His father told him the aurora borealis was the
spirits of their departed people dancing in the sky. He learned the
ways of the wild things in sea and on land and never tired of
following the tracks of beasts in the snow, or of watching the seals
sunning themselves on rocks or playing about in the water.
The big wolf dogs were his special delight. His father kept nine of
them, and many an exciting ride Pomiuk had behind them when his father
took him on the komatik to hunt seals or to look at fox traps, or to
visit the Trading Post.
When he was a wee lad his father made for him a small dog whip of
braided walrus hide. This was Pomiuk's favorite possession. He
practiced wielding it, until he became so expert he could flip a
pebble no larger than a marble with the tip end of the long lash; and
he could snap and crack the lash with a report like a pistol shot.
As he grew older and stronger he practiced with his father's whip,
until he became quite as expert with that as with his own smaller one.
This big whip had a wooden handle ten inches in length, and a supple
lash of braided walrus hide thirty-five feet long.
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