THE ICE WOLF - Dramatic Publishing · 2016-11-10 · (ATATA har poons seal.) ATATA. Aja. Nuliayuk,...

THE ICE WOLF

An Inuit Taleby

JOANNA H. KRAUS

Or i ginally pub lished in 1963 by New Plays, Inc.,un der the man age ment of Pa tri cia Whit ton For rest.

Dra matic Pub lishingWoodstock, Il li nois • Eng land • Aus tra lia • New Zea land

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THE ICE WOLF

A Play for Young Peo ple in Three Acts

CHAR AC TERS

STO RY TELLER

ANATOU, a girl born to Inuit par ents. Her skin is pale and her hair blond; a phe nom e non in the vil lage

KARVIK, her fa ther

ARNARQIK, her mother

TARTO, her best friend, a vil lage boy

KIVIOG, Tarto’s fa ther

ATATA, an old man of the vil lage but a good hunter

SHIKIKANAQ, a vil lage girl

MOTOMIAK, a vil lage boy

VIL LAGER 2, a woman

VIL LAGER 2, a man

WOOD GOD, the god of the forest

A BEA VER

A FOX

AN ER MINE5


PLACE AND TIME

The en tire ac tion of the play takes place in a small, iso -lated Inuit vil lage, Lit tle Whale River, and the for est, afew days in land. It is lo cated in the Hud son Bay area ofCan ada.

The time is long be fore the mis sion ar ies es tab lished their set tle ments, long be fore white man had been seen. Atime when the spir its and the Sha man, or the wise man,ruled.

6


Pro logue

It is the end of January. In fore ground we see an ex -panse of white spread out. It is broken in a few placesby hill ocks which rise up like seal’s heads from theplains. There is an at mo sphere of cold beauty and awe -some space.

The STO RY TELLER en ters on the apron of the stage. He is dressed, as all the Inuits, in the at tire of the Hud sonBay Inuits, but some how there is the qual ity about himof ex cite ment. He is no or di nary hunter.

STO RY TELLER. Far beyond the world you know—Of sun, rushing rivers, and treesIs the NorthlandWhere the winter snow is gray,There is no sound of birdsNothing but the stillness of spaceOf endless snowAnd endless cold.There, the child Anatou was bornIn the village of Little Whale River.It was small, beside the sea.But the search for food never ended.

7


(Lights up on ig loo, Inuits in cir cle, one beat ing drum,chant ing.)

Aja, I re mem ber. It was one of the cold est nights of theyear, so cold the dog team had bur ied them selves in thesnow.

ATATA. And the seal-oil lamps trembled be fore the GreatNorth wind.

KARVIK. Just be fore dawn, when the baby came, Karvikhad to go out and re pair their home. His fin gers seemedto freeze at once. Never had there been such a storm inLit tle Whale River.

(Lights up on KARVIK cut ting a snow block and fit tingit into dome.)

ARNARQIK. In side, Arnarqik sewed the car i bou skins shehad chewed. She was mak ing new clothes for Karvik.Only once did she dare to look at the small child be sideher wrapped in skins. It was strangely still, strangelyquiet. It was un like any child Arnarqik had ever seen.

STO RY TELLER. Atata was at the seal’s breath ing hole.

(Lights up on ATATA crouched by breath ing hole,poised, ready with har poon.)

…wait ing…wait ing un til the seal came up for air. Fordays there had been no food in Lit tle Whale River. Hethought the birth of a new child might bring him luck!Then…he struck with his har poon!

8 THE ICE WOLF Prologue


(ATATA har poons seal.)

ATATA. Aja. Nuliayuk, now ev ery one will eat!STO RY TELLER. He took the choice bit of meat, the seal’s

liver, to re turn to the seal god dess, Nuliayuk. The Sha -man, the wise man, had told him to do this so she would feast on it and then re mem ber to send more seals to thehunt ers of Lit tle Whale River. Atata rushed back. Nowthere was some thing to cel e brate. A new child, a fresh- caught seal. There would be drum chants and danc ingand sto ries in the long white night.

(Drum chants be gin. They break off abruptly.)

But there was no sing ing or danc ing.

KARVIK. It was long ago…ARNARQIK. Just about this time.STO RY TELLER. It was a pale dawn…ATATA. Like this one…STO RY TELLER. When Anatou was born.

Prologue THE ICE WOLF 9


ACT I

Scene i

The in te rior of KARVIK and ARNARQIK’s home in Lit -tle Whale River. Masses of thick, heavy car i bou skinsare spread about. Seal-oil lamps, made of soap stone,light the home.

At rise, the sound of dogs howl ing. A strong wind isblow ing. VIL LAGERS come in from all sides dressed intheir ha bit ual furs. They crawl through the pas sage wayand lights come up on the in te rior of the ig loo. KARVIKand ARNARQIK are seated. Their new child is be sideARNARQIK on a car i bou skin not vis i ble from the en -trance.

KARVIK. Wel come! Wel come all of you!VIL LAGER 2. Aja! Your first child. Of course we’d come.

(To oth ers.) We must sing many songs to wel come it.KIVIOG. And if it’s a man child, Karvik will al ready have

made him a har poon, a sled, and a whip.VIL LAGER 1. By the next moon he will be able to use

them. Wait and see! (They laugh.)VIL LAGER 2. Good, he can hunt a seal with us this win ter

and the car i bou next fall. If he’s as good a hunter asKarvik, we’ll get twice as much.

11


KIVIOG. And he’ll be a com pan ion for my son, Tarto,born un der the same moon.

(They all laugh ex cept KARVIK and ARNARQIK, whoare strangely quiet.)

VIL LAGER 1. Karvik! Arnarqik! You are si lent. Show usthe man child. We’ve come a long way to see him.

(ARNARQIK moves slowly.)

ARNARQIK. It is a girl child…but we are glad.KARVIK. She will be good.ARNARQIK. It is true. There is joy in feel ing new life

come to the great world.VIL LAGER 1. A girl! Ah-ah. That means more care.VIL LAGER 2. And more at ten tion.KIVIOG. She can not hunt.VIL LAGERS (po litely). But let us see her any way.

(ARNARQIK moves away trou bled, then points to thecar i bou skin.)

ARNARQIK. There, look for your self.

(KARVIK has turned away. VIL LAGERS crowd aroundthe child, move back abruptly and whirl on KARVIK and ARNARQIK.)

VIL LAGER 1 (in low hor ror). Her hair is white!VIL LAGER 2. Her face is pale.KIVIOG. She can not be an Inuit.

12 THE ICE WOLF Act I


VIL LAGER 1. She can not be one of us!KARVIK. Of course she is. Her hair will get darker. Wait.VIL LAGER 2. But her face. Look at it. No Inuit child was

ever born as pale as that.VIL LAGER 1. She’s a devil.ARNARQIK. No!VIL LAGER 1. She will not live one moon.ARNARQIK. She will live.VIL LAGER 1. She will bring bad luck.ARNARQIK. She’s only a baby.KIVIOG. Put her out in the snow now, be fore she turns the

gods against us.VIL LAGER 2. And our stom achs shrink.VIL LAGER 1. And our dishes are empty.VIL LAGER 2. It’s hap pened be fore. We all know it. Get

rid of the child be fore it’s too late.KIVIOG. She will of fend Nuliayuk, the god dess of the

seals. Nuliayuk will stay at the bot tom of the sea, andkeep the seals be side her, and we will all go hun gry. Put the child out into the snow or we will die of fam ine!

ARNARQIK. No! She will be a good Inuit.VIL LAGER 2. Then let her grow up in an other vil lage. We

don’t want her here.KIVIOG. She does n’t look like us. She won’t think like us.VIL LAGER 1. She does n’t be long here.KARVIK. Then where does she be long? Where should she

go?VIL LAGER 1. Put her out in the snow. (Starts to grab

her.)ARNARQIK. No! No! No, I can’t. Don’t you un der stand?

She is our child.

Act I THE ICE WOLF 13


VIL LAGER 2. Then leave our vil lage in peace. Don’t an -ger the spir its of Lit tle Whale River.

KARVIK. But this is our vil lage and you are our peo ple.How can we leave it? Wait! She will be like the oth ers.You’ll see. She’ll sew and cook just as well as any Inuitgirl. Better! Arnarqik will teach her.

KIVIOG (holds up his hands). Very well. We will watchand wait. Per haps you are right, and we will see her hair and cheeks grow darker. But we have no gifts or goodwishes to wel come a white-faced child—a white-facedgirl child!

(VIL LAGERS exit. ARNARQIK tries to run af ter them.)

ARNARQIK. Come back! Please wait. Don’t go yet. Oh,Karvik, what will we do?

KARVIK (slowly). Her hair should be as dark as the ra -ven’s wing.

ARNARQIK. It is as white as the car i bou’s belly. Karvik,what if they are right? She is dif fer ent. Karvik, why isher hair pale? Why does n’t she cry? She is so still! It’snot nat u ral.

KARVIK. She is fright ened al ready. The Fair One willhave a hard jour ney. (Looks out the pas sage way.) Arnar -qik, the vil lag ers spoke wisely. (Looks for a long time at his wife.) She would never know. It would not hurt if we put her in the snow now.

ARNARQIK. No, Karvik! You must n’t ask me to.KARVIK. But if we leave, will the next vil lage think she

looks more like an Inuit?



ARNARQIK (shakes her head). No, she is Anatou, the Fair One—she will not change. But I will teach her, Karvik.She will be a good Inuit girl!

KARVIK. But will they ever think she is like the oth ers?ARNARQIK. Yes. Yes. Of course they will. Let us stay

here. Who knows what is beyond the snow?KARVIK. Then we must be strong. We must teach Anatou

to be strong. Only then will our home be her home andour friends her friends. It won’t be easy, Arnarqik.

(ARNARQIK is be side the baby.)

ARNARQIK. Oh Karvik, I could n’t leave her. Not likethat! (Abruptly she changes.) Look, Karvik…she is smil -ing. (Picks her up.) Oh, Karvik, we must n’t let themhurt her. We must pro tect her.

KARVIK. Sing, Arnarqik, sing the morn ing song. BringAnatou luck. She will have a hard jour ney.

ARNARQIK (sits, sings or chants).I rise up from restMoving swiftly as the raven’s wingI rise up to greet the dayWo-waMy face is turned from dark of nightMy gaze toward the dawnToward the whitening dawn.

(Lights fade.)

STO RY TELLER. But her hair did not grow dark as the ra -ven’s wing. In stead, each day she grew fairer. Theycalled her the “dif fer ent one,” and when the blind ing

Act I THE ICE WOLF 15


snow swept across the North or when the hunt ers re -s’tI“ ,derep sihw sre gal liv eht ,sdels ytpme htiw denrut

Anatou. She’s the one.”



THE ICE WOLF - Dramatic Publishing · 2016-11-10 · (ATATA har poons seal.) ATATA. Aja. Nuliayuk,...

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