Julie of the Wolves

by

Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves: Part 3: Kapugen, the Hunter Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Miyax ends her reminiscences. Back in the present, she stands atop the frost heave overlooking the wolves’ abandoned den and cries out for Amaroq. She spots a piece of an antler on the ground and pockets it to use as a weapon. Miyax feels the spirits of her animal friends around her and wonders if they’ll cross paths again.  
Miyax takes solace in her spiritual connection to nature. She knows she and the wolves are both a part of the interconnected natural world, which makes the wolves a part of her even when she isn’t with them. In addition to spiritual nourishment, nature also provides her with physical protection in the form of the abandoned antler she repurposes as a weapon.
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Miyax walks back toward her camp. At the top of the frost heave, she is met with a disastrous sight: her house is caved in, her sleeping skins are shredded, and all her meat is gone. Miyax trembles with fear as she wonders what could be responsible for the destruction. Then, she sees a vicious Jello hidden in the reeds. Miyax instinctually backs up but corrects herself, knowing she must stand her ground. She growls at Jello, and Jello backs away with his tail between his legs. Miyax wants to hurt Jello but can’t bring herself to “strike a coward.”
Jello’s destruction of Miyax’s campsite puts her in grave danger. Now, she has neither food nor the support of her wolf community to bolster her chances of survival. Miyax’s refusal to hit Jello speaks to her selflessness and respect for other creatures: Even after Jello sabotages her, she refuses to seek revenge. When Miyax calls Jello a “coward,” she reaffirms how opposite he is from Amaroq, whom she lauds for his bravery.
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Miyax keeps Jello at a distance and investigates the ruins of her house. She sees that her pack, which has some meat in it, is still intact. After Jello leaves, Miyax sees a lemming run across the grass, pursued by a weasel. Miyax smiles, realizing that “another cycle [i]s beginning.”
Miyax’s realization that “another cycle [i]s beginning” references Kapugen’s earlier lesson about the lemmings’ absence being a good thing, since their migration patterns contribute to the natural cycle of life. When Miyax sees a lemming running before her, it marks the beginning of a new cycle, and she’s hopeful that this cycle will balance out the misfortunes she’s recently suffered by sending good fortune her way. The start of this new cycle also symbolizes the possibility of rebirth and renewal. 
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Miyax packs her things in preparation for her journey. She hears a snowshoe hare scream and goes to investigate. Around the bend, Miyax is suddenly face to face with the hare’s killer: a giant wolverine. Miyax fends off the wolverine and snatches the hare, placing it in the caribou skin to carry it. A tern flies past, and Miyax takes out her sinew, holds it in the air under the bird, and moves in the direction of Point Hope. 
Catching the hare is a sign that the start of the new cycle will mark a positive shift in Miyax’s journey. Point Hope is the actual name of the town where Miyax is heading, but her journey toward Point Hope also symbolizes the hope for a better life in San Francisco that motivates her to push forward. 
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At sunset, the clouds are dark and unreadable: they could bring a blizzard or hardly any snow. Miyax cuts into the frost heave with her knife and stuffs her ground skin into the cave. She climbs inside just as the snowfall begins, and she falls asleep. 
The novel interweaves Miyax’s brief moments of good fortune with ominous descriptions of her natural surroundings to emphasize the sheer brutality of the Arctic tundra and the resilience Miyax and her people must possess to survive there.
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When Miyax wakes up, the sky is clear, and the tundra is only dusted with snow. Miyax is nervous: she can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her. Slowly, she crawls out of her cave and finds that the hare has vanished from the caribou skin. Miyax sings the song she made up about Amaroq to calm her nerves. That evening, she makes stew. As she’s tending to the pot, she feels the earth tremble and sees two enormous male caribou standing before her. It’s mating season, and the caribou begin to fight, smashing their antlers against each other’s. After dinner, Miyax packs her things and searches for a campsite away from the caribou.
Miyax isn’t a superstitious character, so her unease and feeling that someone is watching her is an ominous sign that something is off. The vanished hare is also suspicious. So far, only one character has attempted to steal from Miyax: Jello. When Miyax sings a song about Amaroq, she pays tribute to Amaroq and Kapugen: her decision to calm herself with music embodies Kapugen’s advice to respond proactively to fear instead of succumbing to it.
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Miyax settles on a campsite beside a pond. Unable to sleep, she takes out the wolf-puppy bone and carves a comb out of it. Later, when the sky grows dark, she excitedly notices that the first star of the year has appeared. She knows that the North Star, her guide, will soon be visible. Miyax hears wolves barking in the distance. Their cries seem wary at first, but they soon turn joyful. Suddenly, Miyax recognizes the barks of her pack. She listens for Jello, too, but doesn’t hear his voice.
Carving is a traditional Inuit trade that connects Miyax with her culture. The appearance of the North Star is an example of how the natural world exists in a state of balance. Although the impending winter will immerse Miyax in near-complete darkness, this darkness makes visible the North Star, which she can use to guide her to Point Hope. Miyax’s inability to discern Jello’s voice offsets her joy at hearing her pack: Jello could be nearby and poised to initiate another attack on Miyax.
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Miyax hears something rustling nearby and grabs her club before realizing it’s just the wind. Ashamed of her fear, Miyax thinks about how incapable she is of following Kapugen’s advise and responding to her fear by “chang[ing] what she [is] doing.” But before she can relax, she sits up and screams: Jello lunges toward her, grabs her pack, and runs away. Miyax starts to panic—everything important is in her pack. She can’t get anywhere with no boots, and her needle was in her pack, so she can’t make any new ones, either. “My tombstone,” she says to herself, and wonders how long it will take for her to die. Miyax falls asleep.
Miyax’s shame about letting fear paralyze her and not heeding Kapugen’s advice causes her to dismiss the gut instinct that she is in danger. In this way, Miyax’s admiration for Kapugen prevents her from assessing reality objectively. As a result, she can’t react in time to defend herself against Jello, and he steals her pack, which contains the tools most critical to her survival. When Miyax says “my tombstone,” she acknowledges the gravity of her situation: she has no food for sustenance, no tools, and no community to protect her in her newly vulnerable state. 
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 Miyax wakes up and smells the sweet smell of fresh wolf urine. She feels vaguely reassured, though she can’t discern the urine’s exact message. She wraps two skins around her feet to serve as temporary boots and looks for her pack, hoping Jello abandoned it after stealing the meat. If Miyax can find her pack and tools—her ulo, needles, and matches—she has a chance at survival. Miyax scans the ground carefully. She thinks that the old the old Inuit people at the seal camp had been “wise” for not relying on “man-made gadgets.”
The reassurance that the wolf urine brings Miyax suggests that it came from one of her packmates instead of Jello. Knowing that she has the support of her wolf community allows her to replace the resignation she felt last night with strength a renewed sense of hope. Realizing how helpless she is without the most essential tools renews Miyax's appreciation for the “wise” Inuit men at the seal camp who rejected the “man-made gadgets” modern society invented to conquer and exploit nature. These men adjusted their lives to fit the demands of nature rather than relying on tools to mold nature to conform to their needs.
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Suddenly, Miyax shrieks: on the ground before her lies the bloodied, mutilated body of Jello, and next to Jello, her pack. Miyax knows that Amaroq must have done this; she recalls Kapugen telling her that wolves turn on the lone wolf who steals from the pups. Miyax investigates her pack. The food is gone, but her ulo and needles remain intact—and this is all that matters. She praises Amaroq, calling him her “adopted father.” Miyax realizes that reaching Point Hope is no longer important to her: she could just as happily live here for another year. 
Jello’s attack on Miyax showed that he had no qualms about fulfilling his own needs at her expense. Amaroq turns on Jello because Jello has broken the pack’s code of conduct by putting his own needs above Miyax, whom Amaroq considers a member of his pack. The fact that Amaroq killed Jello is undeniable proof of Miyax’s acceptance in the wolf pack. Miyax returns Amaroq’s affection when she refers to him as her “adopted father.” She no longer cares about making it to San Francisco because the companionship she’s found in Amaroq and his pack is more meaningful than anything she thinks she could find in society.
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Quotes
One evening, Miyax feels lonely as she searches for a campsite, and she imagines Amy’s beautiful house in San Francisco to occupy her mind. Suddenly, it strikes Miyax that the tundra, a “painted earth” with all its magnificent shades of color, is far more beautiful than Amy’s house.
Amaroq’s attack on Jello touches Miyax. San Francisco loses its appeal for Miyax once she realizes that the wolves have given her a stronger sense of community and acceptance than her relationships in society. As she takes in the “painted earth” of the tundra, she realizes that she feels most at home in nature.
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Quotes
Miyax trudges forward, unafraid as she sings her Amaroq song. She freezes sticks of grass in the water of an icebound lake and uses the frozen rods to form a tent. Amaroq calls to her, and she calls back to let him know where she is. A lemming runs through the grass. Miyax moves to catch it, but a fox beats her to it. Miyax grins and resolves to be quicker next time.
Miyax demonstrates how comfortable she is in nature when she resourcefully repurposes frozen sticks of grass to construct a tent. Seeing the lemming reminds Miyax of Kapugen’s philosophy about the natural order that governs all living things. Miyax grins at the fox that stole her would-be meal because she has a newfound appreciation for the interconnected natural world they both inhabit. She has faith that if she is patient, the balance of the universe will ensure that she has a turn to eat, too.  
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Kapu emerges from the grasses with a leg of caribou in his mouth. He dances in circles and beats the ground with his paws. Miyax gives Kapu a strip of caribou hide to thank him. She brings the caribou leg back to her tent and prepares a stew. As Miyax waits for her stew to cook, the cold air inspires her to dance like the bent woman had danced at the seal camp.  When it’s time to dance about the evil spirits, Miyax improvises, as is tradition. Miyax dances to tell the story of Kapu bringing her the caribou leg. When she is finished dancing and feels how warm she is, she remembers that the old ways aren’t “foolish” but “have purpose.”
Miyax’s patience pays off as Kapu emerges with a bounty that is exponentially better than the lemming the fox snatched away from her. As usual, Miyax shares her meal with Kapu, reciprocating his act of goodwill in bringing her the caribou leg in the first place. Miyax’s dancing further proves her shifting attitude toward the non-indigenous world: she’s increasingly turning to traditional Inuit culture instead of Amy’s letter for reassurance. Miyax’s realization that the old ways “have purpose” and aren’t “foolish” emphasizes her renewed commitment to Inuit culture. She thinks that reclaiming her people’s traditions will lead her to a better life, and she’s begun to see San Francisco as a naïve pipe dream.
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The sky darkens, and Kapu accepts some cooked meat. Miyax gazes at the sky and sees the twinkling North Star watching over her. Before going to sleep, Miyax cuts the rest of the caribou skin into strips and a circle, weighs down the pieces with stones, and drops them into the lake. She falls asleep to the sound of her howling wolf pack.
Miyax sleeps peacefully, reassured by her wolf pack’s protection and by the survival skills and wisdom that her traditional upbringing imparted onto her.
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When Miyax awakens, it’s still snowing, and the air is colder than it was before. She breaks through the lake ice, removes the frozen skin she placed there the night before, and fashions them into a sled. She forms the remaining strips of skin into snowshoes. There will only be a few hours of daylight today, so Miyax works quickly. She finishes packing and continues her journey, noting the position of the North Star.
Miyax finds meaning and fulfillment in using the traditional skills and wisdom she had to abandon when she lived in town. She honors the caribou by using its frozen skin to build a sled rather than wasting this part of the animal.   
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Through the yellow-green light of the midday sun, Miyax sees that she is in the middle of the caribou’s wintering grounds. She welcomes this news, hoping the presence of caribou might attract her pack. Miyax looks up and sees a skua bird, which means she’s closer to the ocean than she thought. She follows the skua until her eyes land on an oil drum, which signifies that civilization is near. Miyax realizes that while she would have been thrilled to see the oil drum a month ago, she’s more indifferent to it now that she’s come to appreciate the wilderness. Amaroq barks in the distance. Miyax howls and walks toward his voice.
Like the wise old men from the seal camp, Miyax adjusts her life to conform to the natural world: she uses the sun to tell time and the skua’s  presence to determine her relative location. Miyax’s lack of excitement to see the oil dream shows how significantly her priorities have shifted since first getting lost. Although she initially thought the modern world could give her a better life, her experiences in the wilderness suggest that she feels more at peace in nature.   
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Quotes
It’s dawn. Miyax warms her stew over a fire. She hears Amaroq bark insistently. The other wolves respond Amaroq’s call, but they sound as though they’ve formed a circle around Miyax, which is odd. Miyax hears vicious barks and steps onto the frozen lake before her. About halfway across, she spots the dark, looming figure of a grizzly bear. The grizzly spots Miyax, snarls, and runs toward her.
Amaroq’s barks alert Miyax to the danger the grizzly bear poses. Once more, Miyax’s participation in the wolf community offers her more protection than any personal resilience ever could.
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Miyax runs toward her tent, but she realizes the wind is blowing her scent in the bear’s direction. She changes course and runs toward the south bank. Miyax wonders why the bear isn’t hibernating—the wolves have been asleep all day and can’t have been responsible for waking it. The wolves harass the bear, and Miyax realizes they are trying to chase it away from her. Finally, the wolves push the grizzly out onto the tundra.
If the wolves didn’t awaken the grizzly bear, something else must have roused it from hibernation. Miyax’s puzzlement hints at the possibility that she and the wolves aren’t alone on the tundra, and that danger is on the horizon. 
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The experience leaves Miyax shaken, but she thanks her pack and resumes her trek. As she travels, she suddenly realizes why the grizzly was out: it’s the start of the Americans’ hunting season. Miyax knows that the gussaks are paid a bounty to shoot the wolves. The men at the seal camp thought this practice was evil, since it was “killing for money, rather than need.” Kapugen used to say that the bounty was the gussaks’ method of eliminating the amaroqs (wolves) from the earth, which is something they have no right to do. Without the wolves, there would be too many caribou grazing, which would mean the lemmings would die from not having enough grass to eat, which would mean that all the animals that prey on the lemmings would die, too.
Because the allure of a bounty incentivizes gussak hunters to kill indiscriminately, they pose even more of a danger to the wolves than the grizzly bear. The gussaks’ attitude toward hunting directly opposes the Inuit attitude. While the Inuit hunt only what they “need” out of respect for the animals who sacrifice their bodies to clothe and feed them, the gussaks have no respect for the animals they kill and no sense of humankind’s place in the interconnected natural world. Greed motivates the gussaks to hunt beyond what they need, which throws the natural world into chaotic unbalance.
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Quotes
Miyax realizes the oil drum she just passed marks the border between civilization and wilderness, and she thinks it’s her job to warn her pack about the possibility of hunters. She wonders how to alert the wolves and begins to sing: “Go away, royal wolf, / GO away, do not follow.” Thickening clouds fill the sky, signifying a white-out, and Miyax decides to crawl into her shelter for the night instead of traveling. She pitches her tent and continues carving her comb. As she works, she realizes the comb isn’t a comb at all, but a figure of Amaroq.
Miyax upholds her obligation to her wolf pack, warning them about the danger of civilization, just as they warned her about the grizzly bear. In addition, she employs the traditional skill of carving to pay homage to Amaroq, which emphasizes Inuit culture’s respect for nature. Beyond this, the Amaroq comb illustrates the deep bond between Miyax and the wolves that’s developed over the time they’ve spent together.
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Miyax hears a bird call out in the darkness. She peers outside and sees a young golden plover just outside her tent. Miyax carries the bird inside, admiring how the bird’s black and gold feathers glimmer in the light. Miyax has never seen a plover up close before, and she now understands why Kapugen calls them “the spirit of the birds.” The bird is lost, malnourished, and dying, but Miyax tells him she’s happy he can be here with her. She names the bird “Tornait, the bird spirit.” Miyax places Tornait inside her sleeping skin and offers him a piece of caribou meat. Tornait devours the meat and falls fast asleep.   
Miyax names the golden plover Tornait to honor Kapugen and her Inuit heritage. She references Kapugen’s “spirit of the birds” song in Part I when she toasts to the owlet and bunting she brought back to her campsite and recalls the Feast of the Bird celebration her old village would celebrate. The compassion Miyax extends to Tornait reaffirms her selflessness and culturally inherited respect for nature. 
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The next night, the white-out is still too thick and impermeable to move forward. This is fine with Miyax, who has food, shelter, and companionship. She observes Tornait’s tame demeanor and wonders if it comes from the loneliness of living in such an isolated place.
It’s interesting that Miyax reflects on Tornait’s loneliness but never on her own. In fact, she seems content with the companionship her animal friends provide her and might even prefer their company to that of other humans. This emphasizes the degree to which Miyax prefers nature to society, perhaps because she’s encountered people (like Daniel) who are even more brutal than animals.
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The white-out is lighter the next afternoon. As Miyax prepares dinner, Tornait rises in alarm. Miyax listens closely but can’t hear anything. Suddenly, Kapu emerges from the mist. Miyax calls out to Kapu, but Kapu is distracted by something. Amaroq appears next, and Miyax throws her head back to signal happiness to her wolf friends. Amaroq stretches his neck back in a grand gesture before running back onto the lake. Kapu follows. Miyax tries to go, too, but Amaroq gives her a stern look, and she stays put.
Although Miyax has become quite proficient in communicating with the wolves, this passage suggests that certain gaps remain in her grasp on their language: the wolves are unreceptive to Miyax’s attempts to convey happiness and appear distracted by something that Miyax cannot discern. 
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Miyax scans her surroundings for Silver, Nails, and the pups but can’t find them. She wonders if Amaroq is teaching Kapu to be a leader—after all, a leader has to have “experience and schooling” in addition to bravery. The white-out disappears, and the stars emerge. With Kapu “in school,” Miyax once more focuses her attention on San Francisco. She emerges from her tent and wonders how to tell the wolves not to follow her any longer and realizes she can give Amaroq the same look he gave her when he didn’t want her to follow him and Kapu. Miyax hums to herself as she packs her bundle. She dons her snowshoes and places Tornait in her parka hood. Miyax pulls her sled behind her and trudges onward. 
To Miyax, a just leader undertakes the “experience and schooling” necessary for them to honor past traditions. She sees Amaroq training Kapu to assume his role as pack leader as similar to how Kapugen passed his knowledge of Inuit culture on to her. Realizing that Amaroq is training Kapu to take over as pack leader signals to Miyax that the wolves’ cycle of life is continuing, and that she, too, should move on with her life.
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Miyax doesn’t hear the airplane, but she sees its metal body glimmering in the sky. As the plane draws nearer, she can hear the buzzing of its engine. The plane begins to fly in a zigzag pattern, and Miyax realizes it is following the path of river. Rivers lead to seas, and this means she must be almost finished with her long journey—Point Hope can’t be more than another night away. 
The plane is yet another indicator that Miyax is nearing civilization. The plane’s zigzag pattern, which follows the path of a river, is additional evidence that she is nearing the end of her journey. Amaroq’s earlier signal for Miyax to stay put suggests that he senses the presence of danger—maybe Miyax should be more concerned about the plane than she appears to be.
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Miyax sees fire blast from the plane and realizes people are hunting from it. She runs toward the oil drum for shelter, fearing that the hunters might mistake her for a bear. The plane follows her. Miyax reaches the drum only to find that it’s sealed shut.  Working quickly, she squeezes herself in the space underneath the curve of the drum and remains as still as possible.
Because traditional Inuit hunters like Kapugen don’t use modern technology to hunt, the men on this plane are probably gussak hunters. This poses a grave threat for Amaroq’s pack, since gussak hunters receive a bounty for the wolves they kill.
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Miyax can hear gunshots. She looks overhead and sees that the plane isn’t aiming for her—it’s aiming for Amaroq. Amaroq and Kapu snarl and run, zigzagging across the snow. Miyax screams for Amaroq to come to her for shelter, but the plane overtakes him. Miyax hears the shots ring out and watches as Amaroq’s lifeless body collapses on the ground. Miyax sobs uncontrollably. As the plane circles back, Kapu dodges bullets and sprints toward the oil drum. Miyax can see in Kapu’s eyes that he’s scared for the first time in his life.
The hunters’ modern technology renders the wolves powerless. Amaroq’s death affects Miyax deeply; now, she has lost both her biological father, Kapugen, and her adopted father, Amaroq.  Amaroq’s death also symbolizes humanity’s cruelty, and the helplessness of nature to withstand humans’ brutality.
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Kapu reaches the drum.  Miyax covers him with snow to conceal him, but blood from Kapu’s shoulder turns the snow red. As the plane flies directly overhead, Miyax sees cities, bridges, TVs, and the pink room. The plane’s sooty exhaust fills the air. The plane flies forward but circles back. Kapu moves to get up, but Miyax urges him to stay; she knows the plane is coming to pick up Amaroq.
The images that Miyax sees when she looks at the plane come from the descriptions of San Francisco that Amy included in her letters. The fact that Miyax associates the plane with these images shows that she views the gussak hunters as emblematic of non-indigenous culture as a whole. Miyax seems to question whether she can morally bring herself to associate with the same culture that created the monsters who killed her dear friend.     
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The plane flies low enough that Miyax can see the hunters inside the plane. They wear crash helmets and goggles and laugh to each other as they scan the ground. The plane picks up speed and flies higher, and Miyax realizes the men aren’t going to pick up Amaroq. They didn’t even shoot him for bounty—they shot him for nothing. Kapu continues to bleed. Miyax puts pressure on the injured vein. She pitches her tent around Kapu and warms the stew for them to eat. Once things have calmed down, Miyax tries to go to Amaroq, but grief immobilizes her. She stays and tends to Kapu, feeding him bits of stew. Upon investigating the wound more closely, she realizes it must be stitched closed.
The hunters’ laughter adds an additional layer of cruelty to their killing of Amaroq. Their flippancy also reinforces gussaks’ lack of respect for nature. In Miyax’s Inuit culture, hunters give thanks to animals’ souls and use every part of the animals they kill. When the gussaks fail to retrieve Amaroq’s body, it’s clear to Miyax that they respect neither his body nor his soul. Miyax demonstrates her resilience yet again when she sets aside her grief for Amaroq to tend to Kapu’s wounds.
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Miyax tenderly passes the needle through Kapu’s flesh. He growls softly but remains still. Miyax sews up the wound and promises Kapu he will return to be the leader of their pack. The sun sets, and the northern lights flash across the darkened sky. Nails howls mournfully for Amaroq, and Miyax returns his cry. She decides now is the time to say goodbye to her friend and approaches his lifeless body. Amaroq’s fur shines underneath the northern lights. Miyax sings to him and offers the bone carving as a totem. The pain in her heart lightens as she feels Amaroq’s spirit is within her.
Nails’s mournful howl reflects the strength of his bond with Amaroq; Kapugen was right when he told Miyax that wolves love each other. When northern lights appear overhead, it’s as though all of the natural world grieves for Amaroq. Miyax finds comfort in the Inuit belief that Amaroq’s spirit didn’t die with his body and lives on within her. 
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The sun sets for the last time that winter on November 10. Kapu exercises in the darkness, walking back and forth across the tundra. Tornait sleeps in Miyax’s furs. Miyax handles the darkness well enough; she can hunt caribou by starlight, though when the sky is overcast it's too dark to do much of anything. On these nights, she lights a candle and stays in with Kapu and Tornait. She continues to carve the antler-weapon, shaping it into five puppies with Kapu in the lead. She takes out Amaroq’s totem and meditates on him, thinking to herself “the pink room is red with your blood […] and I cannot go there.” She realizes she no longer knows where to go.
Amaroq’s death destroys whatever naïve illusions Miyax might have had about non-indigenous society and modernity. She no longer believes that traveling San Francisco will offer her a better life than the one she had in Barrow or Mekoryuk, because she no longer believes that the culture in San Francisco and the culture that produced the men who killed Amaroq are meaningfully different. To Miyax, non-indigenous society as a whole threatens her Inuit culture and everything she holds dear.
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One night, Silver appears at the tent with a large hare in her mouth. Miyax realizes the pack is confused without Amaroq and can only hunt small prey like rabbits. She fears for them, knowing that kills like this won’t be enough for them to survive the winter. Several nights later, once Kapu can run without falling, Miyax decides it’s time to travel to the river, where there will be more game to hunt. She uses the North Star to guide her there. As Miyax travels, she sees the Brooks Range looming before her and knows her journey is nearly complete.
The novel invites a loose comparison between the wolves’ confusion and the human experience of grief. This further develops the idea that wolves are highly social, complex creatures who form meaningful bonds with one another. Miyax honors Amaroq’s spirit by looking out for his pack, guiding them to a place where they might have better opportunities to hunt. 
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One night, as Miyax sits and sews a boot, Kapu leaves and does not return. A day passes. Finally, just as she is about to go to bed, Kapu returns with the rest of the pack behind him. Miyax turns to Tornait and tells him they can go now—Kapu is leading the pack. 
Kapu’s leadership restores order to the pack. Miyax knows that Amaroq’s wisdom will guide Kapu through this new phase of his life, just as Kapugen’s wisdom has guided her. 
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At dawn, Miyax and Tornait continue on their journey. They look out for each other: Miyax feeds Tornait and keeps him warm, and Tornait keeps Miyax from becoming too lonely without her pack. As they inch closer to civilization, there are more and more oil drums. When Miyax sees 50 drums along a spit in the river, she sits down and thinks about what she actually wants to do. San Francisco makes her think about the airplane, gunshots, and death. When she sews with her needle, however, she thinks of Amaroq and feels content. Miyax realizes what she really wants to do is to live like an Inuit.
Up until now, Miyax has remained torn between her desire to preserve the traditional Inuit way of life and her curiosity about life in San Francisco. The trauma of witnessing Amaroq’s murder is a turning point for Miyax: it shows her that people can be more brutal than anything nature has thrown her way thus far.
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The next day, Miyax cuts blocks of snow with her knife and builds an icehouse. She spreads her skins across the floor and places Amaroq’s totem over the door. Time passes, and Miyax feels content. She becomes skilled at hunting small game and enjoys carving in her free time. She listens for her wolf pack, though they never visit.
Miyax finds fulfilment in preserving her Inuit culture and honoring Amaroq’s spirit. The book draws Miyax’s beliefs and customs from various Alaska Native cultures, namely the Yup’ik and Iñupiat peoples. Although the Yup’ik didn’t build icehouses (igloos), the Iñupiat would use icehouses as temporary shelter during hunting trips.
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One night, Miyax hears the crunch of footsteps running across ice. She peers outside her house and sees an Inuit hunter. “Ayi!” she calls out, and the hunter returns her call. The hunter pulls up his sled beside Miyax’s icehouse. A woman and child wrapped in furs stand beside him in the sled. Miyax greets them, though her voice is faint from disuse. She offers the family a place to stay for the night. They welcome their offer, explaining that they haven’t slept since they left Kangik, a town on Kuk Bay. With this information, Miyax has a better sense of she is. Though she’s farther away from Point Barrow than she’d originally thought, “she no longer care[s].”
The book includes the detail that Miyax’s voice is faint from disuse to emphasize how isolated she’s been for such a sustained period of time—it’s been months since she’s interacted with another human. Miyax’s realization that “she no longer care[s]” affirms her rejection of society. The names of towns are social constructs imposed onto land by humans and therefore mean nothing to her. As far as Miyax is concerned, all that matters about a particular place is whether it offers her the natural resources—food, water, shelter—necessary for survival. 
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Though the family first speaks in the Yupik dialect, the man addresses Miyax in English now. He introduces himself as Roland and asks Miyax if she’s alone. Miyax smiles but doesn’t respond. Roland repeats himself, but in Yupik this time. Miyax answers, confirming that she is alone. The mother speaks now. She calls herself Alice. When Miyax appears confused, Alice calls herself Uma, her husband Atik, and their child Sorqaq. Miyax enjoys their names and offers to share with them the freshly killed ptarmigan bird she’s cooking. 
English is Miyax’s second language, so she might not understand Roland’s words. On the other hand, Miyax’s refusal to respond to English doubles as her symbolic rejection of non-indigenous culture. Once more, Miyax’s willingness to share her limited resources with these strangers demonstrates the value she places on community. Ptarmigan is a type of grouse that is native to the Arctic tundra.
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Miyax is seized by the sudden desire to talk. Speaking in the Yupik dialect, she tells the family all about the river, the game, and the stars, though she leaves out everything about the wolves and the past. After dinner, Miyax’s guests tell her all about Kangik, which is an Inuit village that now has an airport, mission, and a generator. Atik is proud of his village. After everyone is asleep, Miyax lies awake and considers her future. She thinks she can be helpful to the villagers of Kangik: she can teach the children to set traps, or make parkas, or carve. Most importantly, she’d be nowhere near San Francisco, where people hunt and kill animals for no reason.  
Miyax feels mostly fulfilled by her life in nature, but her sudden desire to talk to the family of hunters suggests that she’s missed the company of people. While Miyax’s current lifestyle allows her to carve, hunt, and undertake other traditional Inuit customs, she misses having a community of like-minded people with whom to share these cultural experiences. Miyax’s desire to preserve her Inuit culture by passing it along to others, just as Kapugen had done for her, entices her to travel to Kangik. 
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The next morning, Tornait awakens first. Miyax dresses herself before feeding him. Atik, Uma, and Sorqaq wake next. Atik goes to his sled and brings back bacon, bread, beans, and butter—foods Miyax had practically forgotten about. Though her mouth waters, she declines the food until Uma’s obvious disappointment convinces her to nibble at some bacon. The meat is delicious, and Miyax momentarily misses the food she used to eat in Barrow. After breakfast, Atik prepares the dogs for travel.
Miyax initially refuses the non-indigenous foods Atik and Uma offer her because all aspects of non-indigenous or modern culture remind her of Amaroq’s death. The fact that Atik and Uma pack these foods illustrates how widespread assimilation has become across Alaska.
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Uma talks about her husband. Atik grew up in Anchorage and didn’t know much about hunting until he came to live with his grandfather in Kangik after his father’s death. When Atik’s grandfather, too, died, Atik was adopted and taught to hunt by Kapugen, the greatest Inuit hunter there ever was.
Uma’s story about Atik’s mentor, Kapugen, seems to suggest the impossible: that Miyax’s father is alive, after all. 
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Miyax stops cleaning her pot, carefully asking Uma where Kapugen was born. Uma tells her that Kapugen simply arrived in a kayak one day and built a house where he landed. Though Kapugen is rich, explains Uma, he lives in a simple house along the river. Miyax can hardly contain herself and urges Uma to say more about Kapugen. Uma gushes about how Kapugen arrived in town and transformed the formerly poor, alcohol-ravaged town of Kangik into a an “independent and prosperous” place.
The revelations Miyax gleans from Uma’s unbelievable story challenges everything that Miyax has believed about Kapugen’s disappearance. Uma seems to imply that Kapugen arrived in Kangik in an intact kayak, which contradicts Martha’s account of his disappearance, as she said that pieces of Kapugen’s destroyed kayak washed up on the shore. Did Kapugen swim ashore, build a new kayak, and arrive in Kangik sometime later? Or is it possible that Kapugen was never lost in the first place—that he voluntarily left the seal camp to start a new life, and Martha simply lied to Miyax?
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Miyax turns from Uma to conceal her eagerness. For so long, Miyax had believed Kapugen was dead, and the news that he might be alive is almost too much to process. Miyax now knows what she must do: she must find Kapugen and ask him to save the wolves like he saved Kangik. Miyax can no longer contain herself, and she sings to herself, “Amaroq, Amaroq.” Atik finishes preparing the dogs for their departure, and he, Uma, and the baby depart. 
Miyax’s excessive admiration for Kapugen inhibits her from feeling angry or betrayed by his (possibly voluntary) absence from her life. Instead, she feels pure joy at this fortunate turn of fate. When she sings “Amaroq, Amaroq,” she celebrates both of her fathers: the adopted wolf father who unexpectedly exited her life and the biological father who has just as suddenly returned.
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Miyax watches her new friends until they fade into nothing. She returns to her house and packs her things, singing as she works. Miyax slips Tornait into the hood of her parka, and they journey into the darkness. After a mile, Miyax hears Kapu barking authoritatively, urging her to stay. Miyax glares at her pack and tells them she must go, for “[her] own Amaroq lives.” These will be the last words she speaks to her pack.
Miyax’s habit of carrying Tornait in the hood of a parka comes from a real Inuit custom. Inuit mothers wear a parka called an amauti, or amautik, which features a built-in pouch below the hood in which they carry their babies. When Miyax tells Kapu she has to go because “[her] own Amaroq lives,” she points to the love wolves have for one another: in Miyax’s mind, Kapu’s love for Amaroq is no different than her love for Kapugen. Finally, the book discloses the important detail that this is the last time Miyax will see her pack. At this point, it’s unclear what this means for Miyax’s future. Although she initially seemed so confident in her decision to reject society entirely, the opportunity to reunite with her beloved father might be enough to convince her to return to society. 
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Miyax wonders what she and Kapugen will say to each other. She thinks of all the things she can do for Kapugen with her new many new skills. She imagines the two of them “liv[ing] as they were meant to live—with the cold and the birds and the beasts.” Miyax wonders if her father’s face will look the same. 
Miyax wants to resume the traditional lifestyle that she and Kapugen enjoyed at the seal camp: she imagines them “liv[ing] as they were meant to live—with the cold and the birds and the beasts.” Miyax hopes that her reunion with Kapugen will allow them to reclaim the shared life that Miyax’s sudden move to Mekoryuk cut short.
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Miyax sees Kangik’s lights long before she reaches the village. When she arrives, she pulls her sled to a spot beside the river and pauses to think, observing the town. She hears sled-dogs barking and is pleased to find that the town is really an “old-fashioned” Inuit village.  Miyax spots two houses near the wilderness and decides the one with the wooden boats out front must be Kapugen’s. She sees a woman leave, but she doesn’t mind—she figured he might be married.
Although Miyax prefers the natural world to life in society, Kangik, at first glance, appears to be a fair compromise between these two worlds. Though it’s more modernized than Miyax’s solitary life in the wilderness, it’s a traditional, “old-fashioned” Inuit town lacking in the modern conveniences that towns like Barrow have adopted. However, the woman Miyax sees leaving Kapugen’s house might suggest that Kapugen has changed more than Miyax wants to believe. 
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Miyax walks down to Kapugen’s house and knocks on the door. She holds Tornait in her hand. When Kapugen appears in the doorway, he is exactly as Miyax remembered him. Miyax says nothing at first. When Tornait tweets, she offers him to Kapugen as a gift. Kapugen warmly accepts Tornait, though he admits that he’s “never seen such a bird.” He invites Miyax inside, speaking English first, and then Yupik after Miyax shakes her head.
Kapugen’s failure to recognize Tornait as a golden plover is another sign that Kapugen has changed—or that he has never been quite as flawless as Miyax has made him out to be. The ignorance Kapugen displays here doesn’t fit with the infinitely wise Kapugen who exists in her memories. The fact that Kapugen initially uses English to address Miyax also suggests that he’s not as committed to traditional Inuit culture as Miyax imagined he would be.
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The house is warm. There are harpoons on the wall and a kayak hanging from the ceiling. The house reminds Miyax of the one at the seal camp, and she feels like she’s finally home. Kapugen delights in Tornait. Miyax says Tornait is “the spirit of the birds.” Kapugen asks where Miyax heard such a thing, and Miyax states her full name: Julie Edwards Miyax Kapugen. Kapugen’s frostbitten hands touch Miyax’s face in recognition. He explains that he couldn’t bear to stay at Nunivak after Miyax left to attend school, so he decided to start a new life elsewhere. He returned to Nunivak to find her once he became rich, but she was already gone.
Seeing decorations that remind Miyax of life at the seal camp temporarily quell whatever concerns she might have that Kapugen isn’t the way she thought he’d be. It’s a little odd that Kapugen doesn’t recognize his daughter until she tells him who she is, but it has been years since they’ve seen each other, and Kapugen’s initial confusion doesn’t seem to faze Miyax. She also doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that he willfully abandoned her to start a new life.
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The door opens, and the woman appears. In English, she asks Kapugen to explain what’s going on. Miyax is shocked when she sees the woman’s pale skin and reddish gold hair: her father has married a gussak. Kapugen and the woman talk. Kapugen speaks quietly, but the woman’s voice is loud. When Miyax looks around the room, she sees things she hadn’t noticed when she first arrived: the electric stove, the cotton curtains, the radio. Finally, she notices a helmet and a pair of goggles lying on the chair. Miyax stares at them until Kapugen notices her. He explains that he owns a plane now: because there are so few seals and whales, it’s the only way to hunt. Miyax tries to push a horrific thought from her mind.   
Miyax is willing to ignore many warning signs that Kapugen isn’t the man she thought he was, but she draws the line once she realizes he’s married a gussak. Miyax views Kapugen’s marriage to a white woman as an attack on the Inuit culture they once revered.  As Miyax looks around the room, she realizes that she’s surrounded by modern appliances—unavoidable proof of Kapugen’s assimilation into non-indigenous society. When Miyax sees Kapugen’s helmet and goggles, she realizes that he is no better than the gussak hunters who so callously and carelessly murdered Amaroq.
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The wife turns to Miyax and explains that she’s a teacher in the school. She tells Miyax they must register her for classes, since it’s hard to live in this town without speaking English. Miyax ignores the wife and turns to Kapugen. She tells him she’s leaving for San Francisco tomorrow. Kapugen’s phone rings. He writes down a note and tells Miyax that he’ll be back shortly. He orders his wife, Ellen, to prepare some food for Miyax. Before Kapugen leaves, he slips on an Arctic field jacket.
Ellen’s comment about learning English shows Miyax that life in Kangik won’t be much different than life in Mekoryuk. Here, too, she’ll have to conform to non-indigenous cultural norms and abandon her traditional values. When Miyax tells Kapugen she’s leaving for San Francisco, it’s because she’d rather expel Kapugen from her life than come to terms with this new version of him. Kapugen’s American-made field jacket is further proof that he has traded his Inuit culture for the conveniences of modern living. 
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After Kapugen leaves, Miyax dons her sealskin parka, puts Tornait in the hood, and walks out the door. Upon leaving, Miyax realizes that “Kapugen, after all, was dead to her.”
Miyax’s realization that “Kapugen, after all, was dead to her” expresses how betrayed she feels by his assimilation. Miyax had long believed that Kapugen was dead. Even though this turned out not to be true, he remains dead to Miyax because this new Kapugen has nothing in common with the Kapugen she remembered, or the Kapugen she hoped he’d be.
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Miyax retrieves her things and heads back to her icehouse. She knows she is an Inuk girl, so she must live like one. She plans for the future: she’ll build a snowhouse in the winter and a sod house in the summer.  She’ll make traps and carve. Someday she’ll find a boy like her, and they’ll start a family together. Miyax thinks about what Kapugen said about the seals and whales being scarce, and she hears Amy’s voice asking when she’s coming to San Francisco. Kangik’s lights disappear behind her. 
Kapugen’s betrayal is another case of humans inflicting more pain onto Miyax than nature ever could. When Miyax leaves Kangik, she not only turning her back on Kapugen but on society as a whole: she decides to return to nature because she’s tired of the people in her life hurting and disappointing her. When Miyax hears Kapugen’s voice interspersed with Amy’s, the implication is that Miyax believes that Amy is just as capable of disappointing her as Kapugen. As she travels back to her icehouse, she consciously leaves behind the lights of Kangik and the metaphorical lights of San Francisco.
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Tornait peeps weakly, and Miyax feels his body go limp. She offers him bits of chewed meat to eat, but he resists. Concerned about her friend, Miyax pitches her tent, lays down her furs, and lights a fire. The tent is warm. Tornait lies in Miyax’s hands and closes his eyes. Miyax buries Tornait in the snow many hours later. She feels Amaroq’s totem in her pocket. In English, Miyax sings a song to Amaroq’s spirit about the disappearing animals, and the end of the hour of the Inuit. When she is finished singing, Julie “point[s] her boots toward Kapugen.”
Tornait’s death prompts Miyax to undergo a final change of heart. Miyax views the deaths of Tornait and Amaroq as part of the broader cultural death the Inuit have endured through their forced assimilation into non-indigenous society. She realizes, too, how powerless she is to stop this cultural erasure singlehandedly. When she “point[s] her boots toward Kapugen,” she acknowledges this powerlessness and gives in to assimilation. It’s important to note that the book refers to Miyax as “Julie” once she decides to return to town. This implies that there is no middle ground for Miyax to take: she realizes that returning to town means she will have to give up her Inuit culture and alter her identity entirely to adhere to the non-indigenous values that the village of Kangik has embraced. Miyax’s change of heart doesn’t exactly stem from a desire to forgive Kapugen and repair their relationship, though the book does leave Miyax’s willingness to forgive Kapugen up for debate; rather, she turns back because she’s run out of options. She realizes that living alone in the wilderness and refusing to conform to modern society won’t preserve her Inuit culture in the long term, and it’s likely that she’ll continue to suffer setbacks like Amaroq’s and Tornait’s deaths as long as gussak culture continues to spread across her people’s ancestral lands. Julie “point[s] her boots toward Kapugen,” but it’s in a gesture of tired defeat, not expectant homecoming.
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