Flight of the Raven

To the Inuit people, living as they did in the frozen North, life was hard and frugal. They were a deeply caring community, and their families were loving. Tatchatka cared for his family, and he had a deep love for his wife and children. Across the sea, to the West, living on the coast was also hard—hot, wet, and sticky in the summer and very cold in the long, snowy winter. This was not a loving friendly community. Grigor had few acquaintances and fewer roubles. He had heard of a returning ship to a village further north loaded with sea otter furs. He cajoled the men of his village to build a boat and sail to the east. On reaching land, their days were spent killing sea otter and raping Inuit women at every opportunity. Tatchatka and other Inuits were driven to anger and to seek revenge on the intruders.