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Human Polar Bears

A story about a family who moved next door to a family of polar bears who looked like humans.

Long ago, there was a man and a woman who were husband and wife. They had only one small child, a very young child, an only child.

The husband built an igloo for his little family near another house that was much bigger. He and his wife did not know anything about their neighbours who lived in the big house. The neighbours looked like regular people. They dressed like regular people. The man and his wife had no idea that their neighbours were really polar bears that had been transformed into people.

Artist: Elisapee Inukpuk One day the wife decided to go out for a walk. She carried her small child in an Ulipiqaaq [shawl] on her back. When she came to the big house next door, she thought somebody might be home, so she went in. Inside the big house she saw many polar bear skins lying on the floor. The polar bear skins were completely clean, empty of any flesh. She was very surprised to find that nobody was home.

It is said that when great polar bears are transformed into people, they leave their fur on the ground. The woman was very surprised to see the polar bear skins on the ground. She was also very surprised to find that the big house next door had an inside layer of insulation, made of some unknown material. She was glad that her baby was sleeping soundly on her back.

The woman was still inside the big house when the great polar bears came home. She was very scared. She had nowhere to escape. The woman, with her baby still sleeping soundly on her back, hid herself between the layers of insulation lining the walls of the big house.

She listened as the great polar bears, which had been transformed to look exactly like people, spoke in Inuttitut. The great polar bears were complaining that they had come home with nothing to eat. Suddenly, one of the great polar bears said, “Inuksunirjualiinnaa Maanangat!” [I smell a human in here.] Then another of the great bears said, “Ittuvugguuq tuukkaijatsamat kigutaijatsamat Aaaah Eeeeh!” [Our old man has lost a tooth, eeeeh!]

The woman was very frightened. She did not know what to do. Her child had started making noises, and she thought it was just about to cry. She tried to stop the baby from making any sound. She was frightened that if it cried, they would be discovered! She was so frightened that she accidentally smothered her child to death.

Finally, when night came, the great polar bears fell asleep. The woman did not move a muscle. All night long she stood perfectly still, hidden inside the big house where the great bears lived. She did not try to escape, because she was certain that if she moved, she would be found out.

The next day, the great polar bears prepared to go hunting. At last, the woman thought, she would be able to leave her hiding place. But just when she thought the house was empty, one of the great polar bears stomped back into the big house. It seemed that bear had forgotten something. The woman returned to her hiding place behind the insulation where she had stood all night.

As it happened, the forgetful polar bear never left the house all day. The woman spent that whole day and another whole night hiding. In the end, she hid for two full nights inside the insulation of the big house, hiding from the great polar bears that looked like people.

At last, the great polar bears finally left the big house, and the woman finally returned home to her igloo. She arrived home without her child. The husband was shocked when he learned that they had lost their only child. He was also very surprised to learn that he lived next door to polar bears that looked like people.

In the end, the couple moved far away. But, for the rest of their days, they lived in fear that their neighbours could really be polar bears in disguise.

Excerpt from: Unikkaangualaurtaa (Let's Tell a Story)