Kuenoluck--The Venturesome Fool
By Lela Oman
Nome, Alaska
“I was a venturesome fool.”
Kuenoluck always gave an opin
ion of himself before he told of
his adventures.
He was a wiry little Kobuk
man. In his youth there was no
thing he feared. He had a passion
for witnessing the tribal activities
of far-away villages, never 'be
lieving what he had heard until
he had seen for himself. “Skepti
cism, one can pay with a supreme
price,” his father would try to
advise him.
He was mischievous and had
more than his share of will power.
He had a sly answer for every
well-meant advice that came his
way. Now he was an old man and
was a burden to whoever would
take him into his household.
Kuenoluck had two souvenirs.
One was a polar bear skin, now
old and caked with tangled fur.
The other was a pirate’s knife.
As he told stories of his exper
iences children eagerly clamored
for more. They would group
around him and listen. How he
became an owner of this once
beautiful bearskin rug was his
favorite story.
“I had become acquainted with
the Point Hope Chief that came
to Kotzebue to trade. When he [
and his people were leaving for
their village he asked me if I
would like to spend a winter with
them. I e-agerly consented.
“All went well until the day ;
this chief, his brother and I were i
tracking down three polar bears, j
a mother and two yearlings. The
day was white. The far-away sun
was behind the clouds and one
could not determine the distances
and outlines of objects. In places
the snow was hard and the winds
swept them clean of fresh snow.
After what seemed a long time we
finally reached the cave of our
quarries.
“A large snowbank was their
snow hut. We were sure that all
three bears were in there. We
stood at the entrance, which was
not too large, considering the ac
tual size the polar bear can grow
into. I was down on my hands
and knees to examine the fresh
tracks when I felt a hand on my
back.
“I quickly looked to my right.
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There, with a hunting knife point
ed at my collarbone was my very
good friend, who is also the ex
cellent chief of the village. At my
left was his brother, holding in
one hand a rope with a noose. In
his other hand was a knife that
was pointed at my collarbone also.
“I looked from man to man. In
their eyes I saw hatred. Not just
a personal hatred but an ancient
one that shone through what were
once the kindest faces. For many
generations among our forefath
ers this hatred had caused blood
shed. On many battlefields my
Kobuk ancestors had won against
the braves of Point Hope. This I
could see now was not in my
favor.
“ ‘You go in and get the bears
out for us,’ my favorite chief com
manded. I have heard stories
about the polar bear receiving
human visitors. They were never
known to attack inside a eave. I
had no choice. So I crawled into
the cave, armed with a rope that
had a noose. Warm animal smell
assailed my nostrils and the white
shaggy forms stirred a's I entered.
I gritted my teeth to keep them
from chattering as I quaked.”
Kuenoluck would wipe perspir
ation from his brow as he elo
quently unfolded the tale.
“I edged over to the magnifi
cent mother. She sniffed at me
and opened her jaws in a yawn.
Hot breath made my face feel
sticky. As she closed her mouth
I slipped the noose around her
neck and threw the other end
out to the chief and his brother.
The rope went taught and tight
ened around her throat and I
made no move to encourage her
out. There was a deafening roar
and then I heard the clash of two
spears as they met inside the
body of the brave animal. I was
a bit ashamed while I slipped
the noose around the neck of the
second one, but it was him or me.
I was received as a visitor and
here I was sending my hosts out
to be killed. If I had left the cave
they would have followed me out,
and that would have be-en suicide
on my part. The spears that were
meant for the bear would have
met in my body. The animals did
: % :{; :Jc
not object to being pulled out into
■the open, but they\ did not like
the reception my human hosts
gave them.
“I stood inside the icy cave
waiting to see what they meant
to do with me, not liking the
power they had over me at this
crucial moment.
“ ‘Kuenoluck, no hard feelings?’
the chief yelled to me.
“ ‘No,’ I yelled back, surprised
at the friendliness in his voice.
“ ‘Then come out and see what
we have out here.’
“I was impressed by the sight
of the three dead polar bears. As
each animal had emerged from
the cave the hunters had plunged
their spears into its shoulders,
making them meet in the area
where the heart is located. In
stant death came to each animal.
I was thankful of this.
“During the following days we
never spoke of this incident
among ourselves or to anyone, but
many times my chief would say
to me, ‘You are a brave little man.’
This comment I know I had
earned well.”
Kuenoluck would pat the shaggy
skin and say, “This is the skin of
the mother bear, which with much
ceremony the chief presented me
with.”
“This pirate’s knife I earned
through sarcasm, but to this day
I feel no remorse on how I became
its owner. My chief had it coming
to him. I felt that he tested my
self-control just a little too often.
“It was spring and there was
a celebration in honor of the brave
hunters. There was gaiety and ex
citement in frenzied anticipation
among the people. There were to
be prizes given to winners in the
games. Among many prizes was
this pirate knife.. I know that this
was most coveted. A hunter would
never fear a foe with this weapon
in hand.
“I was sitting by the chief that
was to give out the prizes to
whoever won them. My host lifted
the knife for me to inspect and
said, ‘Wouldn’t it be a dandy thing
to have it when facing an en
raged brown bear?’ I was horri
fied. I was entering some prize
winning games in order to try to
win this magnificent weapon. We
Kobuk people have a taboo about
our brown bears and he knew it.
I, in my right mind, could not
compete against anybody to gain
this precious possession. V/hen he
set it down, there was a satisfied
grin on his face. He wanted this
knife to be won by one of his
braves. To his surprise I picked
it up and said, ‘Yes, wouldn’t it
be just fun to tickle the whiskers
of a walrus with it?’
“It was a bold thing for me
to say. He was very angry at me,
but he said nothing. They have a
strong taboo about their walruses.
Their belief on walruses is the
same as ours about brown bears.
So the pirate knife was cursed
forever. It was going to be dis
posed of, and I asked for it. He
gladly let me have it.”
Kuenoluck would lift the large
knife for everyone to see and say,
“This weapon must not fall into
the hands of our brave hunters.
I want it put away with my re
mains when I die.”
1 Somewhere* up along the Kobuk
| Hiver there is an unmarked grave
hrt boasts of a pirate knife that
will nevar again be seen by hu
n eyes.
Accuemee
(The End)
House Group Okays Cuts
In Personal Income Taxes
On Income from Dividends
WASHINGTON, UPb-The House
Ways and Means Committee yes
terday approved sharp cuts in
personal income taxes on income
from dividends. Experts said the
revenue loss would be 240 million
dollars the first year and up to
one billion when the program
takes full effect.
The proposed changed would
apply to some four million per
sons who receive income from
dividends. About one-third of
these would be relieved of any
taxes at all on their dividend
income.
This was the second major step
announced in a complete overhaul
of tax laws launched by the com
mittee on Wednesday. The first
agreement would provide 50 mil
lion dollars in tax savings for
about 700,000 single heads of
households.
Democrats were reported to
have raised some opposition yes
terday to the program of relief
for dividend recipients.
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