sound!â He gestured unconsciously with his armâ indicating a beautiful cove to the east. âBut we only take what we need.â He glared at the man.
The interpreter noddedâ then tossed him a bag of tobacco. The Yankee whalers rowed back toward their ship.
Pleased with the beads and tobaccoâ Toozak paddled back toward his village. After beaching his kayakâ he skinned and cut up the seal he had caughtâ and looked back at the ship. The white-and-blue whaleboat had not gone back to its mother ship but was rowing toward the whales in the sound.
And suddenly he knew what he had done.
âThe whales!â he cried aloud. âWhat have I done?â
Toozak watched the whaleboat disappear around a point. A muffled explosion followedâ then another and another. He trembled. Toozak had committed the worst of all crimes . . . he had led foreign men to the Eskimosâ beloved whalesâ where they would kill them for money. He hung his head in shame.
He turned his kayak and headed toward home to ask his father what he should do. When he reached the beach hours laterâ he met Shaman Kumaginyaâ the village spirit man. He would certainly know.
âShamanââ he criedâ âI have done a terrible thing. I told the Yankees where whales are. I am certain they have killed them.â
The shaman frowned.
âThe Whale Spirits will bring bad fortune to youââ he said. âYou have upset them.â
Toozak bit his lip.
âI saw a whale being born when I was a boyââ he said. âThat puts me in high standing with the spiritsâ doesnât it?â
âIt helpsââ Shaman Kumaginya saidâ eyeing Toozakâs beautiful seal. âBut perhaps it made you too proud. You were foolish.
âCome home with me and I will make a song to the spirits. They will help us know what you should do.â
Toozak was very grateful. Shaman Kumaginya relieved him of his seal at his door and placed it on his meat rack away from the dogs. Toozak wanted to say that his father was waiting for Toozak to bring it to himâ but he was afraid to speak. He entered the summer house. When his eyes adjusted to the low lightâ he saw that the walls were walrus skins. Black-and-white weasel tails decorated them. Overhead was a dome of sealskinsâ held up like an umbrella by willow limbs. A soot-rimmed smoke hole was in the center of the dome.
Toozak felt spirits everywhere. Shaman Kumaginya lit the stone seal-oil lamp on a sculpted plate from China. He set it on a tripod that stood under the smoke hole. On the stone he placed tinder moss and lit it. He chanted eerily and went into a deep trance.
Toozak trembledâ for he knew the spirits were coming into this abode and that they could be vengeful. He had done a great wrong. If the spirits had sent a polar bear to maul his uncle for a very small misdemeanorâ what would they do to him?
âThe spirits are angryââ the shaman finally said when he opened his eyes. âThe spirits are very angry.â Fear filled the room. The shamanâs face was stern.
âThey say you are cursedââ the shaman said in an eerie voice.
âBut I saw a whale being bornââ Toozak rasped in fear. âThat makes me special.â
Shaman Kumaginya threw reindeer moss on the fire and silvery oxytropeâ a flower that grows only where there were no ice sheets during the Ice Age. It was magic. It could survive glaciers.
The burning mosses glowed and smoke filled the room. Thenâ lifting his arms to the ceilingâ the shaman closed his eyes for many minutes. This gave Toozak time to look nervously for an escape from a situation that now seemed dangerous. The shaman had set several stone dishes on the floor with moss wicks burning in seal oil. He could knock them over and escape when the shaman righted them. But they might start a fire. He
The interpreter noddedâ then tossed him a bag of tobacco. The Yankee whalers rowed back toward their ship.
Pleased with the beads and tobaccoâ Toozak paddled back toward his village. After beaching his kayakâ he skinned and cut up the seal he had caughtâ and looked back at the ship. The white-and-blue whaleboat had not gone back to its mother ship but was rowing toward the whales in the sound.
And suddenly he knew what he had done.
âThe whales!â he cried aloud. âWhat have I done?â
Toozak watched the whaleboat disappear around a point. A muffled explosion followedâ then another and another. He trembled. Toozak had committed the worst of all crimes . . . he had led foreign men to the Eskimosâ beloved whalesâ where they would kill them for money. He hung his head in shame.
He turned his kayak and headed toward home to ask his father what he should do. When he reached the beach hours laterâ he met Shaman Kumaginyaâ the village spirit man. He would certainly know.
âShamanââ he criedâ âI have done a terrible thing. I told the Yankees where whales are. I am certain they have killed them.â
The shaman frowned.
âThe Whale Spirits will bring bad fortune to youââ he said. âYou have upset them.â
Toozak bit his lip.
âI saw a whale being born when I was a boyââ he said. âThat puts me in high standing with the spiritsâ doesnât it?â
âIt helpsââ Shaman Kumaginya saidâ eyeing Toozakâs beautiful seal. âBut perhaps it made you too proud. You were foolish.
âCome home with me and I will make a song to the spirits. They will help us know what you should do.â
Toozak was very grateful. Shaman Kumaginya relieved him of his seal at his door and placed it on his meat rack away from the dogs. Toozak wanted to say that his father was waiting for Toozak to bring it to himâ but he was afraid to speak. He entered the summer house. When his eyes adjusted to the low lightâ he saw that the walls were walrus skins. Black-and-white weasel tails decorated them. Overhead was a dome of sealskinsâ held up like an umbrella by willow limbs. A soot-rimmed smoke hole was in the center of the dome.
Toozak felt spirits everywhere. Shaman Kumaginya lit the stone seal-oil lamp on a sculpted plate from China. He set it on a tripod that stood under the smoke hole. On the stone he placed tinder moss and lit it. He chanted eerily and went into a deep trance.
Toozak trembledâ for he knew the spirits were coming into this abode and that they could be vengeful. He had done a great wrong. If the spirits had sent a polar bear to maul his uncle for a very small misdemeanorâ what would they do to him?
âThe spirits are angryââ the shaman finally said when he opened his eyes. âThe spirits are very angry.â Fear filled the room. The shamanâs face was stern.
âThey say you are cursedââ the shaman said in an eerie voice.
âBut I saw a whale being bornââ Toozak rasped in fear. âThat makes me special.â
Shaman Kumaginya threw reindeer moss on the fire and silvery oxytropeâ a flower that grows only where there were no ice sheets during the Ice Age. It was magic. It could survive glaciers.
The burning mosses glowed and smoke filled the room. Thenâ lifting his arms to the ceilingâ the shaman closed his eyes for many minutes. This gave Toozak time to look nervously for an escape from a situation that now seemed dangerous. The shaman had set several stone dishes on the floor with moss wicks burning in seal oil. He could knock them over and escape when the shaman righted them. But they might start a fire. He
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