Inuit Poem - I Remember the White Bear.

I remember the white bear,

With its back-body raised high;

It thought it was the only male here,

And came towards me at full speed.

     Unaya, unaya.

Again and again it threw me down,

But it did not lie over me,

But quickly went from me again.

It had not thought

Of meeting other males here,

And by the edge of an ice floe

It lay down calmly.

     Unaya, unaya.

I shall never forget the great blubber-beast;

On the firm ice I had already flayed it,

When the neighbors with whom I shared the

     land here

Had just woken.

It was as if I had just gone to its breathing hole

     out there.

     Unaya, unaya.

There as I came across it,

And as I stood over it, it heard me,

Without scratching at the ice,

At the under edge of the firm ice to which it

     had hooked itself,

Truly it was a cunning beast–

Just as I felt sorry that I had not caught it,

     Unaya, unaya,

I caught it fast with my harpoon head,

Before it had even drawn breath!

NETSILIK INUIT

photo 2009:gb