Split Tooth

The narrator and her father cull the overpopulated foxes in their area to keep the population down. The narrator mourns them, but knows that they are mercy killings that will save many foxes from starvation the next winter. She dreams about killing a mountain of foxes and enjoys it. In her dream, she walks a path guarded by gigantic polar bears. They let her pass but stop planes in the sky from entering their domain. 

A very short poem discusses the narrator’s connection to her land. 

In an abstract dream sequence, the narrator wanders through a place without sky or earth. She finds a figure at her feet; they are being tortured, their skin repeatedly flayed like a caribou’s. The narrator can only watch. 

An untitled poem explores the loss of “Deep Knowing” and the connection between two people. 

The narrator drives a snowmobile alongside a frozen river toward a distant two-story house. She knows she is dreaming because no one has such a big house in Cambridge Bay. Inside, the narrator’s brother is cooking. He has the head of a raven. She hears a strange sound and follows it downstairs. Outside, she sees a fox. The fox gets closer, and the narrator sees that he is the size of a man. Fox speaks telepathically, telling her to let him inside. She learns that the raven queen cursed the fox clan 200 years ago because Fox was greedy and ate all the lemmings. The narrator lets Fox inside and performs oral sex on him to cleanse him of the curse. 

An illustration of a white fox walking on its hind legs follows.

An untitled poem describes memories of exploring the Arctic with an unnamed companion whom the narrator cares about deeply.

The narrator is in a sex education class at school. She is insecure that she has not yet grown breasts, but Best Boy has started to notice her. Spring returns to the land, bringing warmth and sunshine. The narrator wonders what life in the Arctic was like before Europeans came and brought Christianity with them. She imagines a time before “Christian Rules, Blind Faith, and Shame” (85), which she believes destroy people and the world.

An untitled poem describes the cyclical nature of life: Things are born from the earth, and when they die, they go back into the earth in an eternal life cycle. 

The narrator and her friends smoke cigarette butts found on the ground and play a game until it goes awry. The narrator leaves with a friend; they sleep at her uncle’s house. The friend’s uncle has an abusive girlfriend who beats and berates him until he beats her back, giving her “the proof that she deserved to be beaten” (89). The two friends hear this happening and lie still to avoid discovery. When all is quiet, they leave the house. The narrator sees the uncle and his girlfriend asleep together. There is blood everywhere. She and her friend never mention that night again.

An untitled poem discusses pain, both self-inflicted and inflicted on others. The narrator describes pain as a “doorway into the next realm” and concludes that people need nurturing (91), not pain.

In “1982,” the narrator is 17 and has recently returned home from a residential school after an attempted suicide. She goes to a party at her friend’s aunt’s house, where she sees the teacher who used to sexually abuse her. He is very drunk. She gets him alone outside and hits him. When he stumbles, she nudges him so he falls down the stairs. She and her friend run laughing from the party, feeling free. 

The narrator recounts the story of Sedna the Sea Goddess. Sedna and her father live on the ice alone. When it is time for Sedna to marry, her father looks for a worthy husband for her. Sedna rejects all her potential suitors, and her father agrees to let her marry when she is ready. Her lead sled dog is a shapeshifter, and the two sometimes have sex. She becomes pregnant, making Sedna’s father furious. He decides to put Sedna to death and takes her out to sea in his kayak. He throws her into the ocean, cutting off her fingers when she clutches at the side of the boat. Sedna sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and her blood transforms into sea creatures that give her the ability to breathe underwater. Sometimes Sedna prevents sea creatures from surfacing so humans cannot hunt them. To placate her and prevent starvation, a shaman must travel to the bottom of the ocean to comb her hair. The narrator wants to tell Sedna to keep her creatures; humans are too greedy. She wonders what Sedna will do “when she hears the seismic testing” occurring in the area (96). 

The narrator has a job stocking shelves at a grocery store. Her crush on Best Boy grows. On her way to school one day, she sees a fox. They stare at each other for a long time. The narrator sends feelings of peace toward the fox and steps closer to him. In the distance, children shout, and the fox darts away, spooked. The narrator resolves to find out what he wants next time. 

The section concludes with a poem about teeth.