Nukatpiak was a young boy who lived a long time ago. He was preparing to go out hunting on foot as he packed his sleeping skin blankets. I can hold out my hand to the middle of my chest to show you how high he was. After a day’s journey he decided where he would settle down for the night. He made his camp and unpacked his sleeping skins. While he was preparing his camp he was unaware that the Tulugarjuaq (Big Crow) were coming towards him. Nukatpiak settled down to sleep as the Tulugarjuaq approached him and began to ly in circles over his head in the air. One of the Tulugarjuaq cried out to his companions, “Look, there is someone lying dead down there, let’s go and feast ourselves on human eyes tonight.?
Apparently human eyes were a delicacy for the Tulugarjuaq. As soon as they had landed, one Tulugarjuaq rolled Nukatpiak over onto his back and prepared to feast on the young boy’s eyes. Suddenly the boy came to life and made an unusual sound that startled the Tulugarjuaq enough so that he dropped his knife. The boy then picked up the knife and began to walk away. As Nukatpiak walked, the Tulugarjuaq lew in front of him and said, “I will show you where there is good hunting in exchange for my knife.” As they went along and looked beyond the hills, the young boy saw animals grazing. Nukatpiak thought to himself that this was a good hunting ground, but he decided not to return the knife to Tulugarjuaq.
Some time later he returned to this hunting ground and again the Tulugarjuaq approached him and pleaded, “Together we can circle this area and find more game for you if only you will agree to give my knife back to me.” The boy agreed and so they lew together and they saw animals. Suddenly Nukatpiak noticed arctic foxes, and again thinking only to himself Nukatpiak reflected, “This is exactly what I have been looking for.” He was so pleased with the outcome of this light that he agreed to return the knife to Tulugarjuaq.
He then returned home to plan his trapping season using the information he had gained. He trapped until early spring, until he realized that he had enough fox pelts to tan outside.
The leader of his tribe had noticed this success and envied the young boy’s catch. He asked Nukatpiak, “How is it that you have suddenly become such a good hunter?” Nukatpiak replied by telling what you have already learned about in this story, “One day I decided to go on a hunt by foot, and as darkness approached I laid down on my sleeping skins to rest. The Tulugarjuaq approached me as I was falling asleep in order to feast on my eyes.” The young boy then went on to tell how he managed to take away the Tulugarjuaq’s knife and benefit from the good fortune that followed.
The jealous tribal leader decided he would try the same strategy. He packed his sleeping skins and set out on foot. After a long journey, he got to the hunting area and decided to settle down for the night. After he covered himself with his sleeping skins he waited while pretending to sleep. As the time passed he actually fell asleep, and this lead to his eyes being eaten out by the Tulugarjuaq. The leader later died, having been blinded by the birds and his own jealous ambition. This is the tragedy that happened to the tribe’s leader.
The End