Subtitled Clashes In The Old Arctic, this adventure brings
us back to a place and time beyond the lands we know, to
where different tribes meet - for good or for ruin.
SKRAELINGS is the cursory name given by Norsemen to the
shore-dwelling people they meet on the islands off the
North American coast. Through the eyes of one of these
folk, a lad called Kannujaq of the Inuit, we meet culture
clash in a raw form.
Young adults from ten upwards will thrill to read of
Kannujaq and his dog team, ever travelling across the ice
to find new places to hunt the seal, walrus and whale that
keep them alive and supplied with goods. His folk have no
fixed home and families break up to explore. When he comes
across a settled coastal village of the Tuniit, he is
wary.
These people hunt reindeer instead; he hardly thinks of
them as people, because he knows little about them. At
first he's afraid that the Tuniit will attack him - but
they are under attack from a more powerful force, the sea
wolves. Instead of bone or horn knives, the big fierce
raiders bear shining metal blades and garments. Are these
humans or are they giants?
What happens when Kannujaq has to decide whether he is
going to help the Tuniit is nerve-wracking and at times
violent. We really see the faces and smell the dried
heather smoke. The reader is introduced to terms such as
shaman, symbolism, cronies and intimidating. These past
tribesmen don't necessarily think the way we do, with our
modern comforts and support systems, so the authors Rachel
and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley introduce the story and add
comments from a modern perspective.
SKRAELINGS is a gripping short read which shows that
courage, kindness and determination are part of the human
adventure and brings us face to face with survival skills
in a vanishing way of life.
A historical coming-of-age story set in the arctic
landscape
In this adventurous novel—set in the ancient Arctic, but
told by an inquisitive and entertaining contemporary
narrator—a wandering Inuit hunter named Kannujaq happens
upon a camp in grave peril. The inhabitants of the camp
are Tuniit, a race of ancient Inuit ancestors known for
their strength and shyness. The tranquility of this Tuniit
camp has been shaken by a group of murderous, pale,
bearded strangers who have arrived on a huge boat shaped
like a loon. Unbeknownst to Kannujaq, he has stumbled upon
a battle between the Tuniit and a group of Viking
warriors, but as the camp prepares to defend itself
against the approaching newcomers, Kannujaq discovers that
the Vikings may have motivations other than murder and
warfare at the heart of their quest. This lush historical
fiction is steeped in Inuit traditional knowledge and
concepts of ancient Inuit magic.
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