Kunak grinned and remembered that if he hid further and further under the caribou blanket, Grandpa Chevy would soon be tickling him. It was their same pre-fishing game that they played over and over and over again. Kunak loved Grandpa Chevy more than any one person on earth.

Grandpa Chevy would say, “Oh listen, Kunak. I hear them! Listen hard and you will too! Oh, they said our names! ‘Chevy and Kunak come catch us!’ Get those ears of yours outta that blanket and you’ll hear it too! It’s such a lovely song!” Grandpa Chevy would snatch him up from under the soft fur, then tickle him until tears ran down both of their brown, chubby cheeks. It would always end with Grandpa Chevy licking his face and telling him that tears should never become dried stains. “Lick the tears on your face before they dry and nothing bad will happen to you.”

Gramps and his crazy old ways. Grandpa Chevy had told Kunak many of the old beliefs but Kunak had never taken any of them inside of himself. None of the old ways had entered his muscles. None had been made room for inside his brain and heart. Even when Grandpa Chevy was alive, Kunak had refused to allow the old ways a resting place. The old ways were the old ways, he told himself. They were from times of long ago and were of no use in today’s world. Let those old dogs lie is what Kunak held to be true until a coin plopped into his hat. Then he would look to the sky and whisper “ma’na” to the man who had loved him most.

Grandpa Chevy had been a wildlife guide and Kunak’s only family. Chevy took the white people out to different spots on the land, showed them where to fish or hunt. He made his money that way, but Grandpa Chevy kept the true land secrets to himself. He never took the hunters and fishermen to the places of plenty. He took them to the places of moderation, to the place of Good Chances. Knowledge was something to be earned. It was not for sale and it definitely was never given away. Grandpa Chevy was a careful knowledge keeper. He made sure the customers got some of what they paid for and he was always polite. He was the most requested guide. White people loved him.