A story about a young Inuvialuk girl, Aluniq, and her qunngiq (reindeer) calf, Buster.
“You meanie! Take it easy!” Aluniq laughed as she tried to sit up, but Buster just butted her back down into the sand. She laughed and laughed. The sun shone brightly in the blue sky above her. A light wind threw a puff of sand into her face. “Buster, stand up!” Aluniq sat up again, grabbed the collar around Buster’s neck, and hauled herself up. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed the tip of his black nose.
Although Aluniq was only five years old, she had her very own qunngiq-reindeer calf. Buster had been orphaned in the big herd from Qunngilaat-Reindeer Station. Kind of like Aluniq, whose mother had stayed in the hospital with TB ever since Aluniq was born. She had been raised by her grandparents from Norway. They came to the Northwest Territories, Canada to teach the local people how to herd reindeer.
