Kimmirut, Nunavut, Canada, Dec. 30, 2013, Study Period, Grade Five~

Dear Journal~

Bonjour!  Comment-allez vous?  J'suis tres bien, merci beaucoup!

It is me, Auuniq Titaquaalaq, your First Nations friend from Nunuvut, Canada!  I hope this finds you well!  The spirits have been taking care of me and my family; times have been very good to us.

I am now in grade five, in Mrs. Pataq's class; I passed grade four last year and Mother, Father, and my brothers were all very pleased with me.  I studied hard; I wanted to make them all happy,and it looks like I succeeded.

We have a new family member: another boy.  Mother had him back in August of this year; he is now nearly five omnths old.  Mother and Father have named him Nautaq.  He is so cute; I love my baby brother!  So now there's five boys in the family: me (Auuniq), Quallaaq, Peetaq, Aqsamirq, and Nautaq.  There are no daughters for Mother and Father, only boys.  But that is okay with me; girls are nothing but a nuisance and a pain in the BUTT!!

As I write this, it is 10:31 in the morning.  It is a dark, dreary day outside; cloudy with promise of snow.  No lights for us today; not seeing the northern lights makes me sad 'cause they guide me and let me know what to do.  I believe in their power and respect them.  When they are angry (all red), I am afraid; I am scared that bad times will befall us.  It's the way we are, how we believe.  I don't believe in the God that most people do.  The spirits are our god and how we govern what we do in our lives.

Both young and old respect and follow the way of the spirit world, but there are some people here who do believe in the Christian god Christ.  But I don't like to talk to them 'cause they only leave me feeling confused, so I stay silent.

Did you have a good Christmas? I did: Santa Claus brought me a new computer, lots of toys (Transformers and GI Joe; they're my favorite toys to play with), Legos, a new telescope, some of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney, and money, not to mention, new clothes and a new bed, 'cause my brothers Aqsamirq and Quallaaq decided to use it as a trampoline while trying to get away from Peetaq.  I was so mad at them; they got into a lot of trouble with Mother and Father for destroying my bed!

I laughed for days; I thought it was funny when they got grounded!!

That happened around Thanksgiving.  I had to sleep with Mother, Father, and the baby.  It was pretty cramped in there.  I never was so glad when I got to go back to my room and sleep on my new bed!  

Let's put it this way: Quallaq and Aqsamirq are grounded from coming into my room 'less I say it's okay and 'less they stay off my bed.  I have had more than enough of their foolish games!!  They may be bigger'n me and in high school, but they act worse than a pack of wild wolves!!

They are so stupid at times!!

Now it is going to be a brand new year.  In just two days it will be 2014.  I wonder what the new year will bring.  I just hope it is as good as this year (2013) was for my family and myself.  Of course, the best part of our year was when our little brother came; the worst was when Grandfather (on Mother's side; her father) died.  He was 97.  He lived a long, good life and served his position as village elder well.  Now we are in the process of finding a new elder for our town and I am praying that he will do as well as Grandfather did.  Times won't be the same without Grandfather; I truly do miss him badly!

Well, Mrs. Pataq is saying it is nearly time for science class, so I will stop writing.  I will write again in here soon; sorry it's been a long time since I last put pen to paper!  I'm terrible when it comes to writing letters!  Take care, and may the spirits bless you always, and Happy New Year!  I'll write in here again!

~Auuniq.  :)