The Tuktu and Nogak Project: Inuit Knowledge about Caribou and Calving Areas in the Bathurst Inlet Region

• Main Author: L. Thorpe
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bathurst Inlet; Hush; Umingmaktok; Arctic; inuit; Tundra
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.524.4759; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic50-4-381.pdf

AFTER AN EXHILARATING SPLASH INTO THERIVER, we threw on dry clothes and climbedback into the boats to resume our search for caribou. We had not brought enough “kabloonaq ” food with us, and a caribou would make the difference between returning to Umingmaktok or staying out on the land for the night. No sooner had the boat eased into full throttle than did excited voices—screams of “tuktu! tuktu!”— sound over the noise of the engine. Noah expertly slowed the boat, turned towards shore, and reached for his rifle. On the shore, a mammoth bull darted across the open tundra. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. Noah aimed while Lena, Mary, Bobby, and I held our breaths and sent warning messages of “hush! ” to our growling stomachs. The first shot screamed “tuktu! ” and ricocheted off a rocky outcrop. The bull was stunned and bolted inland. Noah fired again and again, but the boat was rocking and