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Part 1: Amaroq, the wolf
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Julie of the Wolves, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humans vs. Nature
Memory and Disillusionment
Community and Survival
Tradition vs. Assimilation
Summary
Analysis
Miyax knows how it feels to be left behind. She can’t remember much about her mother, since she was only four years old when she passed away, but she does remember what happened the day of her death. In her memory, she holds Kapugen’s hand as they walk along the beach. Jaegers and sandpipers screech in the air overhead, and Kapugen says they’re grieving with him. Miyax is happy to be going somewhere alone with Kapugen. At night, she sleeps under his sealskin parka. In the mornings, they wake and continue walking.
Miyax uses the wolves’ abandonment as a segue to reflect on times in her past when she’s been abandoned. Part II is important because it gives the reader additional insight into Miyax’s experiences in society, which, so far, the novel has only explored in passing. This scene reaffirms elements of Kapugen’s personality that Miyax has highlighted in her brief memories of him. For example, Kapugen’s remark about sharing his grief with the jaegers and sandpipers illustrates his deep connection with nature.
Themes
Later, Kapugen’s Aunt Martha tells Miyax that Kapugen lost his mind after Miyax’s mother died: he’d left behind his nice house in Mekoryuk, his good job as the manager of a reindeer herd, and everything he owned. Aunt Martha tells Miyax that Kapugen walked her to the seal camp, “and he never did anything good after that.”
The book doesn’t reveal how Miyax’s mother died, but it’s clear that her death traumatizes Kapugen. That he gave up his belongings and secure job suggests that his loved ones were much more meaningful to him than money or possessions—without Miyax’s mother, nothing mattered to him anymore. Aunt Martha’s statement that “he never did anything good” after taking Miyax to live in the seal camp implies that some kind of tragedy happened between this moment and the novel’s present, which could be one reason why Miyax is separated from Kapugen.
Themes
But Miyax enjoys her years at the seal camp with Kapugen: she loves the natural beauty and Kapugen’s house made of driftwood. Looking back, Miyax will remember seeing the green-and-white-colored ocean “through Kapugen’s hood” as she accompanies him to sea.
Miyax’s description of seeing the ocean “through Kapugen’s hood” has literal and figurative meanings. Literally, the coat Kapugen is carrying her in obscures her view of the sea. Figuratively, the description might imply that Miyax’s idolization of Kapugen obscures her recollection of this time in her life, imbuing every memory with sentimental associations that prevent her from reflecting on her childhood objectively.
Themes
The Bladder Feast celebration is other colors: “black, blue, purple, fire-red,” but Miyax mostly remembers it as “rose-colored,” since this is the color of Kapugen’s hand wrapped around her own. An old priestess called “the bent woman,” whose face is covered in soot, dances at the celebration. When the bent woman finishes dancing, a spirit emerged from the dark wearing a mask that scares Miyax. On one occasion, Miyax looks underneath the mask and sees that the spirit is actually Kapugen’s “serious partner,” Naka.
The Bladder Feast is an important Yup’ik ceremony held at the end of the hunting season to honor the souls of the seals harvested during the past year. The use of colors to chronicle Miyax’s past builds on the idea that Miyax’s love for Kapugen prevents her from seeing the past objectively. In particular, Miyax’s memory of the Bladder Feast as “rose-colored” alludes to the expression of viewing history through “rose-colored glasses,” which refers to how nostalgia can trick a person into romanticizing the past.
Themes
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Later, the men blow up the seal bladders and carry them out to sea to return them to the seals. The bent woman explains to Miyax that the bladder holds an animal’s spirit, and that the men are returning the bladders so the old seals’ spirits can enter the new ones and keep them safe until next year’s harvest. The bent woman is “violet-colored” tonight, and she gives Miyax a piece of seal fur and blubber, which she calls an i’noGo tied.
According to traditional Yup’ik shamanism, a hunter doesn’t kill the seal’s soul when they kill the animal’s body. Instead, the animal’s soul, which resides in its bladder is reincarnated in a new seal body. That Miyax remembers the bent woman as being “violet-colored” the night she gave Miyax the i’noGo tied (an Inuit good-luck amulet) is further evidence of how sentimentality colors Miyax’s memories of the past.
Themes
In another memory, Miyax recalls how Naka and Kapugen dance around on all fours, gradually rising to their feet and rocking back and forth as they “s[i]ng the song of the wolves.” After the dance, Kapugen tells Miyax about the wolves he knew on the mainland in Nome, where he went to high school. Kapugen and his “joking partner” would go hunting in the woods, calling to the wolves to help them find their prey.
Miyax’s memory of watching Kapugen and Naka dance and “s[i]ng the song of the wolves” helps explain her impulse to connect with wolves later in life. Not only does she ingratiate herself with the wolves to increase her chances of survival, but it also helps her feel connected to Kapugen.
Themes
A “silver memory” of Miyax’s is when the sun emerges over the horizon for the first time that winter. She is with Kapugen at the beach, helping him bring in a white whale they caught in a net. In the distance, the men cheer. Miyax sees the bent woman “dancing and gathering invisible things from the air.” Kapugen tells Miyax that the bent woman is putting the spirit of the whale in her i’noGo tied.
Again, Miyax’s impulse to associate specific colors with moments from her past reinforces the broader idea that sentimentality obscures her memories and prevents her from reflecting on her childhood objectively. Finally, this particular memory shows that Miyax’s relationship to her Inuit heritage is inextricably connected to her love for Kapugen, who exposed her to Inuit traditions such as the practice of whale-hunting.
Themes
Miyax doesn’t enjoy summers at the seal camp as much as the other seasons, since summer is when families from Mekoryuk come to Nash Harbor to hunt and fish, which occupies much of Kapugen’s time. The Inuit families from Mekoryuk speak mostly English and call Kapugen by the name Charlie Edwards, and Miyax by the name Julie. One summer, Miyax tells Kapugen that she is an Inuk girl and that her name is Miyax. Kapugen hugs Miyax and tells her that she and him “truly understand the earth.”
The Mekoryuk families are considerably more Westernized than the Inuit community that lives at the seal camp. They reveal their assimilation into non-indigenous American culture through their decision to forgo their traditional languages for English and to call Miyax and Kapugen by their Anglicized names. In contrast, Miyax’s time at the seal camp has deepened her loyalty to traditional Inuit culture. She displays this loyalty when she boldly takes ownership of her name and identity as an Inuk girl. Still, Miyax’s embrace of her Inuit heritage isn’t only about rejecting assimilation into non-indigenous American culture. Ultimately, her cultural identity grows out of her love for Kapugen and how their shared culture unites them as kindred spirits who “truly understand the earth.”
Themes
Winter brings freezing temperatures and fierce blizzards. The people who stay at the camp during the winter are mostly Inuit people. Kapugen spends the winter evenings singing and dancing with the old men. Their songs are always “about the sea and the land and the creatures that dwell[] there.”
Kapugen and Miyax’s decision to endure treacherous winter weather to remain at the camp reflects the seriousness of their commitment to live a traditional Inuit lifestyle immersed in nature and detached from the non-indigenous influence in town. The detail about the old men singing and dancing underscores the idea that community engagement is integral to survival: the Inuit who spend the winter at the seal camp engage in communal song and dance to endure the harsh, brutal winter months. The men’s songs “about the sea and the land and the creatures that dwelled there” reinforce the respect for nature that’s central to traditional Inuit beliefs.
Themes
One September, Kapugen comes home with a sealskin and tells Miyax he is going to use it to make her a coat. As he gets to work cutting the skin, they hear the sound of a boat approach the beach, followed by footsteps. Suddenly, Martha is standing in the doorway. Martha argues with Kapugen, using English words that Miyax can’t understand. Martha glances at Miyax from time to time. In the end, she shows Kapugen a piece of a paper, which causes him to shout “No!”
Even though Miyax can’t understand Martha, the fact that she’s speaking English automatically renders her an enemy in Miyax’s eyes—an unwanted visitor whose presence threatens the integrity of the isolated, traditional lifestyle she and Kapugen enjoy on the island. Moreover, Kapugen’s emotional response to whatever information he gleaned from the piece of paper suggests that trouble is brewing. Miyax referred to Martha as her adoptive mother at the beginning of the book, so Martha may have revealed to Kapugen her intentions to take Miyax away from the seal camp and bring her back to live in town.
Themes
Martha leaves the house after showing Kapugen the paper. A white man waits beside her boat. Kapugen follows Martha and speaks to the white man for a long time. When Miyax wakes up next morning, Kapugen holds her close to him and tells her she is going to live with her Aunt Martha because of a new law that says she has to go to school. Miyax doesn’t argue with her father, since “it never occurred to her that anything that Kapugen decided was not absolutely perfect.” Before Miyax leaves, Kapugen tells her that if she’s unhappy living with Aunt Martha, she can escape by marrying Naka’s son, Daniel, and living with them in Barrow.
To Miyax, the white man who accompanies Martha represents Martha’s loyalties to non-indigenous American culture and the corresponding threat she poses to the happy, traditional lifestyle Miyax enjoys with Kapugen. So far, the book has only hinted at the possibility that sentimentality obscures Miyax’s memories of her father. Here, it fleshes out the idea explicitly by describing how “it never occurred to her that anything Kapugen decided was not perfect.”
Themes
After this, Kapugen packs Miyax’s bladder-bag, wraps an oilskin around her, and places her in the boat. Miyax sits down next to Martha and tries to look strong for her father as the seal camp disappears from view.
Kapugen sends Miyax away with the bladder-bag and oilskin so that she may remain connected to her heritage despite moving to town, which is considerably more Westernized.
Themes
Miyax becomes Julie after she leaves the seal camp. Martha gives her a cot to sleep on, and she enjoys learning the English words in the books they read at school. One morning, an old man from the camp comes to Martha’s house and speaks privately with her. When the man leaves, Martha tells Julie that Kapugen disappeared on a seal hunt a month ago. Parts of his kayak have since been found, but Kapugen won’t be returning. Martha turns her back to Julie, and Julie flies out the door and runs until she reaches the beach. She screams “Kapugen!” into the water, but nobody answers her cries.
Miyax becomes Julie in town, where it is customary to use Anglicized names and speak English. However, Miyax’s new name reflects a symbolic transformation, as well: moving to town forces her to assimilate into non-indigenous American culture, which effectively destroys the traditional Inuit identity she developed during her time at the seal camp. This traditional identity suffers another blow when the man announces Kapugen’s disappearance, as her relationship with Kapugen is what helped her understand her Inuit heritage. Kapugen’s probable death severs the main lifeline that tied Miyax to her Inuk identity. As an example, nature no longer resonates with Miyax in the way it did when Kapugen was alive: when she cries into the water, she receives only silence where once she might have felt reassurance.
Themes
Julie learns to live without Kapugen and adapt to the ways of the Mekoryuk people. Though her years at the seal camp were “dear and beautiful,” she now understands that “she had lived a strange life” there. The Mekoryuk girls who are her age can speak, read, and write in English, and they know facts about presidents and astronauts.
Julie’s symbolic transformation from an Inuk identity to a non-indigenous American identity continues to evolve. Her exposure to this new culture alters her attitude toward the seal camp, turning an experience she once viewed as “dear and beautiful” into something that makes her “strange” and an outsider.
Themes
One day, Julie runs into her schoolmates Judith and Rose on their way home from school. Judith invites Julie over to her house, and the three girls sit around the oil stove and talk. Julie examines the room and sees things she’s never encountered before, such as a couch, a gas stove, and cotton curtains. Judith shows Julie her bedroom, and Julie is happy to see a chain that she thinks is an i’noGo tied on Judith’s table. When Julie mentions the i’noGo, Judith is confused and tells Julie the object is a charm bracelet. Rose and Judith laugh at Julie, who feels ashamed. Julie throws her own i’noGo tied away that night.
The couch, stove, and cotton curtains in Judith’s house show that Judith’s family has assimilated to non-indigenous American culture. Julie’s unfamiliarity with these objects confirms that her years at the seal camp have made her an outsider who is ignorant to the dominant culture of Mekoryuk. She further solidifies her outsider status when she mistakes Judith’s charm bracelet for an i’noGo tied. Finally, Julie’s decision to throw away her own i’noGo tied when she returns home symbolizes her desire to disassociate from the Inuit culture that alienates her from her peers.
Themes
Julie keeps studying and learns to read and write by the next year. She starts working at the mission that summer, cleaning and greeting visitors from the continental U.S. who come to see “real” Inuits.
Julie’s renewed efforts to learn English underscore her desire to distance herself from the Inuit culture that her short time in Mekoryuk has taught her to associate with shame and alienation. The detail about tourists who visit Alaska to see “real” Inuit people dehumanizes indigenous people and devalues their culture: it’s as though the American tourists see themselves as spectators and the Inuit as a museum exhibit.
Themes
The following year, Julie cuts her hair short and curls the ends. She takes a job at the hospital. On Julie’s way home from the hospital one day, a gussak man driving a jeep pulls up beside her. The man introduces himself as Mr. Pollock. He tells Julie he owns stock at the Reindeer Company and has a young daughter named Amy who’s about Julie’s age back home in San Francisco. Mr. Pollock asks Julie if she’d like to be Amy’s pen pal. Julie smiles and agrees, accepting the envelope Mr. Pollock removes from his pocket.
Julie cuts her hair to conform to non-indigenous American norms and style trends. Her enthusiasm about having a pen pal likely stems from a genuine desire to connect with another person, since her time in Mekoryuk has been miserable and lonely. However, Julie has an added incentive to write to Amy, since doing so will likely give her more exposure to mainland norms and allow her to assimilate more convincingly into Mekoryuk’s non-indigenous culture.
Themes
Once Julie is alone in the mission library, she opens Amy’s letter and is immediately enthralled. Amy is 12 years old and writes about her life in San Francisco. She says the few Inuit words her father has taught her are “pretty words that sound like bells,” though she has trouble spelling them. Amy asks how to write the word daylight. Julie finishes reading the letter and thinks to herself, “Daylight is spelled A-M-Y.”
Amy describes Julie’s Inuit language as “pretty words that sound like bells,” which implies her genuine interest in Julie’s way of life. Amy’s interest in her culture is refreshing for Julie, who has grown ashamed of her culture since moving to Mekoryuk. Julie’s remark that “Daylight is spelled A-M-Y” reflects her hope that a friendship with Amy might usher in a new, better phase in her life.
Themes
Mekoryuk becomes dull once Julie starts receiving weekly letters from Amy. Through Amy’s letters, Julie learns about TV, cars, and the carpeted floors of the high school Amy will attend next year. Mekoryuk doesn’t have a high school, and only the wealthy Inuit families can afford to send their children to the mainland for school. Amy wonders if Naka would send her to school if she married his son, Daniel.
The fantastical image of life in San Francisco that Amy brings to life in her letters persuades Julie to reevaluate her ideas about non-indigenous American culture. However, what Julie wants most is a way out of Mekoryuk—she’s even willing to entertain the idea of marrying Daniel if it means she can start a new life somewhere else.
Themes
Julie starts clashing with Martha, who criticizes Julie’s short hair and complains about how disrespectful Judith is to her parents. Martha reminds Julie that “the old ways are best.” She starts giving Julie more chores and refuses to let her go the movies with her friends. Julie starts to hate living at Martha’s house and waits anxiously for the phone call from Naka to come.
Martha claims that “the old ways are best,” yet she facilitated Julie’s departure from the seal camp that enabled her to uphold a traditional lifestyle. It’s unclear whether Martha is as awful as Julie makes her out to be, or whether Martha’s central role in taking her away from Kapugen skews Julie's opinion of her.
Themes
Naka finally calls. The head of the Indian Affairs in Mekoryuk comes to Martha’s house and informs her that Naka has written to send for Julie to move to Barrow and marry his son. Martha is concerned and tells Julie she doesn’t have to go through with the marriage if she doesn’t want to, but Julie tells her “the old ways are best,” which silences Martha.
Martha’s concern doesn’t make sense: if she believes “the old ways are best,” it would logically follow that she’d be happy about Julie’s arranged marriage. But, on the other hand, it seems possible that Martha knows something Julie doesn’t know about Daniel, Naka, and the kind of life Julie will live in Barrow. Either way, Julie’s willingness to enter blindly into this marriage is another example of how her admiration for Kapugen inhibits her from believing he is capable of wrongdoing: she trusts that the marriage will be fine purely because Kapugen arranged it.
Themes
The next day, Julie travels to the airport. Martha trails behind. She drags her legs and complains about not having anyone to care for her when she’s old and frail. Julie says a quick goodbye, and the pilot leads her into the plane. At first, Julie is afraid the plane won’t be able to fly, but before she knows it, she’s high in the air and watching Nunivak disappear behind her. At Fairbanks, Julie transfers to a smaller plane. The mountains and trees gradually disappear beneath them as the plane nears the North Slope.
Julie’s initial mistrust of the plane stems from her unfamiliarity with modern technology. Another thing to note here is that in Part I, when Miyax saw the plane in the sky and assumed it was headed toward Fairbanks, she probably drew this conclusion because she once rode in a plane traveling the same route.
Themes
After waiting for the thick spring fog to clear, the plane lands in Barrow. Julie is momentarily afraid that she’s made a horrible mistake, but the stewardess brings her her coat and escorts her off the plane to Naka, his wife Nusan, and Daniel before she can contemplate this any further. Julie recognizes Naka’s eyes from the old days at the seal camp and feels a little better. Nusan, who is wearing a kuspuck, smiles at Julie. When Julie looks more closely at Daniel, she sees by “his green and dull eyes that something [is] wrong with him.” Nusan sees Julie’s concerned face and quickly tells her that, although Daniel “has a few problems,” he’s a good boy and will be like a brother to Julie. Julie relaxes.
A kuspuk (spelled as kuspuck in the book) is a tunic-length hooded shirt of Yup’ik origin that various groups of Alaska Natives wear. Traditionally, they were made of animal skin and worn over a park. Julie’s remark about Daniel’s “dull eyes” suggests that he has a developmental disability. This realization sheds some light on Martha’s reservations before Julie accepted the marriage offer. It also raises the question of whether Kapugen knew about Daniel’s disability but arranged the marriage anyway.
Themes
Julie happily follows her new family home. She’s shocked when a minister and two strangers arrive at Naka’s house the next day to officiate her wedding. Nusan gives Julie a sealskin suit to wear, and Daniel dresses in a gussak suit. Daniel’s clammy, nervous hands grasp Julie’s as the minister performs the ceremony. Julie wonders whether Kapugen knew that Daniel was dull but makes herself believe he did not.
Julie can’t believe that Kapugen might have known about Daniel’s condition, because to do so would be to admit that Kapugen is flawed and less than the legend that she’s built him up to be in her imagination.
Themes
After the wedding, Daniel goes to his room, Naka steps outside with the minister and the other men, and Nusan sits at her sewing machine to finish some boots for a tourist. She tells Julie to make herself at home. Julie walks outside and sits on an oil drum, too afraid to think or speak. Some children pass by on their way to the blanket toss, where a crowd gathers around the community house. Some men unfold a giant skin, and everyone holds on to its edges. A child crawls into the center of the skin, bounces, and flies through the air. Julie looks away from the festivities, feeling horribly homesick for Mekoryuk.
Julie thought her life would be better in Barrow, but now that she’s here, she longs for the familiar comforts of Mekoryuk. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend for her: she projects unrealistic expectations onto how much something as simple as a change of scenery can improve her life. Julie’s unrealized dreams about her life in Barrow are similar to her dreams about running away to San Francisco: in either chase, she clings to a naïve hope that moving will solve the problems in her life. But these problems are, in fact, deeply rooted in issues like forced assimilation, grief, and problematic cultural practices that are too serious to be solved by a simple move.
Themes
Suddenly, Julie hears someone call her name. She turns and spots a tall girl behind her. The girl introduces herself as Pani NalaGan, though her English name is Pearl Norton. Pearl leads Julie into an alley, past an old house, and into the giant quonset hut. Julie’s eyes adjust to the dimly lit room, and she sees young people dressed in kuspucks and parkas sitting around tables and listening to rock music.
The quonset’s calming atmosphere symbolizes community’s ability to emotionally restore people. When Pearl takes Julie to the quonset, she sees a world where she can take solace in belonging and sharing cultural experiences with other people, much like she did at the seal camp with Kapugen.
Themes
Pearl buys a Coke to share with Julie. She tells Julie not to worry about her marriage, assuring her that they’re normally just for convenience, and “even in the old days,” nobody forced the kids to stay together if they didn’t like each other. Pearl tells Julie she can just run away if it doesn’t work out. The girls make plans to meet tomorrow.
Pearl’s advice is comforting to Julie because her Inuit background gives her intimate knowledge of certain traditions. As a result, Julie takes comfort in their shared heritage and feels less alone. This moment is also essential because Pearl’s suggestion that Julie can run away if the marriage doesn’t work out foreshadows—and possibly lays the groundwork for—Julie’s eventual decision to do just that.
Themes
Daniel is gone when Julie returns to Naka and Nusan’s house. Nusan puts Julie to work helping her with her sewing: she makes clothing for airlines to sell to underprepared tourists who come to town without the proper clothing. Nusan looks at Julie and tells her that she’s smart and pretty, and that she’ll be fine.
Pearl mentioned that arranged marriages usually are just a matter of convenience, and Nusan’s order for Julie to help her with her sewing work suggests that Pearl is correct. Julie’s presence in the household is convenient for Nusan, since it lessens her workload. In addition, Nusan’s job—making clothing for underdressed tourists—stresses the cultural differences and misunderstandings that separate the Inuit from non-indigenous people.
Themes
Julie doesn’t see Daniel much that summer, and she sees him even less often once school begins. She starts to like her new home and enjoys cooking and sewing with Nusan. She looks forward to her free hours when she can meet Pearl at the quonset. Months go by, and Julie continues to correspond with Amy. The more they write, the more Amy’s house in San Francisco becomes real for Julie, and she often daydreams about the beautiful house, and the beautiful pink room Amy has promised her she can have when she visits.
The quonset becomes a haven for Julie because it offers her the protection of community and the comfort of a shared experience. The pink room Amy promises to Julie symbolizes Julie’s hopes for what a new life on the mainland could offer her. She romanticizes the pink room and this hypothetical life, almost to the extreme degree that she glorifies Kapugen.
Themes
That winter, after subzero weather prevents Naka from leaving the house, Julie realizes he doesn’t have a job at all and just drinks all day. Naka becomes angry and violent when he drinks, and sometimes he even hits Nusan. Even so, Naka is friendly when he first wakes up and sometimes tells Julie stories about the old days at the seal camp. When Naka is nice, Julie can understand why Kapugen loved him.
Julie had good memories of Naka because she associated him with Kapugen and life at the seal camp. The reality of Naka’s alcoholism symbolically gestures toward the idea that one’s memories are often unreliable.
Themes
One night, Naka won’t stop beating Nusan, so Julie runs to the quonset to look for Pearl. Pearl isn’t there, but Julie sees Russel, the young man who campaigns around town to vote “No” on liquor licenses, sitting in the corner. Julie tells Russell about Naka’s drunken violence. Russell nods sympathetically and tells Julie about a man from San Francisco who does business in Alaska and has helped many people, including Russell and his father, overcome their addictions. “Mr. Pollock,” Julie guesses correctly. Suddenly, her pink room in San Francisco “ha[s] a new dimension.”
To escape the violence of her home life, Julie takes solace in the sense of community and belonging that the quonset offers her. Russel’s campaign against liquor licenses alludes to Alaska’s disproportionately high rate of alcohol abuse. In particular, the Alaska Native population is at a higher risk of developing alcoholism, with economic disadvantage and the historical trauma of forced assimilation and a loss of culture acting as contributing risk factors. Julie’s remark that her pink room in San Francisco “ha[s] a new dimension” reflects her shifting attitude toward non-indigenous society. Increasingly, she views the pink room (and the possibility of a new life in San Francisco that it symbolizes) as preferable to her life in Mekoryuk, where she regularly witnesses violence and remains trapped in an arranged marriage. Russel’s comment about Mr. Pollock helping people recover from substance abuse issues invites the possibility that Mr. Pollock might be willing to help Julie, too.
Themes
January 23 is a celebration day: the day of the sunrise. The air in town teems with excitement. At noon, all the students file outside. The gussak principal stares at the sky as though “he really did not believe the miracle would happen.” Then, it begins: the sky is emerged in an explosion of colorful light of the “burning red” sunrise. The Inuit people lift their arms toward the sky to praise the sun, and everyone else follows their lead.
January 23 marks the end of the polar night in Barrow (now Utqiagvik). The gussak principal’s skepticism toward the sunrise reflects his culture’s distanced relationship to nature. Julie makes claims throughout the book that allude to non-indigenous people’s dismissal of her culture as superstitious or foolish. Yet it’s the non-indigenous townspeople who instinctively follow the Inuit people’s lead and raise their hands to praise the sun. This suggests that even if some gussak people believe that their culture is superior to Inuit culture, this belief can’t blind them to the magnificence of nature’s beauty, like the rising sun. This scene paints Inuit cultural practices, particularly their reverence for nature, in a favorable light.
Themes
Summer arrives, and tourists spills into Barrow. One night, Nusan comes home late and angrily tells Julie that Naka is in jail. She orders Julie to finish the maklaks while she retrieves him. Nusan leaves, and Julie busies herself with the boots.
Maklaks are warm, soft boots worn by Arctic indigenous peoples and traditionally made from animal hide. The fact that Naka is in jail again suggests that Julie’s romanticized view of Naka and his family was colored by her love for Kapugen.
Themes
Daniel comes in sometime later. Although he normally ignores Julie, tonight he shouts at her that the kinds have been ridiculing “Dumb Daniel” for not being able to “mate” his wife. Daniel grabs Julie and forces himself on her, growing angrier when she tries to resist. Daniel pushes Julie to the floor and crushes her beneath his body, though Julie can see that Daniel is frightened, too. The room spins. Daniel swears and stands up. He laughs to himself, shouting “Tomorrow, tomorrow I can, I can.” After Daniel leaves, Julie vomits. She stands up slowly and whispers to herself, “when fear seizes, […] change what you are doing.”
Daniel’s attempt to rape Julie fuels her decision to reject society and flee to the wilderness. His assault shows her that there is a greater likelihood of falling victim to violence and abuse in society than in nature. For as incredibly dangerous as the Arctic tundra turns out to be, Julie has yet to encounter as much violence there as she does now, at the hands of Daniel. Julie recites Kapugen’s advice, “when fear seizes, […] change what you are doing,” to give her the strength to leave, but she overlooks the fact that Kapugen arranged the marriage that put her in harm’s way in the first place.
Themes
Julie packs her things. She sneaks out at midnight, stopping by Pearl’s house to say goodbye. Pearl intuits what happened and asks Julie where she plans to go, but Julie doesn’t say. Pearl gets some food and supplies together, and Julie orders her to tell Nusan that she saw Julie wandering on the ice if she asks about her. She sobs as she hugs her friend goodbye.
Julie and Pearl’s parting is emotional because Pearl is the only person besides Kapugen who Julie has genuinely connected with thus far. Julie orders Pearl to tell Nusan that she saw Julie wandering on the ice so that Nusan will suspect that Julie fell through the ice and drowned and won’t look for her. Julie’s request emphasizes how serious she is about running away: she is adamant about not wanting to return and not wanting to be found.
Themes
Julie walks to the beach and crawls along the ice on her hands and feet until she can no longer see Barrow. She stands, turns to the ocean, and proclaims that she is Miyax now—not Julie.
When Miyax reclaims her Inuit name, she symbolically reclaims her indigenous heritage. Likewise, she symbolically rejects society and embraces nature when she turns toward the ocean.
Themes
