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Inusiq

Inusiq is the Culture Keeper of the Inuit tradition in Lac Sakami. She is the top-ranked Culture Keeper in the pack and regards her position with great pride. She was the first daughter born in Lac Sakami alongside her brother and littermate, Alootook, and also has one younger sister: Lutaaq.

1.  Personality

Originally quite headstrong, demanding, and with a false sense of superiority, Inusiq grew into a more accepting and restrained woman as she aged. She is still opinionated and tends to demand a great deal of her friends, but her sharpness has tempered a bit.

Inusiq has a near-unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Although it may appear as though this is simply for the sake of it, Inusiq derives strength from tradition and culture. As she grew older, she learned that it was inappropriate to lord her information over the ignorant, she still derives pleasure in teaching others the errors of their ways. Sometimes, it is simply Inusiq asserting what she believes to be a superior viewpoint, whereas other times it is correcting factual inaccuracies.

While Inusiq does not have deigns for political power at this point, she may develop aspirations for leadership when she grows older.

2.  Relationships

• Parents: Mikak and Paul
• Littermates: Alootook
• Siblings: Lutaaq

3.  History

3.1  Early life

Inusiq and Alootook were born in Lac Sakami in April 2007. They were raised learning the thule traditions of their ancestors and sharing it with their packmates. Many of the packmates looked up to Inusiq's parents and as a result, Inusiq grew expectant that this reverence would too be placed upon her. Growing up, she was haughty and demanding and frequently pushed her brother to study the traditions of her family like she did. Although Inusiq believed she deserved her packmates' respect, she still recognized that the respect stemmed from her family's knowledge. She was thirsty to learn and tended to pick things up quite quickly, so when she was a year old, she pried her parents to allow her to journey to the far north of Quebec to learn more from wolves there. At first they resisted, but when she was two years old, they finally allowed her to stake out on her own--more or less. With Alootook begrudgingly at her side, they set their sights on journeying to Salluit, Quebec, a town which was home to wolves friendly to the Lac Sakami pack.

3.2  Leaving the pack

Two days after they had left Lac Sakami, Inusiq was overcome with homesickness. She broke down and cried and begged her brother to bring her back. Finally able to exact revenge, he refused, and pushed her to continue. After a few days of traveling, they reach Whapmagoostui and the neighbouring northern village of Kuujjuarapik. Although Inusiq had been excited to learn more of her family's culture in Kuujjuarapik from the beginning, by the time they reached their first stop on the trip, Inusiq was sullen and annoyed.

They stayed in Kuujjuarapik for four nights; Inusiq slept for most of this time. Ashamed of his sister's behaviour, Alootook yelled at Inusiq, but it had no effect. An Inuit elder overheard the tongue-lashing her brother had given her and settled down next to her and began to speak. At first Inusiq thought that the older woman was trying to be kind, but she soon realized that this woman was cloaking her even more harsh words in kind gestures and smiles. Inusiq was devastated at first, but then embarrassed, and finally angry. She went to sleep furious and woke up in very much the same manner.

The next morning, she stalked out of the den to confront the elder. Inusiq berated her for failing to follow the traditional law. Neither the elder nor the pack had given her meat and Inusiq argued that she had been sick and in need of nourishment. By failing to follow their own rules, Inusiq demanded that the elder face consequences.

It was then that the shaman intervened and explained that the elder was in fact the leader of the pack and that she had now shamed herself twicely. However, he agreed with Inusiq, saying that the pack had not provided her with meat and that they were wrong on that count. But he also argued that the pack had provided her something better: the 'meat' to fuel her rage and wake her out of her slumber.

Humbled, Inusiq accepted this and thanked the shaman and leader. Rather than push Alootook to bring her back to Lac Sakami, she felt renewed with a sense of purpose. She had never considered that the rules could be so flexible and wondered if there was more to learn. With her thirst for knowledge renewed, Inusiq and Alootook bade farewell to the Kuujjuarapik wolves and continued north to Salluit.

3.3  Departure of Alootook

Once they reached the northern pack, Alootook surprised everyone when he fell in love with the community. Inusiq absorbed information like a sponge and when she left to return to her home pack, a member of Salluit asked to accompany her. Although Inusiq was sad that her brother would be remaining in Salluit, she was happy to have found a new friend in Francine Taylor.

3.4  Return to Lac Sakami

Together, Inusiq and Francine returned to Lac Sakami, where she lives today.