Judas Iqadliuq
Date of Birth:May 23, 1937
Place Born:Arviqtutiaq
Parents:
Mother ~ Ijiittuaq
Father ~ Illaquaq
The story of Kiviuk
The people were in Nalluq (Natilik river area) waiting for the caribou to go across the river. Kiviuq's father was in Nalluq at that time. He was the one who would always catch caribou, but because he caught the most caribou, other men from Netsilik area murdered him. At the time he was murdered, Kiviuq was a child.
Kiviuq's father had a mother and wife. Kiviuq was just a small child, before he became Kiviuq.
The grandmother was so very upset that she made a coverall for her grandson and the coverall was waterproof. The coverall was made of baby white sealskin. This coverall was for Kiviuq, to go in the water and trick the men from Nalluk area and make them think that he was a baby seal. The grandmother wanted Kiviuk to trick the men who killed his father, by leading them to the open sea, so that she could start up a storm and have the men drown. And that would be the grandmother's revenge for her son's death.
Kiviuq was just a child when this was happening. When Kiviuq's grandmother finished the coverall, she made Kiviuq put it on,had him go into her water bucket, and asked him to hold his breath under water. This was happening for quite a while. At the beginning Kiviuq was holding his breath only for a short time. After a while, Kiviuq was under water longer each time. After a period of time Kiviuq would come up for air and by this time the sun had moved a long way across the sky. The grandmother said to her grandson "when you go to Nalluq, come up by the kayaks and the people who are waiting for the caribou to cross will see you. This will make them race to their kayaks and come after you, thinking you are a baby seal. When they do, wait till all the men are on their kayaks, dive under their kayaks and come up to the surface of the water on the opposite from where they are facing. When you are sure they are following you, lead them to the open sea. There they will drown in the storm".
Kiviuq did what his grandmother said. And the men that were in their kayaks drowned as the grandmother said would happen.
That is when Kiviuq became a man. Then Kiviuq got one of the men's kayaks and went back to shore.
After some time Kiviuq went out by kayak with two other men in a storm. The men that Kiviuq went kayaking with had flipped their kayaks. The other man had drowned, but Kiviuq held on to the other man as long as he could but couldn't't hold on any longer and let go of him. He too had drowned.
Kiviuq was now by himself, drifting and trying to keep from drowning. He was drifting out into the open sea. There was nothing but water. He was on his kayak for many days, so many that he was pooping and peeing in his kayak.
He was in such a very bad storm that the waves would bring him high up, and when he went up he would look to see if he could see land. For a long time he was drifting. When the wave brought him up he expected to see land but there was always nothing.
After days went by he was able to see land. The wind was taking the kayak towards the land. The land was finally close by.
That is how I've heard the story. The Netsilik version.
Because the wind was taking the kayak towards the land he reached the land. By the time he got out of the kayak he felt like he was on water, the land he was walking on seemed to be moving like water, because he had been drifting on water for too long. It was a big relief for Kiviuq to get off his kayak after sitting in the kayak for so many days. After a while Kiviuq seem to feel better, he got his kayak and dumped all that poop and pee out of his kayak and put it further up land and set it up to dry. He then took his parka (kulitsaq) off, cleaned it, and put it out to dry.
When his kayak and parka were dry he got his stuff together and went on his kayak and headed towards his home. Kiviuq was traveling on water close to the land. While he was traveling he came across an inukshuk. He wanted to remember the way he had traveled so he decided to go on the land and look at the inukshuk. As he was walking towards the inukshuk, the inukshuk spoke to Kiviuk, he said "uvilurkiuhiptigut nauratiit" (literally, the seashells will get you). When the inukshuk spoke to him he looked at his kayak. There he saw two huge seashells walking toward his kayak. Kiviuq was afraid that the seashells were going to get him so he ran towards his kayak and when he got to his kayak he hopped in and raced down to the sea. When kiviuq looked towards the seashells, one seashell clapped and as they were sinking towards the ocean floor, one sea shell said "uvilukiusiptugunauratiit" (again, literally, the sea shells can get you). Kiviuq left the area and paddled towards his home.
After traveling for some time, Kiviuq came across a sod house. Kiviuq was tired of boating so he decided to go and take a peek and see who was in the house. When he made it to the house he looked inside and saw two ladies working on beads. Kiviuq then took his other side of duffle and grabbed the beads and put them in his duffle and ran towards his kayak. The two women were so upset that Kiviuq took their beads that they started to cry. When Kiviuq got to his kayak he threw the beads in his kayak, turned his kayak towards the sea, jumped in and paddled toward his home.
After traveling for a long time, he looked toward where he was going and saw tents. When Kiviuq was close to the camp his grandfather was so happy he started saying. "Kiviuploguuq Nipiruanga" (this Inuktitut is the expression of the English equivalent of 'hooray') the grandfather repeated it over and over. He was so excited he went around to the other tents and told everyone that his grandson was coming home. Kiviuq's grandfather was so overwhelmed that he died.
That is how I've heard the story.
Kiviuq finally made it home, when he got out of his kayak, he took the beads and started walking towards the tents. When he met the people at the camp he soon found out that his other wife had remarried and the other had not. The woman that had not remarried had old clothing, but the one who had remarried had nice clothing. Kiviuq and the woman that did not remarry had gotten back together. But the woman who got another husband remained with her new husband. Kiviuq gave the beads to his wife. He did not give any to the other woman who had married another man. The woman who had married another man was so upset because she did not get any beads that she started to cry.
It seems like the story always ends there, that is where I'm going to end the story of Kiviuq.