Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway

Questions

One day, amidst the goods that arrive by boat, Mrs. Hoff receives a sewing machine. Mr. Hoff removes it from its box and puts it together, and all the children gather around Mrs. Hoff to watch her use it. It’s black and shiny, with a board at the bottom called a treadle that she uses to move the needle up and down. It’s very noisy, and Panruk and Grandma cover their ears. While Mrs. Hoff pumps, she pushes material through the needle to the back so there’s a straight seam, with every stitch the same size.

Mrs. Hoff says she can make a cotton dress in just a few hours with the sewing machine. But some pieces, like hemming, are still completed by hand. They use cotton thread, which is easier to use than caribou sinew, but it’s not as strong, and sometimes the seams come apart or the thread rots. Sometimes, the needle on the sewing machine breaks, and Mrs. Hoff gets cross, and her face gets all red and the hair comes out of her braids. In some ways, Minuk thinks that the Yup’ik way of sewing is better.

When they sew, Mrs. Hoff talks to them about how they’re heathens and what they must do to become civilized. They came to live with the Yup’ik to teach them right from wrong. Minuk asks what heaven is like. She answers that the Bible doesn’t really say, but she’s sure it’s better than hell. Minuk cannot believe that Mrs. Hoff is telling them to try to go somewhere that she doesn’t even know. Minuk continues asking if there’s singing in heaven, if it’s white man’s singing or Yup’ik singing. Mrs. Hoff answers the questions, but Minuk stops asking questions when Grandma and the other women give her looks.

In the Yup’ik way, it’s bad to hurt somebody’s mind, confuse them, or contradict them. Mrs. Hoff is uncomfortable with Minuk’s questions, so Minuk is hurting her mind. Sometimes though, the questions just pop out. Mrs. Hoff does say they can all get English names after they’re baptized. In Yup’ik, boys and girls are not named differently. They are given the name of the last person in the village who died, no matter whether a man or woman. The family of the dead treats the baby as if he or she is a relative, the dead one born again. Mrs. Hoff says that’s a heathen belief.

Minuk was named for Teksik’s baby girl who died, so Teksik sewed her beautiful beaver mitts and her husband made earrings. It would make people very unhappy to have to believe in Mrs. Hoff’s way—that relatives are gone forever and don’t come back. Minuk likes the Hoffs, but she doesn’t understand their ideas.

When Minuk leaves the Hoffs, she sees Grandpa sitting on the men’s house. He’s one of the only people who isn’t bothered by Minuk’s questions. Minuk tells him that Mrs. Hoff said only people who believe in their religion can go to heaven, and the rest go to hell. So that implies that everyone who died in their village went to hell. But that doesn’t seem fair. If their god wants everyone to go to heaven, why didn’t he come to people and tell them what he wanted in Yup’ik? Why did he wait so long to tell people about heaven?

Grandpa simply answers that he doesn’t know.

Minuk and Panruk go to help Mrs. Hoff each day except Sunday. They begin to learn a little English from listening to David and Mr. Hoff and Mrs. Hoff. There’s lots of phrases they say often, like “Merciful heavens!” and “Goodness gracious” and “By jingo!” David explains the expressions to the girls. He’s also pleased to speak English to the girls so they learn faster. Minuk thinks teaching them English makes him feel very grown-up.