Introduction-E

Well, [don’t] we bleed a little during our first trimester?
Saullu: I’ve never spotted. Some people have spotted. I’ve heard that their pregnancies
are longer, well, Inuit not qallunaat. I’ve heard that from the elders. That’s what Inuit
elders told me.
Do you have any funny stories regarding when you were delivering?
Saullu: It is never funny when you are with someone who is in labour.
Were there any unusual events?
Saullu: Yes, it’s always a joyous event when a baby is born so we start laughing. We find
it a joyous occasion once the baby is out, for we are grateful that it’s over for the baby
and the mother. There were times we had tears of joy. Thankful to God because we
cannot create human beings on our own. For that reason, we had tears of joy. There was
a time that my grandmother delivered a still-born baby. I remember that too. I remember
her father’s prayer, Tulugarjuaq’s prayer. I recall my grandmother gave birth to a
stillborn child, as I was with my mother as usual. Mothers used to bear children at the
same time as their eldest child. I know that for a fact. I had children at the same time as
my mother had hers. We used to be told that we would bear children at the same time
our eldest child was having theirs.
Only if your eldest was a female?
Saullu: Even if it wasn’t a girl, the same thing. These are things I know. Yes, that’s what
I was taught, that I would be having my children at the same time as my eldest child.
But my eldest child passed away not too soon after my second child came along. When
my eldest child was really sick, I was told that I was going to be having my children at
the same time as her, but I thought to myself, “With her?”
Whose child was it that was still-born?
Saullu: My grandmother’s, the woman I referred to as Taunguliqtuq, gave birth to a
stillborn child. I left when her father was praying. It is more difficult to deliver a
stillborn baby as it is unable to do anything. I have heard that it’s harder to give birth to
a stillborn. I remember that quite vividly, as I tagged along with my mother as usual.
What was done for the stillborn child?
Saullu: Because the child was born dead it was buried.
Life Stories – Saullu Nakasuk 83