Sikik Grace Eegeesiak, excited at the prospect of getting a letter from a new found friend in "the Lower 48" (as the main part of the USA is called by Alaskans), fires off another letter to her.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004~
Dear Louisiana:
I know I just wrote to you, and you have probably already written me back by now (I haven't checked my email just yet, but in case there IS a letter, I am beating you to the punch by starting off another one! LOL), but I felt like writing to you.
I hope you don't think that I am a dingbat or a weirdo, but I do feel sorry for myself at times because I don't get much in the way of mail, and besides, all the extra bulk mail or the junk/spam is getting to me fast! I HATE having to mess with my email every day, emptying out stuff I don't even NEED or WANT, or have NO interest in, like "How to enlarge the size of your penis." Yeah, RIGHT. Like if I even HAD one....LOL I HATE those stupid spam/junk emails; they make me want to SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAMMMMMMMM!!
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!! (Therre. I feel better now...LOL)
Sorry if I had to leave just now, but I just scared the bejesus out of my mother and father; they must think I have some screws loose or something! I nearly gave them a heart attack! I had to check on them, to make sure that they were okay, and I am happy to report that I did NOT find them, dead or unconscious on their bedroom floor! LOL They did wonder why I screamed, but I told them it was because of all the junk mail I have been receiving as of late, which is the gosh darn truth! But now that I AM back at my computer, I can write!
I just saw your letter, and I was very happy to receive it. You sound like a very interesting person! Fifty kids?? Geez, and I thought MY parents were crazy! LOL How DO you find the time to do ANYTHING, let alone, WORK?? Man, your house must be like a ZOO at times! It would probably drive me crazy! LOL I bet your house looks like a castle; all we had growing up was a two story clapboard house, and it was crowded, what with 13 little Eegeesiaks runnin' amuck! LOL But we Eegeesiaks aren't so little anymore; we are all adults now, most with families of their own, and I am the last one left at home. But I have an obligation: I have to take care of Mother and Father while I still can, and while they are still (relatively) healthy enough to get by! And I DO have help: my brothers and sisters DO help if it gets to be too much for me to handle, so you don't have to worry about that!
I am looking very much forward to your package. So you wrote a book. Hmmm...I shall read it when I get it in the mail; I have read just about all the books I have now, and I have read some of my friends' books, too! I am in DIRE need of some new reading material!!
I bet you are a very interesting family. All the colors of the rainbow. Maybe you will remind me of the Northern Lights: they are like a rainbow! LOL I guess I will have to wait and see, hunh??
I didn't think that was you in the picture that you affixed to your letter; but still, she is a pretty woman! I have heard of Loretta Lynn, and I do love her music, but living in such a barren, far-off place, the signals aren't the best, so any stations we try to pick up from Fairbanks or Anchorage is difficult at best, and a lot of it depends on the weather conditions or if there is a lot of geometric activity going on. If there are storms going on on the sun or there is a lot of geomagnetic stuff in the air (the kind that creates our magnificent auroras), then you can bet that I won't get much use out of my radio! All you hear during these events or during bad weather is STATIC! Or NOTHING!! So it does no good to hear the radio or watch the tv if the signals aren't working properly!
I DO have my tape player, though, so if the air is charged with electical activity, it really doesn't affect my tape player, so I can still listen to my country music. I also listen to Native American or Inuit music, and I enjoy that too.
Well, to tell you a little about myself, I am Inuk (Inuit), otherwise known as Eskimo, but Eskimo is a dirty word to us, so we prefer Inuit. Eskimo is our former name, but now we are called Inuit, and I much rather prefer Inuit to Eskimo. All of us Inuit people do. I am only 4'8" tall (just a LITTLE taller than you!), and I am kind of pudgy in build, and I have a nut-brown face with squinky eyes that are black, and straight, black hair that goes to just below my shoulders. I am the youngest of 13 kids; I have four sisters and eight brothers, and two of the brothers (Matu and Mattaq) are twins. My other brothers are Igri, Lootevek (Tevi), Kipanik, Asayak, Miniq, and Aqsuk, and my sisters are Oolik, Naiomi, Navarama, and Nauja. Then there is me, Sikik.
My parents' names are Nalaru (Mother) and Aksamirq (Father).
That is my family. Then there are the dogs, our huskies. We have at least 10 or so; we need that many for sledding or for when we go on our hunting excursions. We hunt for our food, and dogsled is our primary means of travel..that or by foot; I told you we are a primative people, we Inuit!.., and more often than not, we get something. Sometimes we get a lot, other times, not so much, and when the winter or weather is bad, that is very hard on us Inuit. A lot of Inuit die of starvation or illness or by animal attacks (Nanuq is the worst; Nanuq is danger to Inuit!), and I have lost several of my relatives to Nanuq or to starvation; and now they play among the Northern Lights. They are one with the Lights, and when we see the Lights, we see our relatives, and we cry because we miss them so! But we must not anger our Spirits or our relatives or bad times will befall us, and if the Lights should ever get angry by turning red...you DON'T want to know what happens, but it is bad, very bad, my friend! OHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Since there isn't much to do here in Barrow, especially during the long winter time (one thing, it is too cold; even we Inuit respect the cold and the weather!), we spend our days holed up in our houses [or igloos], telling stories or eating, or hunting for food, or we look at the Northern Lights or go visiting our neighbors or family. We love company, and we love to have fun when the weather breaks or turns sunny out, and during the summer time (24 hours of daylight, mind you! Can you imagine something like THAT?? Bet you can't unless you come to ALASKA!), we have festivals and times of great feasting and celebration, and we even have Inuit Olympics, where our best and bravest athletes test their mettle in the greased pole climb, the blanket toss, Inuit-style or Indian-style wrestling matches, or soccer; we also love to play baseball or football (we are more alike than you may realize!), and we love to sing songs of our Inuit heritage and our Frozen Home here in the North. We also have Northern Light parties, where we spend hours just watching and marvelling at the Nightly Northern Spectacle that the Spirit Mother has blessed our People and our Land with here in the North! Sometimes we get so drunk we can hardly *SEE* the Northern Lights because we are so soused up with wine and beer! LOL
What do YOU like to do for fun, Louie? Have YOU ever been to Alaska, or have YOU ever seen the Northern Lights? If not, you have GOT to come up; I can show you Barrow, and also my home! You would LOVE my family! I would love to meet yours! Jenna Whitson says you are all special people in her life, and she is blessed and honored by the Great Spirit for knowing you! I would love to know more about you and your Northern Lights family!
Thank you again for writing, and thank you for wanting to be my friend! I would very much love to be yours!
~Love, your new friend in Nanuq Country, Sikik Grace Eegeesiak in faraway, cold Barrow, Alaska, in the Arctic Circle. :D (And we ARE in the Arctic Circle; Barrow is the northernmost point of the United States!)
I agree with Karla, Love the names of your characters; and I also love Alaska and your graphic, Karen.
Alaska truly is a Paradise, and this story makes me yearn to visit there again (Would love to move up there, but the Little Woman won't even discuss it!!)
i do love the names you come up with, and i love your stories and characters. sikik grace eegeesiak...just kinda rrrrolls off the tongue :) she is quickly becoming my favorite, as is m'buti, ronee and johnny...o, and louisiana...poor woman, 50 kids...in that respect, i gotta agree with sikik--is she NUTS???? LOL
anyway, fantastic addition, look forward to more :) and more and more--you and your prolific muse :)
Yankee Doodle Daddy is a historical Appalachian Family Saga. The story follows a mother's reckoning as she struggles to survive and keep her four daughters alive.
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Exploring the impact of literary icon Flannery O'Connor's noted legacy on the cultural realities of modern-day America, the world, and a certain author.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004~
