It was late in the afternoon when I stood in front of the building constructed out of dark grey bricks. The sun has long set and I spotted a first sighting of the bright green and violet lights dancing in the sky.

“Beautiful.” I murmured.

“Our people believed that lights were the spirits of dead animals they hunted,” low voice announced from behind me.

I slowly turned to look into a soft pair of eyes, very much like Alasie’s. I instantly recognized him as Amaruq, Alasie’s grandfather.

He looked quite different compared to the photo I saw in the cafe. His hair was cut short and there were streaks of silver on his temples. His figure was lean and high, towering above six feet.

“My name is Amaruq,” he offered me his hand.

“Faina. I heard a lot about you, Sir. I hope I am not intruding; I am stranger after all,” stepping forward to meet him, I shook his extended arm.

“Nonsense. My granddaughter speaks fondly of you, so you’re welcome. I heard you’re interested in our culture,” he said with interest, slightly tilting his head to the side.

“Very much, Sir.” I nodded enthusiastically. I couldn’t help but notice how he radiated power and commanded respect, but at the same time, he appeared kind and gentle.

“Good. Come on in now and listen carefully.” He told me with a spark in his dark eyes.

I followed him inside, stopping in a wide room filled with at least fifteen people.

“This is Betty and her husband Tonraq,” he pointed at the pair, standing next to us “Betty is the owner of the restaurant next to the fire station.”

I shook her hand in greeting, smiling at Tonraq.

“So you came,” he nodded with approval “Eager to learn I see.”

“That I am.” I laughed.

“Go easy on her, grandpa.” Alasie appeared beside us, grasping Josh under his arm.

“Josh! You’re here too?” I thought he heard the stories at least hundred times.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” I smiled as he leaned in to kiss Alasie on the cheek, indicating that she was the reason why he was there.

I looked around the room with parquet flooring and creamy painted walls, decorated with numerous photos and paintings.

Amaruq stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by people, varying from older generations to the young ones “Greetings, my friends. It is time for our weekly meeting, but this is a special occasion since we have a new guest.” He pointed at me and I nodded at the curious group.

I was nervous that someone would be against me trespassing, but nobody seemed particularly bothered by it.

He signaled to Alasie and few other women and men. I watched them get up and leave, disappearing into the smaller room in the back.

“Where are they going?” I turned to Josh in confusion.

He gave me a playful wink: “You will see, just sit back and enjoy.”

Surprisingly there were no chairs so I mimicked others, sitting down, crossing my legs.

“Less than hundred years ago our people were still reliant on the hunt. Unlike our neighbors on the northern border of Alaska and Canada, we didn’t have the ocean to support us. But we did have something even better – the woods. With endless supplies of timber and skins, we could build cottages, boats and winter clothing. These resources were also vital for barter on various trading posts. We sold clothes, handmade weapons, boots and in return Europeans sent us guns, harpoons and ammunition.” He stopped and turned to me and the young ones sitting on the floor. Some of them listened with their mouths hanging open, the others looked drowsy and bored.

“Women mostly stayed home with their daughters, making warm clothing for the family or teaching their kids how to sew. On the other hand, fathers and sons went hunting. Our food source was mostly caribous’, bears’, moos’ meet, and raw fish.” He turned towards the bored teenagers on the floor “We didn’t have snowmobiles then.” He smirked at the eye rolls “We had dog sleds and we had to travel for miles to find food. The other mean of transportation was a boat. We mostly traded our resources in the northern villages, walrus’ and whales’ skin and fat for wood.” He pointed to the wall where the old, worn boat was hanging “This is called umiak, made form a driftwood and whalebone, with a dried walrus skin stretched over the bone.

He loudly clapped his hands twice and finally, Alasie and the others appeared. I watched wide-eyed as they surrounded him.

“This.” He pointed at the clothes the group had changed into “Is a traditional Iñupiat clothing, made to keep the wearer warm in sub-zero temperatures. As you can see it’s sewn together out of various animal skins and furs. The outer garment is called a hooded parka.” He slowly nodded at them “You may proceed.”

He moved out of the way so the group could take the center of the room.

The men stood in line just a few steps behind women, carrying framed, round shaped drums.

The group started to sing simultaneously, their songs resembling a melodic chanting. Men beat on their drums, watching women dance in front of them. Some of the children enthusiastically joined the dancers, waving their little arms left and right.

I smiled as the whole room started to sing, even Josh, who quietly hummed under his breath.

Usually, I would feel out of place, but people here were so joyful and fun it was hard not to feel welcome.

We loudly clapped as the performance ended. Amaruq cleared his throat to gain back the attention of the people who noisily chattered over each other.

“Faina.” He addressed me and my cheeks reddened by the unwanted attention “What you saw just now was a traditional dance. This instrument.” He took the drum in his hands “Is called qilaut and it’s made of caribou skin. It is beaten with the stick, named qatuk. Very few of us elders can still make it, so it’s our cherished possession.”

He sternly addressed the young boy whose hands reached up to touch the instrument.

“Certainly not with those hands.”

Boy’s eyes landed on his chocolate smeared palms than back to Alasie’s grandfather, watching him with pure disappointment.

“I have something better for you, actually.” Amaruq watched boy’s eyes lit up with anticipation “I am going to be teaching old legends of ours to the young ones. You may join us if you want.” He ruffled the boy’s hair.

Little one stubbornly stomped his feet “Those are nonsense! I am too old for fairytales!” His puffy cheeks turned red out of annoyance, his expression twisting into a deep scowl.

“As you wish.” Amaruq sighed, clearly wishing the children would have more interest “What about you?” He suddenly turned to face me “Will you be there?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Sir.” I beamed, sincerely looking forward to learning more.

“Will they be at least scary?” The boy tugged at the Amaruq’s sleeve, caving in.

The older man leaned in, whispering to the boy “Oh, you bet.”

“Cool! I can’t wait to see the girls pee their pants!” He whooped loudly, running back to his peers.

“Did you see this?” Amaruq pointed at the boy, his expression flabbergasted “No respect for the culture anymore.”

“The world is moving forward.” I shrugged “Sadly there is no way to stop the progress and the fast pace of the living.”

“It still saddens me. Sometimes I wish to relive our humble ways of living. I was born in 1948,” he explained with a faraway look on his face, buried in his memory “Life was different back then.”

“Do you still hunt?”

“Oh no,” he chuckled “At least not like we used to. Just to take care of a dangerous or wounded animal here and there.” He turned back to the little ones “We’d better get this party started, what do you say?”

The children squealed in delight, obediently sitting down, forming a circle.

I had noticed the older children and teenagers already left, obviously not interested in what he had to say.

Josh and Alasie plopped down next to me “Now this is the fun part.” Josh said, winking.

“All right.” Amaruq announced, “Are we ready?”

The kids nodded enthusiastically and I joined them.

“Where should we start,” the older man tapped his chin, appearing deep in thought.

“Granny said the Qalupalik will take me if I go down to the lake by myself, what did she mean by it?” Said a chubby little girl, no more than six years old. I recognized her as Betty’s granddaughter.

“Ha!” Said Amaruq with amusement, looking at Betty out of the corner of his eyes “Your mother must have been delighted.” He chuckled quietly before he continued “Qalupalik is a human-like creature that lives in watery areas. It’s supposed to have a scaly skin and long fingernails. The creature is preying on the little disobedient children that wander too close to the shore without their parents’ permission. Your granny was right to warn you.” He looked away from the girl, winking at me.

I heard how the child took a sharp intake of breath “Uh-oh.” She said with her palled face.

“So, children if you ever hear the creature hum, turn and run like your feet were on fire. This way she lulls the little ones to come closer to the water and then,” he took a dramatic pause “She tucks them in her parka and disappears!”

They nodded at him simultaneously, some of them even flinching out of fear.

“Tell us about Amaroq!” Said the brave boy with fingers smeared in chocolate.

“Amaroq is believed to be a spirit of a gigantic wolf that prayed and survived on its own. When foolish hunters hunted at night Amaroq stalked them and devoured them. The story about Amaroq goes like this,” he paused for a second, looking around “A man that mourned his relative heard of several reportings of Amaroq lurking nearby. He went for a search to find his habitat. But instead of Amaroq he found her pups and killed them all.

Of course he was frightened of the consequences. He took shelter in a cave nearby and waited for the monster to appear. When he finally spotted it with pray in its jaw, the creature was returning to feed the young ones. But of course it failed to find her pups. The monster hurried down to the lake and pulled a humanoid form out of the water. The man who was responsible for the killings of the pups suddenly collapsed to the ground.”

“So? What happened?” The boy said impatiently.

“It’s believed that no secret stays concealed from Amaroq. When he pulled something out of the lake it was actually a soul of the man who murdered the cubs.”

“Oh,” the boy smirked with skeptical expression on his face “Of course.”

“Another one!” Clapped Betty’s granddaughter.

“How about I tell you our very own legend? Originating right here in Atsanik.”