Saturday, February 18, 2006

Eskimo Heritage Reader part 12

Fish River Wars

“AWHHHHHHHH! AWHHHHHHHH! AWHHHHHHHH!” They say that before the wars, the seagulls in the Fish River never used to do that. But after they feasted on the bodies of the dead, they began to cry like that. They had a new cry because they had eaten human flesh.
According to my father, there were three main invasions on the Fish River. The last war was around my father’s time. My dad was about 14, 15 years old at that time.
So there was warfare even on Eskimo land. Eskimos and Indians made war all the time. Sometimes they fought for land or for women. Often they fought for vengeance, just to keep the wars going.
After a war, the survivors would return to their village. Then there came a time of few berries. Finally, after many years, the village would grow again. Then when they had multiplied and raised up an army, they would go to war again.
If a young boy had somehow escaped, he would talk for years about the people who had killed his parents. For a long time, it was just talk, but that was the only way they thought about that other village. Always they thought of revenge. For many years, they worked to build up their war selves. They went to the mountains near the Fish River to gather flint for their spears and arrows. I’ve heard that flint was pink and very hard. This happened before my father’s time.
My great-grandfather, Miyuruqtuq, died in those wars. He was about 20 years old, in the prime of life. His son, my father’s uncle, was a little baby at the time. His name was Pikshuk. He was given dried salmon eggs to chew on. He remembers a whole bunch of kids in the house chewing on this kuzgi. He didn’t know there was a war at the time. When he grew up, he learned why the children were given dry fish eggs to chew on. It was to keep them quiet.

By Job Kokochuruk of White Mountain

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