How I Survived Four Nights On The Ice by Serapio Ittusardjuat

Inuit author, language specialist and cultural advisor, Serapio Ittusardjuat is the author of a book about his personal experience of survival:  his snowmobile broke down on the ice on the return journey home from a ice fishing camp.

His survival adventure occurred in December of 2008 when Serapio was making a journey to Iqaluit, a fishing camp north of Igloolik to pick up some maktaaq (walrus skins) his son had left. On his way home to Igloolik, in his attempt to follow the trail across the ice, Serapio became lost. His snowmobile did not have lights, making the trail difficult to see.

The trail from Igloolik and the Iqaluit Fishing Camp crossed a wide expanse of the ocean between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. With the cold weather the ice closest to shore freezes first, while the ice farther out freezes much later. He was now in an area of rough ice, filled with icebergs. Serapio decided to leave behind his qamutiik (sled) which kept getting stuck in the snow. Before moving on, he ate the food that he had brought with him and continued on with just his snowmobile. 

However, soon his snowmobile broke down. Night was approaching so Serapio decided to shelter in place, on his snowmobile. He knew that the most important thing was to stay dry because getting wet could lead to hypothermia. When he lived in an iglu he had been taught to put his mitts under the caribou-skin bedding to keep them dry. Being dry guarded against hypothermia.

So Serapio put his mitts in his snow pants and slept on his snowmobile. The next morning he was able to see that the choke on the snowmobile had broken. He could not repair it.

Serapio found himself very thirsty so he was able to get water to drink by forming two staggered basins in the snow and setting a fire in the upper- most to melt water.

He thought about travelling on foot back to Igloolik but he had had surgery and it was difficult recent surgery and he was still recovering. He also was not wearing caribou-skin clothing, so this meant if he walked, he would sweat, his clothing would become damp, and he would be at risk of hypothermia. Serapio decided to wait on the snowmobile for rescue. He knew that because he had not returned home within a reasonable time, a rescue party would be organized.

The second and third days passed with Serapio working to keep himself dry and warm. His second attempt to create drinking water from the snow was unsuccessful, because he had not done it quite properly. The melted water was contaminated with gasoline from the fire. Although it was difficult to stay put, Serapio did so, walking about the area near his snowmobile. But it was not until the night of the fourth day that Serapio woke to see snowmobiles approaching. His ordeal was over. He had survived.

Discussion

How I Survived Four Nights On The Ice is a graphic novel about the real life experience of Inuit elder, Serapio Ittusardjuat. He credits his survival to the knowledge he was taught when younger of how to survive in the unforgiving north.

Serapio was born in 1945 at Akunniq, Nunavut. He attended the residential school in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut and at Fort Churchill, Manitoba. Serapio was known for his tremendous knowledge of walruses, not surprising since his family had a history of hunting walrus. He was a certified journeyman mechanic but had also studied jewelry-making and metalwork at the Ottawa School of Art and Nunavut Arctic College. Serapio often advised on traditional Inuit knowledge. Sadly, Serapio passed away this year.

Serapio's story highlights the importance living off the land and survival skills have in the lives of Indigenous peoples. In the past, these skills were passed down from one generation to the next. And as Serapio's story illustrates, knowledge of them could mean the difference between life and death.  Serapio believed they are still relevant today in the far north.

His story is aptly illustrated by Australian illustrator, comic book author and animator, Matthew K. Hoddy. The digitally created illustrations capture the essence of Serapio's four nights on the ice, the isolation, and the vastness of the far North.

How I Survived Four Nights On The Ice is another excellent novel about the lived experience of Indigenous peoples in the far north.

Book Details:

How I Survived Four Nights On The Ice by Serapio Ittusardjuat
Iqualuit, Nunavut: Inhabit Media Inc.    2020
45 pp.