Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk (1931–2007)

Little slices of life of an Inuit family living through changes in the 20th century. What stood out for me was the sly slapstick humor delivered deadpan, with the hunter missing shots, the dogs stealing the food, the children and adults falling on their faces or into the water. The flat tone could be because the text was translated first from Inuit to French and from French to English, but it is kind of charming to contrast the matter of fact narration with the unromantic episodes of futzing family life.… (més)

VivienneR's review of this book made is sound fascinating, so I ordered a copy of it. I finally got around to reading Sanaaq and recommend it to anyone interested in Inuit life during the 20th century, from their first encounters with the Qallunaat (white Canadians) to the time when pre-fab houses and motor boats arrive in their village.

Nappaluk, a highly respected member of the village, began writing episodes of Inuit daily life at the behest of Father Robert Lechat, who wanted to compile a French-Inuit dictionary. She created a female protagonist, Sanaaq, who undoubtedly reflects autobiographical elements. After more than a 50 year history of composition, well related in the introduction, the book was finally published in 1987 in the Inuit language. The French translation appeared in 2002, followed by an English translation in 2014.

Sanaaq's extended family is at the center of the village's activities -- childbirth and accidental death, building igloos to survive the winter, hunting, fishing, preparing food, eating, overseeing children, making garments. The close cooperation and mutual support among the villagers is key to their existence in a punishing environment.
The prose is straightforward and authentic, and the characters come to life.

It perhaps reads more as a memoir than a novel, and in that regard, I can compare it to The Creek by J.T. Glisson, mirroring a similar time period. Though the backdrops of central Florida and polar Canada couldn't be more different, the strong community ties, holding the people together, have a certain universality.… (més)

This book is like nothing I've ever read. The first novel ever written in Inuttitut syllabics, it is the story of an Inuit family as their lives collide with an increasing presence of Qallunaat -- the white people. Nappaaluk was an educator and author who was dedicated to preserving Inuit culture her entire career. But this isn't just anthropology, it's a novel, and it tells as much about the worldview of its characters through its tone and style as it does its recounting of meal preparation, igloo making, etc.

Certainly an example of polar fiction, though considerably different from the other novels I've put on that shelf so far.… (més)

Wesleyan missionaries created syllabics to advance the conversion of Canadian Cree, who had no writing system of their own. Eventually this syllabic alphabet was adapted to the Inuit language of the territory now known as Nunavut. Nappaaluk was a well-respected, admired resident of the area who was asked to assist in creating an Inuit/French dictionary in the 1930s. Father Robert Lechat provided her with notebooks and asked her to write some sentences and terms from daily life when she had some free time. Obviously Nappaaluk found this boring, and instead she created a fictional community of Inuit families with Sanaaq, a young mother, as the main character, possibly a self-portrait. The translation to French was a lengthy process, and although it was published in Inuktitut syllabics in 1984, it was not until 2002 that the French translation was published. It was translated to English in 2014 by Peter Frost. For someone who had never read a novel, never read anything in fact, Nappaaluk's book is enthralling. Nappaaluk earned an honorary PhD from McGill University in 2000 for helping advance the teaching of the Inuit language and culture.

The day-to-day Inuit life that Nappaaluk portrays is unfeigned, and clearly describes the difficulties of living in the Arctic. The writing style is almost childlike in its simplicity, covering disastrous occurrences such as the death of a young person, or accidentally losing an eye, in the same tone as mundane events like filling in holes in the igloo. It's frequently necessary to refer to the glossary at the end. This was a difficult book to rate. While the writing is unpolished, frank and plain-spoken, it's very existence is an amazing achievement, and Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk's creative talent is evident.… (més)