Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway

Mellgar

One lovely bright afternoon, a messenger comes to Mr. Hoff from Kulkaromute. Miss Danfort and Minuk watch outside the window. They know it’s a very serious message because the man doesn’t take his dogs out of the harness before he comes to see Mr. Hoff. Mr. Hoff bows his head and covers his face with his hands. The man hands Mr. Hoff a fish-skin bag, gets on his sled, and moves on to the men’s house.

Mr. Hoff comes inside, and tells everyone that Helper Jack has been killed by the people of Kulkaromute. Everyone just stands and stares at him while Mr. Hoff rubs his face. Minuk is very sorry because Helper Jack had been such a nice young man.

After Helper Jack was killed, the people of Kulkaromute gathered everything in the village that had come from the mission: tea bags, the Bible, needles and pins, and a little hat Mrs. Hoff made for one of the babies. They put everything into the fish-skin bag onto the sled. Everything was brought back to the Hoffs’. The messenger said people didn’t want anything to do with the mission anymore, because the mission people interfered with the Yup’ik way. The grown-ups talk so fast that Minuk can hardly understand what they’re saying. But it seems like Mr. and Mrs. Hoff blame the shaman of Kulkaromute for Helper Jack’s death.

When Minuk goes home, she sees the grown-ups are all on their knees in the big front room, praying.

One cold night, Grandma and Mamma and the aunts and Panruk and Minuk are all sewing around the oil lamp when Grandma speaks. She says that another boy in the village, Mellgar, has asked for her. Minuk doesn’t say anything, so Grandma says that if she likes Mellgar, his aunt will begin sewing for her.

Minuk thinks very hard. When she becomes a woman, Mellgar would be her husband. He would hunt for her, and she would take the meat he brings home. She’d cook for him in the men’s house, help him with his sled and dogs, and one day they would have children together. Minuk would be a good woman, and he would be proud of her.

Mellgar is not like Panruk’s husband. Mellgar laughs a lot. Even when his face is serious, his eyes look, to Minuk, like they are laughing. And when the young men play their games on the river, Mellgar is one of the liveliest ones. Minuk looks at Maklak, who is having a hard time not saying anything. He likes Mellgar the best because Mellgar pays attention to him. When Maklak throws snowballs at him, Mellgar throws them back and chases him around the water hole. Mellgar and Maklak are a lot alike. She is sure he wouldn’t kill their first baby girl.

So, Minuk looks at her family, and says yes.

The days grow longer again, and soon it’s time to go to the spring camp. While everyone is getting ready to go, Yup’ik men come across the portage from the village along the Yukon River. They say there are many white people on the Yukon River now, and they brought a lot of trading goods with them. They want wood to fuel their steamboats, so the people along the Yukon are cutting wood for them. They also brought horses. Minuk would love to see those horses.

One of the men says that there’s been a lot of sickness along the lower Yukon. Terrible coughs and fevers. Many people have died. When Miss Danfort hears what the men say, she says it is an epidemic. They had diphtheria and whooping cough and chickenpox last year, but now it is influenza, which is very bad. There isn’t any medicine for influenza. Patients feel sick and ache all over. They have high fevers and bad coughs. Their lungs are affected and they can’t breathe. They can die very quickly.

Mellgar’s family leave for their spring camp after the Yukon men go on to Kolmakov. Minuk is very glad of this because when Mellgar is in the village, Minuk always tries to look at him without looking, and Grandma and the aunts tease her that her head is not where it should be. But he is very nice to look at, and Minuk is pleased he will be her husband. Once, he even gave Minuk one of his small, secret smiles.

Cakayak’s mother becomes very ill after Mellgar’s family leaves, and in just a few short days, she dies of influenza. Miss Danfort thinks the Yukon men had brought the sickness with them. Her body is carried to the men’s house and put on a bench in a seated position. Her head is down as if she’s thinking. The women and children come into the men’s house to grieve for Cakayak’s mother. Panruk and Maklak and Minuk cling to each other and cry, each thinking how it would be if it was their own mother.

No one in the village can work that day or use any sharp knives or axes. This is because Cakayak’s mother’s soul is in the village for one day, and it would be angry if it cut itself on sharp things. Also, the name soul would be coming on the trail to inhabit the body of a new baby, so it’s important not to cut the trail of a name soul.

The next day, Cakayak’s father and uncle build a square box of planks, decorated with beautiful designs. The body of Cakayak’s mother is lifted through the smoke hole of the men’s house, and placed into the square box. The family carries it to the graveyard with everyone following. The grave box is set on four poles and her tin tea kettle and sewing kit are set on a pole in front so they can go on with her to her new life.

The next day, Grandpa and Father and Uncle Aparuk and Taulan and Iraluq pack the sled with everything they need for spring camp. It’s unusually cold for this time of year but the trails are hard so they will have easy going. Their two dogs are happy to be put in the harness because they bark and lunge on their lines. They’re eager for such a long run.

When it’s time to go, Minuk goes to say goodbye to Miss Danfort and to everyone at the Hoffs’. They say they hope they’ll have a good trail and the hunting will be good. Miss Danfort takes Minuk aside and gives her a copy of the first book of McGuffey’s Reader. She said she kidnapped it from the schoolroom. Minuk can practice while she’s gone. Minuk thought that nobody knew about her reading, but all along Miss Danfort knew. Minuk whispers that she cannot practice. Her father will be angry. Miss Danfort looks at her uncomfortably and then says she understands. When Minuk comes back, she can start again. With her memory, she won’t forget any of her English.