Julie’s Wolf Pack

The wolves of the Avalik River ran in and out among the musk oxen. Their ruffs rippled like banners. Ice crystals danced up from their feet. The pack swirled like a twist of wind-blown snow. Their yellow eyes flashed and dimmed in the coming and going of the ice mist. Like the snow, they made no sound.

The musk oxen stopped and stared at the enemy. Then they lowered their shaggy heads and pawed down to the new grass growing under the snow. Their breath rose in steamy clouds and froze on their brows.

Kapu, the young leader of the wolf pack, reared on his hind legs, leaped to point the way, and led his clan to a turquoise-blue rise on the treeless Artic tundra.

He carried himself proudly, with his chest forward and his head high. His black fur was brushed to a shine by the wind. His body was strongly muscled. He was the leader of the wolf pack that had saved the life of the young Eskimo girl, Miyax-whose English name was Julie Edwards-when she was lost on the Artic tundra. She, in turn, had saved them by leading them to a new food source during the great caribou famine. The Yupik and Inupiat Eskimos of Kangik called them “Julie’s wolf pack.”

Kapu was keenly aware of Julie. She was not far away. He whisked his tail. She had read his message to the oxen, for she was no longer afraid that he would kill one. The villagers collected the wool from these sturdy animals to weave into light, warm clothing, and they zealously protected them.

“We are not hunting you,” Kapu had said to the oxen with his body movements. “We chase you for the joy of it. We are wolves of the caribou.”