A Northern View

Pre-reading
1. If you are walking in a new city that you do not know how do you find your
way? I will use waze or a gps. As a second option, I will ask a resident of the

city for the way.

2. Did you ever take a trip with your parent? Write a short paragraph about that

trip. If you never took a trip, write about one you would like to take. I have

taken a trip to morocco with my parents, big sister and little brother to go see

some family in morocco.

W hile Reading
1. What is the name of the village where Miki lived?

Umiujaq____________________________________________________________

____________

2. What is the name of the territory where this village is?

northern territory of Nunavik

3. What animal did he hunt?

caribous___________________________________________________________

_____________
4. What is the name of the pile of rocks that guided the hunters to the caribous’

herd?

Inukshuks__________________________________________________________

______________

Miki Goes Hunting

This is the story of a young boy who lived in Umiujaq. Umiujag is located in the
northern territory of Nunavik, in the most northern part of Canada. There, life is
very different than in the rest of Canada. Parents take their children hunting at
different times of the year. To the Inu people it is very important to pass down to
the future generation their culture and tradition. The young boy in this story is
named Miki. In Inuktitut Miki means small. Miki got his name when he was a boy.
Since he was extremely small, his dad thought the name fit him perfectly. As Miki
grew older, he dreamt of the day when he would finally go hunting with his dad.
Every year, when the summer months rolled around, his dad would leave for
weeks to go hunting. The main animal that was hunted by the men during the
summer was caribou. Miki couldn’t wait to go with his father and the other men
of the village.

A few summers ago, Miki was finally allowed to join his father on his hunting trip.
Miki wasn’t the only boy who was coming along. Many of his classmates were
also tagging along for the first time. Miki was the smallest of the group but he
was determined to be the best hunter. To prepare for the journey, Miki and his
dad packed a bit of food, water, animal fur to sleep on at night, tents, knives as
well as bow and arrows. Miki was very good at using the bow and arrow. He was
convinced he would be able to hunt his first caribou using the bow his
grand-mother gave him for his birthday a few months earlier.

There were about thirty men and twelves teenage boys who were leaving on this
hunting trip. They set off on horses. At first Miki was enjoying himself. He didn’t
get to leave the village much when he was younger. For him this was an
opportunity to see and discover the world around the village. It was a chance to
learn how to find his way in this big northern land.

The trees were short because the ground was frozen most of the year. The more
north they travelled, the shorter the trees got. The soil was mainly made of rocks.
On those rocks he saw lichen. Since caribous eat lichen, the men glanced at the
lichen to see if it had been eaten by a herd of caribous. This was one of the ways
they would find a herd of caribous.

As they rode, Miki saw many Inukshuks, which are human-made stone landmark.
They are used to guide hunters to areas where caribous are known to gather as a
herd. There, hunters can easily hunt them before heading back to their village.
While they travelled, Miki counted at least 6 Inukshuks. After a few days of this
traveling, Miki and his group of hunters reached an Inukshuk where caribous
were calmly eating lichen off the rocks. The sight was beautiful. The sky was
bright blue, the sun was shining.
There must have been a least 300 caribous. Miki prepared to use his bow and
arrows to show everyone that he really was a good hunter.

Everyone got off their horses and lay flat on the rocks so as to not scare the
caribous away. Miki took his bow and aimed it at the herd in front of him. He
took out his arrows and stood very still. He stayed like that for what seemed to
be an eternity. Then, suddenly, his arrow left his bow and flew into the neck of
one of the small caribous. Miki was the first one of the hunting party to kill a
caribou. He was so happy. Everyone cheered for him. Together they cleaned the
caribou. Nothing was wasted and everything would be use. The meat would be
carried back to the village for food, the antlers would be used to carve small
objects and the skin would be used to make clothes for the people of the village.

Miki’s first hunting trip was a memorable one. Not only was he able to bring
home a caribou, but when he returned to the village, his mother and his
grandparents showed him how proud they were of him. The family organized a
big feast to celebrate the occasion. From that year on, Miki would always
accompany his father and the other men of the village on their yearly caribou
hunt.

After Reading
1. What is the meaning of the main character’s name? The meaning of the main

character’s name is ‘small’

2. What two things did Miki and the men use to find the caribous?

Trace of eaten lichen and Inukshuks

3. What was Miki determined to do at the beginning of the story? Did he achieve

it? Explain. Miki tried to show everyone that he was a good hunter and that he

can be a good hunter even if he is smaller than everyone else. He eventually

showed to everyone that he can be a good hunter by bringing a caribou to the

village.

Name three ways that the caribous are used.

1. Feed the village

2. Make clothes for them

 3. The antlers would be use to carve small objects

5. What do the caribous eat according to this story? Where can it be found?
The caribous eat lichen, which can be found on rocks.

6. Describes how Miki hunted his first caribou.

Miki hunted his first caribou with a bow and arrows. The hunting group reached

a spot where caribous were eating lichen from rocks. Miki got ready to take

his shot. He and the other hunters dismounted and lay flat on the rocks to

keep the caribous from running away. Miki then pointed his bow at the herd,

didn't move, and pulled out an arrow. He stayed still for what felt like forever

before he let the arrow fly. It struck the neck of one of the smaller caribou

making Miki the first in the hunting party to bring down a caribou.

7. Were Miki’s parents proud of him? How do you know? Yes, Miki’s parents
were proud of him. I know that because his mother and grandparents showed

how they were proud of him and even organized a big feast for the occasion.

8. If you were Miki’s father, would you be proud of him? Why?

If I was Miki father, I would be proud of him, because my little boy finally became

a man by hunting a caribou by himself.

9. Did you ever do something to make your parents proud? Explain. I helped
them clean the whole house because we were about to receive some people

to the house and the house needed to be cleaned.