Ka-ha-si and the loon Book

I've read other books in this series and I love Native American culture so I was delighted when I found this at the bookshop. I snatch up anything to do with Native Americans and I enjoy learning new legends and facts. The illustrations in this series are always so vivid and colorful. 

She included an Eskimo song: 
"I arise to meet the day;
My face is turned from
the dark of night 
To gaze at the new dawn
whitening the sky."

It's set in the frozen north in a small seaside hunting village. Ka-ha-si sleeps all day on a caribou hide by the lamp in the igloo. I didn't know how or why he did nothing but sleep. A loon visits him and tells him to come with him and he'll meet his grandfather. So the boy had to follow the bird and eat 4 bitter leaves and bathe in the cold stream every morning. 

Everyone was talking about how lazy Ka-ha-si was and how he didn't help his mom with anything. Then a time of hunger came as the hunters couldn't bring back any food. The Loon told Ka-ha-si he needed to help and he immediately went outside to see what he could do. I didn't understand the quick turnaround and the transformation from being so lazy to suddenly wanting to help. 

Of course the hunters were scornful of his offer because if their best hunters couldn't be successful, they didn't believe a lazy boy could. All of a sudden he produced a walrus skin and told the men to hold it and throw him into the air. I didn't know where he got this idea at. Because it wasn't said that the Loon told him to do this, it looks like he had the idea out of nowhere.

When he went up into the air he looked for the animals and saw where the walruses were. Surely if he could see them from there then the hunters could have easily searched. 

We got to learn a little bit about their way of life with their dogs tied to their sledges and their weapons for hunting called harpoons. When they were done with the ride they turned their sledges over and anchored them in the snow. Their boat is called an umiak. 

The hunters couldn't throw their harpoons because a wave would always come and knock them back. But Ka-ha-si told them to try again and he jumped out and started knocking heads together--literally. The story took a grisly turn as he was shown grabbing the tusks and the text said he knocked their heads together and threw them in the umiak while they were stunned. 

The village was happy but Ka-ha-si went back to sleep. Everyone forgot about his help and focused on how lazy he was again. 

A group of strangers came, one of them a giant man, and they dared the villagers to fight. The men couldn't risk the shame of refusing so they all had to. All were bested and once again the Loon came and told him he was needed.

Ka-ha-si challenged him and the giant was unable to move him at all, but Ka-ha-si was able to pick him up and throw him across the village. When people wanted to thank him, he was sleeping again. 

The mountains started moving toward their village and the people called for him to help, but he was still asleep. The Loon came and told him to help. He pushed the mountains back to their places and used driftwood to place between them and the village and this created a river that the mountains couldn't cross. 

It was time to visit his grandfather, He-Who-Holds-Up-The-Earth. He got there by going out in an umiak and letting a whirlpool take him under.

No one could find Ka-ha-si and the Loon told his mom not to worry, that he was with his grandfather, and he explained to everyone how important Ka-ha-si is. They sang of his deeds and when the earth trembled they knew he was shifting the earth from shoulder to shoulder, as the Strong One. 

I was like whoa, he's not going to be able to see his mom again? He didn't even get to say bye! I thought he was going to meet his grandpa and we would learn who he was and why he left. I didn't know Ka-ha-si would be taking over for him. The Loon had said his grandpa was old and weak and needed him but I didn't expect that Ka-ha-si would have to leave his people to take his grandpa's place. I didn't like that at all. 

The ending had info on Eskimos, with real pictures and maps.

They inhabited Greenland and northern Asia and North America. 

It's interesting that they get their drinking water from sea ice since there's little rain or snow. Sea ice loses saltiness as it's over a year old. 

If the sun rises at all, it stays close to the horizon. So depending on the distance to the North Pole, night can last several months. And there can be several months of daylight. Very few plants can grow here. The only wood is driftwood, so they thought trees grew at the bottom of the sea. 

Arctic tribes are Yupik, Iglulik, or Inuit, which all mean the people. The men hunted, fished, made tools, and built igloos, sledges and boats. the women cleaned fish and game, made clothing, prepared food, cared for the house, children and dogs. 

They had no way to measure time since they didn't have watches, or the sun and moon. If they were tired they slept and if they had energy then they worked. So the darkness wouldn't make them moody or cranky, they liked to laugh and joke. They played string games, ball games and sports. On winter evenings they sang, danced and told stories. 

They made clothing from sealskin, caribou, reindeer, and mountain sheep fur, and trimmed in wolf and marten. Boots were made from white wolf, dog and reindeer fur. 

They built snow-block igloos in the winter which usually housed 5-6 people. Furs were put on the sleeping platforms and kettles hung over oil lamps. 

They netted fish, and hunted seal, walrus, sea lion, and whale. They traveled south in the summer to fish salmon, hunt caribou, and pick berries. They often ate food raw. 

Animals provided oil for lamps and lotions, and their fur and skin was used to make clothing, blankets and shelter. Women tanned hides, and sewed mukluks, parkas and snow pants with sinew thread for hours. 

Everyone wore 2 sets of clothing in the winter. They wore the fur side in on the first set, then one with the fur side out. They stayed warm and dry in the cold temps. 

In warm weather they lived inland in igloos made of skin, wood, mud or sod. Ice igloos were for hunting and fishing in the winter. They were made in less than 1 hour when hunters were caught in a storm away from home. They had a central drying rack and a bed with dried leather for padding. Oil lamps of soapstone were for light and warmth. 

Yupik Eskimos in western Alaska believed that a spirit called Tunghak controlled animals. They wore a mask in dances to please him, so fishing and hunting would be good. 

Eskimos don't have reservations, they have land that the government allotted them to use individually and for villages. Few live like they did in the past. They use snowmobiles more than dogsleds, and their umiaks have motors. They have such jobs as in oil companies, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. 

They remember their history through art and music. On winter evenings they still dance and tell stories in the village singing house. 

As a twin, I thought it was cool that there was a picture of twin girls wearing their parkas from 1905. 

There was a picture of this long dogsled with a captain saying families could move all of their belongings in it. 

Artists use bow-drills to carve designs in ivory, wood, and bone. 

They wore special headgear to please the spirits of the animals they hunted. 

The colors of their animal skin clothing are so rich. The images had beautiful shades of blue, green, brown and red. I really liked the square image with the big capital of the first letter of some of the text. They would have a picture of the loon and walrus. I liked the last page with the reddish-brown walrus silhouette. Nice touches and artistic detail.