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Intro
Part 1 begins on the Alaska North Slope. Miyax, a 13-year-old Inuk girl, finds herself starving, alone, and hopelessly lost after running away from Barrow, Alaska to escape an unhappy homelife. She spots some wolves nearby and remembers how her father, Kapugen, once told her about a pack of wolves that led him to a freshly killed caribou on one of his hunting trips. Miyax vows to observe the wolves, gain their acceptance, and encourage them to share their food with her, too. Miyax focuses on Amaroq, a black, regal wolf who is clearly the leader of the pack. Although the wolves ignore Miyax at first, she gradually wins them over by mimicking their behavior and learning how to convey respect, dominance, and submission. Miyax becomes particularly friendly with one pup, whom she names Kapu, after Kapugen. All the other wolves—Silver, the mother; Nails, another adult male; and the pups, Zing, Zat, Zit, and Sister—accept Miyax into their pack. However, Jello, the antisocial, lone wolf whom none of the others respect, repeatedly antagonizes Miyax.
The bond between Miyax and the wolves grows stronger, and Amaroq lets Miyax take meat from a freshly killed caribou. Miyax grows more optimistic that she will survive long enough to continue her journey toward Point Hope, where she plans to board a ship bound for San Francisco to visit her pen pal, Amy. Still, Miyax remains wary of the approaching winter, knowing the tundra will be immersed in a months-long darkness in the near future. One day, Miyax returns to her camp and finds Jello eating the meat she stored in a makeshift underground cellar. Miyax chases Jello away with a knife but knows the loss of meat could have a devastating effect on her chance of survival. Shortly after this setback, the wolves leave, and Miyax is alone once again.
Part 2 is a series of flashbacks that chronicle Miyax’s life up until this point. Miyax remembers moving with her father to an Inuit seal camp after her mother died, and she regards the years she spent there as the happiest time in her life. At the camp, Miyax reconnects with nature and her Inuit culture. During the Bladder Feast celebration, an old priestess whom people call “the bent woman” gives Miyax an i’noGo tied, a totem made from seal fur and blubber. One day, Kapugen’s Aunt Martha arrives at the camp unannounced. She and Kapugen argue. Afterward, Kapugen tells Miyax that she has to move back to Mekoryuk with Martha to enroll in a Bureau of Indian Affairs school. Before Miyax leaves, Kapugen tells her that if she ever needs to escape, she can marry his friend Naka’s son, Daniel.
Miyax moves to Mekoryuk and assumes her American name, Julie. One day, an old man from the seal camp comes to Martha’s house and reveals that Kapugen disappeared while on a seal hunt and is presumed dead. The news devastates Julie, but she accepts her fate and moves forward. She tries to adapt to her new life in Mekoryuk, but the other Inuit girls tease her about her poor English and unfamiliarity with gussak (white) culture. Determined to fit in, Julie throws away her i’noGo tied and learns to read and write in English. One day, a gussak man named Mr. Pollock invites Julie to be pen pals with his 12-year-old daughter, Amy, who lives in San Francisco. Julie gladly accepts Mr. Pollock’s offer and starts receiving weekly letters from Amy. Through these letters, Julie learns about the exciting, modern world that exists on the mainland. At the end of each letter, Amy begs Julie to visit her and describes the pink room Julie will stay in when she arrives. Meanwhile, Julie grows tired of her life in Mekoryuk. Amy’s letters make the town seem dull, and Julie and Martha fight constantly. Julie decides to move to Barrow to marry Daniel.
When Julie meets Daniel for the first time, she is shocked to learn that he is developmentally disabled, and she momentarily wonders if her father knew about Daniel’s condition when he made the arrangement. Julie’s new life in Barrow is initially bearable. She helps Nusan, Daniel’s mother, sew clothing to sell to the tourists. Daniel mostly ignores her, and she befriends a girl named Pearl Norton. However, Julie soon discovers that Naka is an alcoholic who beats Nusan when he is drunk. One night, Daniel comes home angry because the schoolchildren have been teasing him about not being able to “mate” his wife. He assaults Julie, attempting to rape her, and threatens to repeat the attack tomorrow. That night, Julie reclaims her Inuit name and leaves town on foot. She plans to board a ship at Point Hope and travel to California to see Amy, but she gets lost along the way.
In Part 3, the narrative returns to the present. Miyax discovers that somebody has destroyed her camp and stolen all her meat. The culprit, Jello, emerges from the reeds. Miyax chases him away, packs her things, and continues her journey across the tundra. The first snow falls. Miyax sets up camp and hears her pack’s familiar howls. Before Miyax can grasp what’s happening, Jello reappears and steals her pack, which contains all her most important tools. Miyax knows her situation is hopeless. She drifts to sleep and mentally prepares to die.
Miyax awakens to find Jello’s mutilated body next to her pack. She knows that Amaroq killed Jello to punish him for harming her, and she praises her “adopted father.” Miyax continues her journey. Meanwhile, the days grow shorter, and the air grows colder. Miyax has a frightening encounter with a grizzly bear, but her wolf pack reappears to protect her. When she Miyax passes an oil drum, she knows civilization isn’t far away. Wary of the gussak hunters who are likely nearby, Miyax sings to her wolf pack to warn them not to continue any further. Miyax finds a lost bird at her camp that night. She names the bird Tornait and takes him with her. The weather worsens, and Miyax loses track of her wolf pack. One afternoon, an airplane of hunters appears overhead. One of them shoots Amaroq, killing him. Another bullet wounds Kapu. Miyax brings Kapu to her camp and tends to his wounds. After seeing the violence the gussaks have inflicted on her friends, Miyax no longer daydreams about modern life in San Francisco. Instead, she builds an icehouse and resolves to live an authentic Inuit lifestyle in the wilderness.
One day, a family of Inuit hunters from Kangik, a nearby village, stumble upon Miyax’s camp. The wife, Uma, tells Miyax about a master hunter from their village named Kapugen. Miyax realizes that Uma is talking about her father and heads to Kangik the next morning. Miyax reunites with Kapugen but feels betrayed when she sees that Kapugen has married a gussak woman named Ellen, assimilated to gussak culture, and abandoned the old way of life. Miyax leaves Kangik to return to the wilderness, but her plans change when Tornait dies suddenly. Miyax buries Tornait and sings a song to mourn the dying animals’ spirits and the end of the Inuit. She reclaims her non-indigenous name, Julie, and returns to Kapugen.
