Nana Corporation

This is part of a series of stories shared by Elders from the NANA region. These are excerpts from their conversations with Hilda Narvauġauraq Haas, translated from Iñupiaq. My name is Thomas Pungalik. I am 82 now. I have lived in Noorvik all my life. My dad (aapa) was Jack Pungalik. My mom (aaka) was Cora Kaummuaq Coffin Pungalik. She grew up in Kobuk. My aapa was an orphan and when he small, he moved from family to family. He and my aaka had 18 children. I am number 16. People settled in Noorvik because the fish and wood were plentiful. I was born here in this house (#4), the fourth house in town, built in 1914. The stories I am about to tell are true. There was a boy whose shoulders were hoary marmot and his bottom half was beaver. He lived on a mountain where he could watch for other shaman (aŋatkuq). Two young men from the Upper Kobuk went looking for aŋatkuq. First they traveled by kayak, then they climbed the mountain where the hoary marmot lived. At the top, the men ate and fell asleep. One of t