"The Necessities of Life" "Baffin Island, July, 1952" "Go see the man over there." "He'll tell you where to go." "Show me your ID tag and tell me your name." "Tiivii." "My wife, Qopanoaq, my daughters" "Fine." "I'll take care of them right away." "Tiivii, you're sick." "You must stay on the boat." "You're going south for treatment." "Your wife and daughters can go back to the land." "Leave right now?" "But I can't leave them all alone!" "All the sick people are staying on the boat." "No other choice." "No, that's impossible." "If I leave, who will hunt for them?" "No!" "What are you doing?" "He must come with me!" "You can't take him away." "Don't worry!" "Meeka will take care of him." "Go on, you have to go." "Now." "You'll get better and you'll come back..." "I'll come back." "After three months at sea" "Québec City, October, 1952" "Hey!" "I don't have all day!" "Follow me." "Gentlemen, this is your new friend." "His name is Tiivii." "He's Eskimo." "He doesn't speak French." "I trust you'll help him out." "What about his clothes?" "Throw them out." "Everyone to bed!" "Time for your cure." "Silence, please." "Lie down." "Hey, Eskimo!" "Born in a barn?" "He doesn't get it." "Can your machine tell whether I'll die?" "Can your machine tell if I will die?" "I don't understand." "Get dressed now." "That's me?" "Is that me?" "Yes, it's you." "We'll fix you up." "We'll heal you." "We'll do a pneumothorax." "We put air into the lung casing." "Listen," "I'm a doctor, not a missionary." "I have 60 patients today." "No time to learn Eskimo." "You deal with him." "You'll get better." "Some day." "When?" "One year." "Maybe two years." "Two years?" "!" "But I can't stay here two years!" "What will come of my family?" "Lie down!" "You lie down!" "What is that?" "Deer X-rays?" "You have deer up there?" "Caribou." "A caribou and its insides." "My father was a great hunter." "I learned from him." "My family never went hungry." "He's been dragging his feet for two years." "It's a critical moment" "The puck goes to Number 11..." "Qopanoaq, my wife," "I'm thinking of you." "I left so quickly..." "I hope you and the children have food." "I have food, but I'm not hungry." "I am not alone, but I have no one to talk to." "Who's with you?" "I heard someone." "You're not alone." "Whose is the little sweetie after 9:00 o'clock?" "You?" "Me?" " Hello, you wheezers" " Be quiet!" " You'll wake everyone!" " I don't care!" "You'll never get better if you keep running away." "Get up!" "Thank you, sergeant." "Nothing." "We'll have to call Indian Affairs." "No, let's wait a few days." " It's been three days already." " I don't want trouble from them." "Let's wait." "As you wish." "Now that I am sick," "I think it would be better if my wife left me because I'm not a good husband any more." "I'll never get better." "She must beg for skins and meat because I cannot get them for her." "You ran away?" "You don't like it here?" " Temperature?" " Stale." "Expectoration stale." "Not great." "Now he's refusing to eat." "I know." "The food's bad?" "You may not speak French, but understand this." "You're far from home." "You're not the only one." "Everyone's in the same boat." "This is like war:" "march or die." "You want to die?" "Is that it?" "I want to die." "I won't let you, believe me." "There is no way we're losing a patient because he won't eat." "No one starves to death here." "Now, put him on an I.V., and do what it takes to make him eat." "I hold you personally responsible." "He didn't eat." "Don't let yourself go." "Open up." "Open!" "I'm not a child." "A letter from Berthe." "This is her." "She's waiting for me." "We'll be engaged when I get out." "We'll get my father's farm." "She's a good girl." "She says hello." "She's praying for you." "You can't give up." "You mustn't." "Wake up." "Wake up!" "Who are you?" "Kaki Davidee." "Where are you from?" "I come from Aupaluq." "You talk funny." "You too." "Let me sleep." "But come back tomorrow." "Come tomorrow." "Your parents aren't with you?" "My parents are dead." "I grew up with my grandmother." "How'd you end up here?" "I went to Kuujjuaq with grandmother." "I was coughing, so my grandmother took me to the infirmary." "The White nurse... decided to keep me." "My grandmother left to go back to Aupaluq and disappeared in a storm." "Finally, they sent me down on a plane to a sanatorium." "Here?" "No, a different one." "A long time ago?" "Two years." "Did she ring you here?" "Yes, it was her." "She argued with them to ring me here." "You don't speak my language but... if you understood," "I'd thank you." "He thanks you for ringing me." "You speak White language?" "It's not very hard." "Tell her... she's a good person." "He says you're nice." "Does he need anything else?" "He says it's good to have someone ring you fish when you're sick." " He thanks you." " How do you say "You're welcome"?" "Ilaali." "It's good!" "This is real food!" "I've been wondering for a long time... where the water in the taps comes from." "From a river, through big pipes." "And the shit in the toilets, where does that go?" "In the river too, I think." "And the fish I ate, where did it come from?" "I'm glad you're back." "I'm glad to be back among the living, Josepi." "In Inuktitut, your name is Josepi." "In my grandfather's time, before there were guns," "they used to hunt caribou with many people" "during the fall migration." "They had to find the places where the caribou were passing." "Then they waited for them." "They built inukshuks like this." "The caribou thought they were men." "That's how... they led the caribou to the water." "In kayaks, they approached," "and harpooned the caribou." "And now?" "Now, from far away, we can shoot them." "Even if we're alone." "But you must know caribou well." "Their migration..." "And the lay of the land, you must know it well." "Some day, I'll take you." "You have a surprise." "Come." "It's for you." "Merry Christmas." "Tiivii, is that you?" "Qopanoaq!" "Talk to her." "It's you?" "It's really you!" " Where are you?" " At the trading post." "How is this possible?" "They brought me here to talk to you." "I'm glad to hear your voice." "I was so scared for you." "I didn't know a person could feel... more alone among Whites than lost out on the land." "I understand." "But I'm doing better, and my heart is lighter now that I hear your voice." "Me too." "But I don't know when I'll be back." "You got presents?" "Yes, she gave them to me." "I have something for you too." "It's Tintin!" "For you." "Tomorrow, I'll show you how to make one." "Thanks." "Then we decide to raffle off the piano." "The mother isn't happy because she inherited it from her mother." "I tell her not to worry." "I'll take care of everything." "So, we decide to fill out 200 tickets at 10 cents." "Oh, the chocolate log!" "Then what?" "Ten cents for a piano." "Tickets went fast:" ""Gimme 5 tickets." "I'll take 20 cents' worth!"" "After 200 tickets, we put them all in a hat..." "Are you all right?" "For you..." "Christmas." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "So I grab the ticket and look at it." "Diane won!" "We won the damn piano three times." " What are you doing?" " Tiivii's telling me stories." "Ask him to tell me one." "You can translate." "The story of an invisible man." "There's an invisible tribe living around us." "You see their footprints in the snow and sometimes their igloos." "But they themselves" " are never seen." " Except when they die." "Then you can see them." "One day, an ordinary woman married an invisible man." "He was a good husband." "He hunted for her and brought her meat." "And then, at night, they did what all couples do." "The woman was happy, but she was sad she couldn't see her husband." "Her curiosity grew too strong, and so one evening..." "So she stabbed her husband" "where she knew he was sitting." "He became visible." "He was handsome," "but he was dead." "Beautiful." "He says you're beautiful." "And asks if you'll sleep with him." "What?" "That's what he said." "How dare you?" "I told you she wouldn't want to." "What do you know about women?" "What do you know about Whites?" "I didn't know it would make you angry." "All you had to say was no." "Speak French, why don't you?" "What's up?" "I'm listening to my show." "Come, I'll show you how to make a sled." "Later." "When the show's over." "You won't become a good hunter by listening to White radio shows." "What good would it do me?" "I'll never go back home anyway." "How can you say that?" "I just know it." "You can repair that?" "A good hunter can do anything." "I'm getting out!" "They released me!" "I'll come visit you." "I'll be home for sugaring-off." "I'll bring you maple toffee." "Joseph." "Make me a cowboy hat." "I'll pick it up when I get out." "One day, as everyone was fast asleep in the igloo," "a child was playing string games." "A stranger appeared before the child." "He said, "I challenge you to beat me at a string game." "Choose the first two figures." "If you win, you can choose the third one too." "Otherwise, I'm the one who'll choose it."" "The child, who was very skillful, accepted." "He chose the first figure:" ""The entrance to the igloo."" "And this is what he made." "The child... did it very fast," "but the stranger was even faster." "Then, the child proposed..." ""Caribou head."" "He lost again." "The stranger said, "You lost again..." "Now it's my turn to choose." "Totanguak!"" "That's when the child knew he was playing with Totanguak himself, the spirit of the string game." "If he lost, he'd be taken away, never to see his family again." "Never again!" "So he strung the last figure." "The child's fingers got tangled up and he was horrified to see" "Totanguak stringing the figure with his own intestines." "And then finally," "Totanguak finished first, and yelled out a victory cry." ""Come..." "Come with me."" "It's time." "I'm scared." "Everything will be fine." "You can't come in." "You'll have to wait." "Don't worry, Tiivii." "Kaki will pull through this." "He'll be better after." "All better." "We took out an ad piece of Kaki's lung." "It might be a while before he's better." "Many days." "We must take care of him." "Want some tea?" "Yes." "Carole." "What?" "Thank you." "Are you in pain?" "A bit." "What ever happened to that boy who was... playing string games?" "Just as Totanguak was about to attack, the boy's father woke up" "and Totanguak vanished completely." "With the little boy?" "No." "The boy stayed with his parents." "That's good." "Now you know why children aren't allowed to play string games at night." "You've recovered." "Your lungs are better." "The disease is gone." "You're healed." "Healed." "I contacted Indian Affairs." "You're going home to Baffinland, to your wife and children." "When?" "In a month." "On the boat." "Finally." "How do you feel?" "I feel... as light as a bird." "I have something to tell you." "I'll be going home soon." "I want you to come." "I'll adopt you." "If you want." "You'll take me hunting?" "Yes." "I'll turn you into a real Inuk." "Will your daughters laugh at me because I don't know anything?" "No, they're nice." "Are they pretty?" "Very pretty." "OK, I'll come." "We can discuss it for hours but it's impossible." "You can't take him with you." "That's all you can say!" "You can't even understand me, and you say no." "Listen." "First, you'd have to adopt him." "A- dopt him." "How do I get this across?" "It's complicated." "He's too sick!" "It's senseless." "It's like you're deaf." "You don't want to hear!" "Are all Whites deaf?" "I'm just going to stop talking!" "Here, the Chinese man's going to cut off the little dog's head." "What's his name again?" "Milou." "Milou, that's it." "Look how sharp his knife is." "You think all Chinese are like him?" "No, it's just a story." "Look." "The geese are flying home." "The snow must be melting." "Talk to Father Millaire." "I have nothing to say to your priest either." "Go away." "You're rude." "I lived near your region a long time, in Igloolik." "My mother was from there." "Her father was a great hunter." "Ikpakuak." "Did you know him?" "I met him before he died." "I'll go." "You seem to be getting along." "My uncle's name was Ituksarjuat." "Adoption's more complicated here, and he's too sick to travel north." "If he must die, he'd be better off in the land of his ancestors." "That makes no sense." "Here, he can be treated." "You may be right, but afterwards," "if he gets better, what will happen to him?" "He has no one." "He'll live with Whites." "Talk like them, eat like them." "He's not White." "He's Inuk!" "If he comes with me, he'll live as an Inuk must live." "Go ahead." "Make him better." "Then send him to me." "I'll make a place for him in my family." " Does he want that?" " Yes!" " You'll treat him like your son?" " I have no son." "He'll be my son." "I'll help you." "Your request is unusual." "We normally entrust our orphans to more conventional families." "If you'll allow me, your worship, to this boy," "Tiivii's family is conventional." "Is he married?" "Are you married?" "I have a wife." " Yes." " In the eyes of God?" "He wants to know if you got married in a church." "No." "Why ask that?" "Yes, a missionary married them." "Have his children been baptized Catholic?" "He wants to know if your kids are baptized." "The Protestant minister wanted to do it." "I let him." "I didn't want to offend him." "You never know." "Maybe all your tales are true." "They are, monseigneur." "So the fat priest was telling his elder the opposite of what I was telling him." "And the elder was glad." "He was saying, "Very good, very good!"" "The fat priest is shrewd." "He says everything's sure to work out." "What is your land like?" "Beautiful." "Lots of mountains." "From the top, you can see everything." "You can see exactly where you're going." "Not like here, where there are trees everywhere and you can't see ahead." "There's a huge island." "It takes many days to travel around it." "There's everything you need, all the necessities of life." "Seals." "Caribou." "Geese." "Tiivii, wake up." "Something happened to Kaki." "Don't come in!" "It's OK." "Come on, son." "Pulse is falling." "He's gone." "Haemoptysis." "Violent and untreatable." "He's gone." "Friends, let us remember the words of Jesus:" ""I am the resurrection and the life." "He who believes in me, even in death, shall live."" "Before all men shall rise, let us remember that our friend, Kaki, has found rest." "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, amen." "'Til we meet again." "This is no place to bury an Inuk." "Too many spirits." "Not enough space." "No animals." "Time to go." "Thank you." "Thanks, Grandfather." "Thank you," "Carole Sirois." "You're welcome," "Tiivii."