Table Of ContentSAQIYUQ
Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women
Praise for Saqiyuq:
"This book is a living text." Geist
"An absorbing collection of stories from the lives of three Inuit
women." MacLeans
"Invaluable [to] anyone interested in Inuit culture. The implications
for the future from generation to generation are enlightening, and at
times, overtly frightening." Edmonton Journal
"Saqiyuq is a delightful and inspiring work - delightful in its read-
ability and inspiring in the example it offers of how good multi-gen-
erational histories can be produced." Choice
'''Saqiyuq is a thoughtful and important tribute." The Montreal
Gazette
"A moving account of three generations in the Arctic that sends a
fascinating mixture of messages about its hardships and it riches."
Hugh Brody, Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies, Univer-
sity College of the Fraser Valley
"Saqiyuq gives an intimate view of these women's lives and of their
essential ability to adapt and survive." The Left Atrium
NANCY WACHOWICH is a lecturer in social anthropology, The Uni-
versity of Aberdeen.
APPHIA AGALAKTI AWA spent most of her life on the land in the
Eastern High Arctic. She died in September 1996.
RHODA KAUKJAK KATSAK lives in Pond Inlet and works as the
assistant senior administrative officer for the hamlet.
SANDRA PIKUJAK KATSAK lives in Pond Inlet and works as a legal
assistant for Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik legal aid office in the
settlement.
This page intentionally left blank
SAQIYUQ
STORIES FROM THE LIVES OF
THREE INUIT WOMEN
Nancy Wachowich
in collaboration with
Apphia AgalaktiAwa, Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak,
and Sandra Pikujak Katsak
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
© McGill-Queen's University Press 1999
ISBN 0-7735-1887-8 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7735-1144-1 (paper)
Legal deposit fourth quarter 1999
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
First paperback edition 1001
Reprinted 1003, 1005
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges
the financial support of the Government of
Canada through the Book Publishing Industry
Development Program (BPIDP) for its activities.
We also acknowledge the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing
program.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Wachowich, Nancy, 1966-
Saqiyuq: stories from the lives of three Inuit
women
(McGill-Queen's native and northern series ; 19)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1887-8 (bnd)
ISBN 0-773 5-1144-1 (pbk)
i. Awa, Apphia Agalakti, 1931-1996.
z. Katsak, Rhoda Kaukjak.
3. Katsak, Sandra Pikujak
4. Inuit women—Nunavut—Biography.
5. Inuit women—Nunavut—History.
6. Nunavut—Biography. I. Awa, Apphia
Agalakti, 1931 — 1996. II. Katsak, Rhoda
Kaukjak. III. Katsak, Sandra Pikujak
IV. Title. V. Series.
E99.E7W33 1999 9?i-9'5 099-900996-6
Typeset in 10/11 Sabon by True to Type
In September 1996 as this book was being prepared
for publication, Apphia Agalakti Siqpaapik Awa,
who suffered from congestive heart failure, took off
her oxygen-therapy machine and made a patchwork
quilt - her granddaughter Sandra's wedding gift.
She died on 16 September 1996, two days after
Sandra's wedding. This book is dedicated to Apphia
Agalakti, to her ancestors, and to her descendants.
May her strength and good humour carry on through
the generations.
This page intentionally left blank
C O N T E N TS
Acknowledgments ix
Maps xi
Introduction: The Life History Project 3
PART ONE: APPHIA AGALAKTI AWA 15
Growing up on the Land: I Start to Recollect Bits and Pieces 18
Marriage and Family: We Were Full of Children 3 6
Shifting Winds: The First Time We Ever Lived with Qallunaat
around Us 103
The Old Culture: Stories Since a Long, Long Time Ago 113
An Elder in the Settlement: There Is No Ending to the Stories of
My Life 137
PART TWO: RHODA KAUKJAK KATSAK 151
Growing Up on the Land: My Beautiful Lakes! 152
From Inuit to Qallunaat Culture: I Remember My First Day of
School 165
Marriage and Family: All This Stuff in My Hands, Carrying Lucas on
My Back 183
Reflections on a Childhood: They Spent All Those Years Trying to
Change Me into a Qallunaaq 192,
Vlll CONTENTS
PART THREE: SANDRA PIKUJAK KATSAK 211
Growing up in the Settlement: I Am the Oldest 2.12.
Teenage Years: When the Coffee Shop Closed 222
Settlement Culture: At First None of the Teenagers Would
Square-Dance 242
Reflections on the Future: Acting Inuit or Acting Like
Qallunaat 252
Postscript 257
Note about Spelling 259
List of People Mentioned in the Stories 261
Significant Dates in Eastern High Arctic and Awa Family
History 263
An Overview of Iglulingmiut and Mittimatalingmiut Culture and
History 267
List of Stories 273
Suggested Readings 277
Glossary 281
Notes 283
Bibliography 291
Index 297
ACKN O W L E D GM E NTS
This book has been over five years in the making. We want to extend
especially warm thanks to Lucy Quasa, Bernadette Dean, and Apphia
Killiktee for spending many of their valuable evenings in Pond Inlet
during the spring and fall of 1993, helping translate Apphia's eloquent
Inuktitut stories into spoken English for the book. We are grateful to
the editors at McGill-Queen's University Press, Aurele Parisien, Joan
McGilvray, and Maureen Garvie, for their guidance in getting this
manuscript into its final form. Patricia Badir, Gretchen Brundin, Bette
Wachowich, Leslie Robertson, Kerri Wylie, and Andrew Stewart all
read versions over the years and offered sound editorial advice. Thank
you to Mathias Awa in Pond Inlet and Kenneth Bragg at Ground
Control Geotechnologies for the place-names maps and Leah Otak in
Igloolik for her help with Inuktitut spellings. Rhoda's aunt, Koopa
Maktar, her brothers and sisters, her husband, Josh Katsak, and their
children were reassuring audiences throughout several rounds of edi-
torial changes. I also want to thank my parents, Allan and Bette
Wachowich, for their ongoing support and inspiration. The original
impetus for this project came from the Royal Commission on Aborig-
inal Peoples and some of the material initially collected for this book
appeared previously in a report prepared for the Royal Commission.
Many of my ideas for shaping this book came from conversations and
seminars with Julie Cruikshank at the University of British Columbia.
