Inuvik (Oct 20/03) - Ishmael Alunik, 81, is set to release his second book "Inuvialuit: History of an Arctic People" next month in Ottawa.

Selections from the book have also been published in "Across Time and Tundra" by Raincoast Books.

Ishmael Alunik shows off a book where excerpts of some of his Inuvialuit stories were published alongside stories by co-writers David Morrison of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and NWT author Eddie Kolausok. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

News/North: What's the difference between your first book, "Call me Ishmael: Memories of and Inuvialuit Elder" and your new book, "Inuvialuit: History of an Arctic People".

Ishmael Alunik: There will be more colour pictures, like artifacts and how to make kayaks.

They missed out quite a bit, you know. The first book was only about 70 to 80 pages. A small book.

The museum is going to put in a lot of coloured (photos) of arrowheads, harpoon heads and knives and how to make all the items they've collected in the museums.

N/N: Where did you get the idea to write a book?

IA: The museum people would collect their stories but they don't even know us. My book is completely from my grandfather and my grandfather's brother. I started collecting (the stories) a long time ago. It seems the stories stayed in my head.

I was still working at CBC (as an announcer) and my uncle said "all these stories that we've been telling you for so many years now somebody should write a book". I had it all in my head.

I thought to myself I should write a book. No Inuk ever wrote a book like my book about how they lived.

N/N: Where will people be able to buy the book?

IA: We're going to sell it on the computers, Boreal Books will have it and it will be all over Canada.

You just have to look for I. Alunik, Inuvialuit history writer. My own book will be published in French again.

The Roman Catholics were the first ones to ever convert the Inuit or the Indian. They never got along with Anglicans.

If you behaved badly with sexual assault or something like that, they would tie the person to the post and give them 50 lashes.

Just because of that they want to publish in French. With the first book we got a lot of calls from Inuvialuit in Quebec.

N/N: When you wrote the books did you write them in English?

IA: Yes, I wrote them in English. It's all in English but I had to translate the folklores.

I spoke to a man in hospital who really knew folklores. They were in his head. Once they're (in your head) you never forget it.

It took me 28 pages for one folklore.

When I got a computer, typed it out and printed it, it came out to 12 pages. It's going to take quite a bit of space (in the book) for the folklores. There's about three long folklores.

The folklore is the one most of the readers like. It's just like a fairy tale.

N/N: How far back in history do you go?

IA: We're talking right from the beginning in Siberia.

N/N: Tell me a story.

IA: There are stories about shamans. There were three shamans. One had so much evil power that when he was doing his work there would be no breath, no pulse for two or three minutes.

These three shamans where on Herschel Island and they had a hard time. It was a long winter and they had no seals, no caribou, no nothing. The three shamans decided to find an open lead of water. An open lead is when the big north wind opens up the coast. Seals always float around thin ice and they can find out where the seals' holes are.

The shamans went out but the wind was so strong that they dove under the ground. The one turns back because he heard (a minister) talking of a lake of fire.

While they were travelling under the ground they hit a big lake and they could almost see people going up and down and it was like they were screaming in the fire.

They told my uncle that the missionary must be right because they saw something like the lake of fire.

N/N: Why did you feel it was important to write these stories down?

IA: Since upgrading my education and being an announcer for about 17 years with CBC I started reading the history of the Inuit people but it's written by a white man -- missionaries, anthropologists, archaeologists.

I am the first Inuk writer to ever write (the history).

My stories end in Coppermine and Greenland because I don't know how they lived in southern Quebec.

I used to interview Inuit from northern Quebec and Baker Lake and Inuit names are the same, language is pretty near the same.

Just in between Iqaluit and this side they talk fast and everything has different names.