Hello from Nunavut!

It is your friend, Auuniq Titaquaalaq, writing.  I hope and pray to the spirits that you are well.  I am doing good; thanks for asking.

Sorry for not writing, but duties here at home and school keep me busy.  Very busy.  I hope you understand.  I am glad the Long Dark is over; there is more daylight now and I can spend more time outside if I don't have any chores or homework.  

I am still palling around with Timmy Quiqaaq, Randy Tutaniq, Uumaaqsuaak Charlie, and Joey Kenailaq.  They are probably my best friends in the world.  I don't know what I would do without them.  If I don't hang out with Timmy, Uumaaq, Joey, or Randy, then I have my two older brothers ( Quallaaq, Aqsamirq, and Peetoq), but they usually grow impatient with me.because to them I'm only a little kid and they don't like me hanging around when they're with their friends.

Where I am at, the weather is cold.  Not surprising; it is usually cold at least six to eight months out of the year here in Nunavut (at least in my area; I live in Kimmirut).  Highs today are in the teens and lows are anywhere from the negative teens to negative single digits.  Have to still bundle up or else frostbite or windburn could occur, especially if the wind is blowing, which makes it feel even colder than what it actually is.

Yet I am used to it.  I was born here.  I am Inuit.  If a Dog Child (non-Inuit person) were to come here, they would not last long: the cold would probably end up killing them in minutes or hours.  Dog Children are not made for weather such as ours.  This is why I am so glad I was born Inuit.  The Inuit way of life is the only way I have ever known.

Today Timmy, myself, Uumaaq, Joey, and Randy slid on the ice near my house; we played outside a good two hours before the sighting of a nanuq (white snow bear) drove us all inside.  We haven't been back out since, but the sliding on the ice was fun while it lasted.  Guess the white snow bears are waking up from their long winter sleep; it is time for them to hunt for food.  So we must be extra vigilent, or we could end up as nanuq food.  That would NOT be good!

This is when I wish Father or my older brothers were with me.  That way they could hunt the snow beast and kill it; then we'd have bear meat for months!

I must tell them about the snow bear, but then I'd have to pray to the spirits to keep my brothers and Father safe!  Oh, what a celebration we would have if they got the snow beast!!  We'd have a festival celebrating their bravery and the fact that they got enough food to feed a good part of our village!  (The snow bear must have been at least 9 feet tall; he was GIGANTIC!! Biggest nanuq I had ever seen!!)

Well, Mother and Father both want me to work on the traps, so I will hop to it.  Darn!  I wish I could go back out to see my friends, but with the nanuq about, we mustn't chance it!  I will write in here again soon; until then, this is Auuniq saying so long; may the spirits bless you!

~Auuniq.