Caribou Spirit

                                                                 

Caribou Spirit                 

This article first appeared in Whispering Wind.  American Indian: Past and Present,

Vol. 35  No. 6

The class was sort of small today.  There had been a funeral yesterday and as usual the day after few showed up for school.

The kids talked me into letting them get on the computer and talk to kids in other villages that dot just north and south of the Arctic Circle.  My students are not the only ones that can manipulate a teacher to let them participate in the state of the art district chat room.

No sooner had the kids gotten into the intricacies of chatting with those they had met at various school district functions, when in walked the Inupiaq teacher, who just so happened was a village elder.  I could tell she was mad.

“I want everyone off the computer and sit facing me!”  We all did what we were told.

“What kind of people are we?”  The kids had apparently heard this before ans sort of out of sync mumbled something about being Inupiaq.  “What did you say?  Say it like you mean it!”  Louder and in unison came the reply, “WE ARE INUPIAQ!”

“I just heard that a high schooler,” she began, “was involved in killing a fawn and leaving the body on the tundra, letting it rot.  We do not kill fawn and we do not leave meat to rot.  We kill for a purpose, not for fun.  That is not what we do.

“There have been caribou migrating through our village ever since I can remember and eve since my Anna (grand mother) can remember.  Now why do you think that is?  It is because the caribou like us.

The Shamans tell us that whenever you kill an animal you need to break its neck to show respect.  In that way the spirit of the animal will return to the heard and tell them that those people in the village are good people, ‘they show respect to us, we need to return next year and make sure they have food.’

And now what do you thin that fawn is going to tell its mother about how nice and decent the people of our village are?  I believe this with all my heart.

“If I ever hear of anything like this happening again AI am going to call the game warden and tell them who did it.  I know, the spirits do not just tell the heard.  I don’t care who you are, shame will come on you and upon your family.”

She turned to me, said Taiiku (thinks) and left the room as quickly as he had entered.  The kids did not say anything but went back to their computers and returned at least one foot back into the 21^st century.  Several glance in the direction of one boy who kept his head bowed and made no eye contact with anyone.