Introduction-E

Did your grandfather Jason die there?
Saullu: Maybe down south. I don’t know. Probably down south.
Before, when you lived in small camps, did you move to other places?
Saullu: During the summer, when it became ice-free we did.
How, by boat?
Saullu: Yes, by boat. We used to go to a place to spend the late spring.
After you went out for the spring, is that when you moved?
Saullu: We used to go along. Those of us who were able to, would row.
You would row?
Saullu: We used to row the boats. My grandfather would steer the boat.
What grandfather?
Saullu: Kullurutuq. We would gather eggs.
Can you tell us what is the first thing you recall in your childhood?
Saullu: The thing I enjoyed the most was when my brother Pauloosie was about to be
born. That seems to be my first significant recollection. He was my mother’s only son
and when she was in labour somebody else looked after me.
Did you used to be alone when you were in labour?
Saullu: No, my husband used to be with me, and I used to have another woman with
me. I gave birth to the oldest out in the middle of nowhere at Kanajuqtuuq’s Lake. That
was before I had ever assisted at a birth. I gave birth to the youngest one where there
were qallunaat, in the old hospital. I didn’t want to give birth around non-Inuit.
For whom did you act as a midwife?
Saullu: To a lot of people. I would only be a midwife when those other than myself were
pregnant.
70 Introduction to the Oral Traditions