Julie of the Wolves

Question 1

Miyax Kapugen/Julie Edwards

Answer 1

Miyax Kapugen, a 13-year-old Inuk girl, runs away from her abusive husband and struggles to survive in the Alaskan tundra. She befriends a wolf pack and a bird, receiving more acceptance from animals than people. Miyax reflects on her past, including her loneliness and pressure to assimilate into non-indigenous culture, taking on the name Julie Edwards. Her disillusionment with non-indigenous culture grows when hunters kill Amaroq, the wolf pack’s leader, leading her to embrace a traditional Inuit lifestyle. However, when she reunites with her father, Kapugen, the story suggests she may return to a more modern life, highlighting the challenges of maintaining tradition in the face of cultural assimilation.

Question 2

Kapugen/Charlie Edwards

Answer 2

Kapugen, Miyax’s father, is a legendary Inuit hunter known for his wisdom and connection to traditional Inuit culture. He teaches Miyax valuable lessons about nature and the Inuit way of life, making him a revered figure in her memories. After Miyax believes Kapugen died during a seal hunt, she relies on his teachings to survive in the Arctic tundra, including befriending a wolf pack. However, when Miyax later learns that Kapugen is alive, she discovers he has married a white woman and adopted modern practices, including hunting with an airplane. This shift shatters Miyax’s idealized image of her father, revealing his assimilation into non-indigenous society and making him appear hypocritical to her.

Question 3

Amoraq

Answer 3

Amaroq is the regal black leader of the wolf pack that Miyax befriends while lost in the Arctic tundra. He embodies the traits Miyax admires in her father, Kapugen: bravery, wisdom, and leadership. Initially suspicious, Amaroq accepts Miyax into his pack after she demonstrates her ability to communicate and follow their rules. He protects her from Jello, a lone wolf who poses a threat, killing him to safeguard the pack’s integrity. Amaroq’s actions reflect his role as a protector rather than an abuser of power. Tragically, he is shot by gussak hunters and left behind, symbolizing senseless violence. Amaroq’s death profoundly impacts Miyax, who equates it with the loss of Inuit traditions, suggesting that gussak society has destroyed both him and her heritage.

Question 4

Kapu

Answer 4

Kapu is a wolf pup and the first to approach Miyax, forming a close bond with her. Named after her father, Kapugen, Kapu embodies bravery and leadership potential, and Miyax predicts he will become the pack leader. In her Inuit culture, she considers Kapu her “joking-serious partner,” as they play and care for each other. Kapu helps Miyax by bringing her food, while she tends to his wounds after he is injured by gussak hunters. Following Amaroq’s death, Kapu takes over as the pack leader. Ultimately, Miyax faces the difficult choice to leave Kapu and the wolves for an uncertain future with her father, Kapugen, in the village of Kangik, sacrificing the love and acceptance she found in the wolf pack.

Question 5

Jello

Answer 5

Jello is the antisocial lone wolf of Amaroq’s pack, described by Miyax as “a lowly wolf—a poor spirit, with fears and without friends.” He is shunned by the other wolves and left behind during hunts, lacking the protective instincts that Amaroq embodies. Miyax names him Jello, reflecting his submissive behavior and unstable morals. As Amaroq accepts Miyax into the pack, Jello becomes increasingly aggressive, destroying her campsite and stealing her food. His selfish actions ultimately lead to his demise when Amaroq kills him as punishment for threatening the pack’s integrity.

Question 6

Amy Pollock

Answer 6

Amy is a 12-year-old girl from San Francisco whose father, Mr. Pollock, works for the Reindeer Corporation on Nunivak Island. He introduces her to Miyax, and the two girls become pen pals. Amy’s letters bring Miyax joy amidst her unhappy life with her strict guardian, Martha, and her troubled marriage to Daniel. Amy’s vivid descriptions of San Francisco enchant Miyax, who dreams of escaping to this enticing world. Each letter ends with Amy inviting Miyax to visit and promising her a pink room in her house, which symbolizes the allure of non-indigenous culture. Ultimately, Miyax attempts to flee Barrow to reach San Francisco but gets lost in the Alaskan wilderness along the way.

Question 7

Pani NalaGan/Pearl Norton

Answer 7

An Inuit girl who befriends Miyax in Barrow after her marriage to Daniel. Pearl, who uses her English name in town, sympathizes with Miyax’s troubled marriage and encourages her to view it lightly, suggesting she can leave if unhappy. This advice provides hope and influences Miyax’s decision to flee after Daniel assaults her. Before her departure, they share a tearful goodbye, and Pearl supplies Miyax with food and supplies for her journey. She is Miyax’s only true friend besides the animals in the wild.

Question 8

Tornait

Answer 8

A golden plover that Miyax meets at her campsite and names after a song her father, Kapugen, sang during the Feast of the Bird. Tornait becomes Miyax’s sole companion after she leaves her wolf pack. Their bond is meaningful, and she offers Tornait as a gift to Kapugen upon their reunion. After learning about Kapugen’s assimilation into Western culture, Miyax plans to leave town with Tornait for a more culturally authentic life in the Arctic tundra. However, Tornait’s death leads her to change her plans and return to town.

Question 9

Daniel

Answer 9

Miyax’s husband, arranged to marry her as children by their fathers. Miyax agrees to the marriage to escape her strict great-aunt Martha. Upon moving to Barrow, she realizes Daniel is developmentally disabled, and she struggles to believe her father knew of his condition. Daniel generally ignores Miyax after their marriage, but he faces teasing from peers at school. One day, after being ridiculed, Daniel violently attacks Miyax in an attempted assault. Despite his fear, he laughs afterward and threatens to assault her again, prompting Miyax to flee Barrow and become lost in the Arctic tundra.

Question 10

Martha

Answer 10

Kapugen’s aunt, with whom Miyax lives in Mekoryuk due to a law requiring her to attend a Bureau of Indian Affairs school. Strict and critical, Martha and Miyax often clash. While Martha values traditional ways, she disapproves of Kapugen’s choice to move to the Inuit seal camp. Although she assures Miyax that she doesn’t have to marry Daniel if she doesn’t want to, Miyax’s stubbornness and frustration with living under Martha’s rules prevent her from taking this opportunity to avoid an unhappy arranged marriage.

Question 11

Mrs. Franklin

Answer 11

Mrs. Franklin is Miyax’s teacher. She explains the sudden absence of lemmings in Alaska using a scientific perspective, stating that a chemical in their blood builds up from anxiety when there are too many lemmings, causing their deaths. This explanation contrasts with Kapugen’s more traditional view, that the lemmings’ time is naturally over. These opposing explanations represent the cultural divide between the scientific worldview of the gussaks (non-indigenous people) and the Inuit’s acceptance of nature’s cycles.

Question 12

Nusan

Answer 12

Nusan is Daniel’s mother and Miyax’s mother-in-law. She sews clothing for tourists and enlists Miyax’s help, which Miyax doesn’t mind. Trapped in an abusive marriage to the violent, alcoholic Naka, Nusan is kind to Miyax but doesn’t protect her from Daniel’s abuse.

Question 13

Naka

Answer 13

Naka is Daniel’s father, Miyax’s father-in-law, and Kapugen’s “serious” partner, a term for a work-focused friend in Inuit culture. He is an “old-fashioned” Inuk who values indigenous traditions. Though Miyax has fond memories of him from the seal camp, she later learns that Naka is a violent alcoholic who abuses his wife, Nusan.

Question 14

Judith

Answer 14

Judith is an Inuk girl at Miyax’s school in Mekoryuk. Her family’s home, with a gas stove and other modern amenities, shows their assimilation into non-indigenous culture. Judith and another girl, Rose, mock Miyax for confusing Judith’s charm bracelet with an Inuit i’noGo tied totem. Martha criticizes Judith for being disrespectful to her parents.

Question 15

Mr. Pollock

Answer 15

Mr. Pollock is Amy’s father and works for the Reindeer Corporation on Nunivak Island. He connects Miyax with Amy, starting their pen pal friendship. Known for being kind, Mr. Pollock has helped many people, including Russel, recover from alcoholism.

Question 16

Atik/Roland

Answer 16

Atik is a skilled Inuk hunter from Kangik. He and his family find Miyax’s campsite while hunting caribou. Through Atik’s wife, Uma, Miyax discovers that Atik’s mentor is her father, Kapugen, revealing that he is alive after being presumed dead.

Question 17

Uma/Alice

Answer 17

Uma is an Inuk woman from Kangik. She, her husband Atik, and their son Sorqaq find Miyax’s campsite while hunting caribou. Through Uma’s conversation, Miyax learns that her father, Kapugen, who was thought to be dead, is actually alive.

Question 18

Ellen

Answer 18

Ellen is Kapugen’s new wife and a white schoolteacher at the mission in Kangik. Miyax is disappointed by Kapugen’s marriage to a gussak (white person), seeing it as a betrayal of their Inuit culture and a sign that her father has changed.

Question 19

Theme: Human vs Nature

Answer 19

In Julie of the Wolves, the theme of humans versus nature is explored through the journey of 13-year-old Inuk girl Miyax Kapugen, who finds herself alone and lost in the harsh Alaskan wilderness after fleeing her abusive husband, Daniel. The novel illustrates Miyax’s struggle for survival, highlighting how her indigenous culture informs her understanding of the natural world. Influenced by her father, Kapugen, she learns to respect and connect with nature, which aids her in befriending a pack of wolves that support her survival. This relationship raises questions about the value of nature compared to human society, especially since the wolves treat her with more respect than her husband does. The narrative contrasts the Inuit’s reverence for nature with the exploitative attitudes of gussak (white) culture, exemplified by hunters who kill for sport. Miyax embodies the belief that nature should be respected, as seen when she honors the spirit of a caribou before feasting on it. The story critiques human brutality, depicting how people can be as harsh as nature itself, and emphasizes the need for coexistence with the natural world rather than domination.

Question 20

Theme: Tradition vs Assimilation

Answer 20

Miyax Kapugen navigates the tension between her Inuit traditions and the encroaching gussak (white) American culture. Her dual identity is reflected in her names—Miyax among her people and Julie Edwards in the American context. As she tries to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, she imagines either embracing traditional life or assimilating completely with her pen pal, Amy, in San Francisco. Ultimately, Miyax chooses to reconnect with her father, Kapugen, but discovers his disconnection from Inuit culture. After her bird friend dies, she feels the weight of her cultural loss and decides to return to her father. The erasure of her Inuit name at the novel’s end highlights the conflict between assimilation and cultural preservation, suggesting that maintaining her indigenous identity may be impossible in a society that pressures her to conform.

Question 21

Symbol: The Pink Room

Answer 21

Symbol: the pink room - The pink room represents Miyax’s idealized view of non-indigenous American culture. Initially enchanted by letters from her pen pal, Amy Pollack, who describes a pink room in her San Francisco home, Miyax longs for escape from her harsh life. After fleeing her abusive husband, she dreams of this room as a better life. However, after witnessing the brutal murder of her wolf friend, Amaroq, by gussak hunters, her perception shifts. The pink room becomes a symbol of her disillusionment, reflecting the loss of her Inuit values and the harsh reality of non-indigenous greed.