Napachee. Robert Feagan

there little one. Do not be frightened, I won't harm you." The cub did not snarl or move to the back of its cage this time. It just sat there as Napachee opened the door. It watched as Napachee filled its bowls with food and water. Napachee looked at the small cub and slowly reached out to touch its fur. He placed his hand gently upon the cub's head. The bear started to growl.

      "What is this?" Napachee could feel a large bump on the side of the cub's head. He tried to inspect the wound more closely but the cub whimpered and pulled back. After a few seconds, he slowly returned his hand to the bear's head and began to feel the rest of its body. He found a series of bumps and dried blood along its left ear.

      Just then his sister, Pannik, called to him. She wore an amoute their mother had sewn and it held Napachee's little brother in the hood on her back.

      "Come on. Father is looking for you and you don't want to be late!"

      "How did you find me?"

      "Mother thought this might be where you had gone and she asked me to get you right away."

      Napachee hurriedly closed the cage door and set the pail down before leaving with his sister.

      "I will be back later little one," Napachee shouted over his shoulder. The cub cocked its head in curiosity as they disappeared. Alone, it slumped to the floor of its cage and tenderly began to lick its wounds.

      The morning was a very slow one for Napachee. He worked with his father, but heard nothing that was said. Napachee was certain that Jarvis had something to do with the lumps that covered the young cub's body. Something had struck it and it had not been by accident.

      "The spool! Napachee pass me the spool!" Napachee surfaced from his thoughts and passed his father the spool of string they were using to mend their fishing nets. They used the nets to catch Arctic Char. Napachee loved Char, especially when his mother took the fresh fish, froze it in layers before cutting it into small pieces and served it raw. This was called quaq. Caribou could be served the same way, but Napachee preferred Char quaq.

      "Joseph has a new dog he wants me to meet. Can I go before it gets too late?" Napachee asked, feeling guilty for the lie.

      His father nodded. "Don't be late for lunch!"

      Enuk heard the porch door open as Talik brought him a cup of coffee. He took the cup, gently.

      "Who can figure these young ones out? It seems the more they learn the more they want what they don't have. They want to move to Inuvik, Yellowknife or the South. Will they leave their elders behind?" Talik gave him a comforting look and then Enuk returned to the the task of mending the net.

      Once beyond his father's gaze, Napachee took off his fur hat and replaced it with a baseball cap. As he wandered along the road he stared out across the frozen expanse of ice. The road didn't go beyond the community itself. The only way to travel to another community was to fly, or go over the ocean and land without aid of a road. He imagined what lay on the ocean's other shore. He had been to Inuvik of course, but he had never been to Yellowknife or Edmonton. Napachee watched his feet as they crunched on the hard packed snow.

      "Napachee! Come on in!"

      Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to wave to Joseph calling him from the steps of the game hall.

      "If I hadn't shouted at you, you would have walked right past," Joseph said.

      "It's my father again," Napachee said with a sigh. "He never understands what I want. I don't think he wants to understand."

      "He's kind of old-fashioned, but what can you do? My father doesn't understand me either. I've given up."

      "Joseph, I don't even understand you most of the time, so how can you expect your father to?"

      The two friends looked at each other and started to laugh as they entered the game hall.

      "I saw your father yesterday with the dogs and sled. Are you going out for the hunt again? I told my father I had better things to do with my time."

      "Like foozeball." Napachee agreed and the two friends went to the foozeball table and started a game. Every day was the same: school, the game hall, the community centre, video games and hunting. Nothing ever changed! He liked his friends and the hockey and volleyball games they had at the centre but there had to be more.

      "Yah!" Joseph said as he scored to end the game.

      "I'm not concentrating very well. I can't stop thinking about the fight I had with my father."

      Looking over Napachee's shoulder, Joseph put his finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet. Napachee turned and saw his father approaching.

      "Let's go, Napachee," Enuk said sternly.

      "But we just started to—"

      "Napachee I don't have time to argue with you. The ice is perfect for sealing and I want you to come along."

      Napachee opened his mouth to argue but gave up before he uttered a word. He went to the door with his father, but he turned back in time to see Joseph shake his head as he walked towards the others.

      Napachee followed his father to the sled and they headed out across the harbour and away from town. The day was beautiful and despite his dark mood Napachee turned towards the sun and enjoyed the warmth on his face. It reflected brightly off of the snow and Napachee put on his sunglasses to guard against snow blindness. At least he didn't have to wear the old wooden snow glasses his grandfather had once left laying around! He could imagine the reaction he'd get from Joseph and his other friends if they saw him in those!

      As they neared a patch of open water Enuk called the dogs to a halt. Jumping off, he walked to the water's edge and knelt to examine the snow. A trace of fur and markings near the water indicated that several seal had been sunbathing there not too long ago. Smiling, Enuk returned to the sled. He carefully unfastened a tarp and gently removed the harpoon Napachee's grandfather had used many years ago.

      "Would you like to try today?"

      Napachee shook his head and looked away. He didn't want to see his father's hurt expression.

      Enuk got comfortable by the water's edge. Almost all hunters used a rifle to hunt seal, but Enuk liked to use a harpoon as his own father had. It took extreme patience to sit for hours by the water's edge waiting for a seal to emerge for air or sunshine. Napachee lay back on the sled and closed his eyes.

      A half-hour passed and then a commotion roused Napachee and he sat up. His father had harpooned a seal and had, expertly and quickly, laid it on the ice.

      As he knelt beside the animal, Enuk picked up a handful of snow and placed it in his mouth. Once it had melted, he opened the seal's mouth and spit the liquid snow inside. This was a tradition in the Eastern Arctic and showed respect. Enuk gave thanks to the animal for giving its life to sustain the lives of the hunter and his family.

      Walking to the sled Enuk spoke quietly to his son, "You used to love to go hunting. You used to love to hear the stories of the spirits of the dead who have come back as animals. Remember what the elders have said about communicating with animals."

      Napachee turned to speak, but decided to remain quiet. His father had captured the seal and Napachee was anxious to get back and finish his chores with the bear cub before the white men returned.

      Even though Napachee said nothing, Enuk could see his son's look of disinterest. With a heavy heart he lashed his catch to the sled and turned for home.

      When they reached their house, Napachee quickly changed his clothes and left for the white man's camp, a circle of tents near the airstrip only ten minutes away.

      The men had not returned from their day of hunting yet. All was quiet and deserted.

      Napachee slowly approached the bear's cage and stared through the bars. The cub had been napping and it jumped with fright. Napachee chuckled. The cub cocked its head to one side and listened.

      Napachee heard a noise behind him and turned to see Jarvis