Ordinary Wolves. Seth Kantner

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bart buddy, friend bun daughter (slang) (Iñupiaq word: “panik”) guuq it is said, someone once said (an ending to a sentence) ichuun skin scraper, flensing tool igamaaqłuk half-dried fish or meat iġitchaq pluck feathers iŋaluat blind intestines iññuqun unknown prowler or woodsman, commonly confused with “ iñugaqałłigauraq” iñugaqałłigauraq small, strong, troll-like mythical men iqsi to be frightened itchaurat lacy intestinal fat ittukpalak whipped fish-egg and cranberry pudding kaŋiqsivich do you understand? katak to drop, to fall kinnaq a dumb person, a crazy person, a fool kuukukiaq common snipe maatnugun soon, in a little while malik follow, accompany mamillak waterproof mukluks (modern usage, plural: “mamillaks”) masru roots, Eskimo potato miġiaq to vomit milluk breasts (modern usage, plural: “milluks”) mukluks skin boots (slang) (Iñupiaq word: “kammak”) muktuk whale skin and blubber (Iñupiaq word: “maktak”) naataq great horned owl nallaq go to bed naluaġmiu white person (modern usage, plural: “naluaġmius”) niqipiaq Eskimo food nulik to have sex, mate pakik ransack, dig in someone’s stuff paniqtuq dried meat, dried fish patiq marrow qaatchiaq skin mattress, traditionally caribou hide (modern usage, plural: “qaatchiaqs”) qanisaq entranceway, storm shed qayaq small Eskimo hunting boat (English word: “kayak”) qilamik quickly! hurry! quaġaq fermented sourdock quaq frozen meat or fish, often aged or fermented qusrimmaq wild rhubarb siġḷuaq cold storage built in the ground, cache on the ground siulik northern pike suvak fish egg (modern usage, plural: “suvaks”) taaqsipak black person taata grandpa taikuu thank you takanna down there tiktaaliq mudshark tinnik bearberry tulugaq raven tupak to scare, to be frightened tuttu caribou tuuq ice chisel ugruk bearded seal ukpik snowy owl ulu women’s curved knife uqsruq seal oil usruk penis (common usage: walrus penis bone) utchuk vagina uvlaalluataq good morning! yuay lucky you

      PROLOGUE

      ON THE DRIFTED SNOW of a lake in the tundra a wolf lies dying. Blood splotches her trail down a bluff, out onto the lake. Her punched tracks zigzag. She lies on her side, panting, one eye open to the sky. A ski plane soars against the blue. It swoops low, a giant buzzing eagle coming to pluck the wolf away. The tundra glares brighter and brighter in the wolf’s eye until land and sky have no detail, and then a wing slides to a stop over her. Its shadow is black. The buzzing is insane now, a tiny angry blizzard, drifting snow. It stutters to silence. In the silence the wolf hears her pups of the spring, their howls yipping mournful and confused, across the land, and the distance of death.

      Two humans bend over her. The larger one is dressed in down overpants. A down parka spans his barrel chest and stomach. A wolf ruff is sewn on his hood. Moosehide mittens hang from wool strings around his neck. The female beside him wears caribou mukluks with ugruk bottoms, and she too has a strip of wolf fur on her parka. She is skinny, her hair black and her face gaunt. Her eyes shift and water, and flick south to the orange horizon, impatient to climb back into the sky, to escape to lands the sun doesn’t abandon.

      The man leans and touches the wolf’s eye. “She’s dead.” The eye doesn’t blink but the man wonders if she can still see out. He’s wondered about other wolves, hundreds. He scratches his throat. He pulls a down engine cover from the fuselage and toggles it over the cowling. “Long flight ahead. Don’t got room for you and this hundred-twenty-pound animal. Best skin her.” His glance runs along the skyline, and then over at the woman. He flicks open a knife. “Coupla’ more

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