu recorded another story told by Hervé Paniaq that can be found in the last
chapter of this book.
60 Introduction to the Oral Traditions