
KAK, THE COPPER ESKIMO
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I The House That Kak Built
CHAPTER II Kak’s Hunting
CHAPTER III Strangers
CHAPTER IV Bears
CHAPTER V Queer Tales
CHAPTER VI Summer Travels
CHAPTER VII Twenty-four Hours of Sunlight
CHAPTER VIII Indians
Kak is a twelve‑year‑old boy who lives among the Copper Eskimos on Victoria Island, a remote Arctic community where everything is crafted from copper and fur. His world is stark but lively, filled with hunting, singing, and endless daylight, and he knows no toys or school bells. Yet his days are full of freedom, allowing him to follow his own rhythm under the open sky.
The family dwells in a snow‑built igloo warmed by a constantly burning lamp, a cozy refuge that lets Kak shed his coat the moment he steps inside. Evenings are spent around the fire with his sister Noashak, listening to stories and songs that echo across the white landscape. This close‑knit life teaches him resilience and a love for the simple pleasures of the north.
When Kak decides to construct his own house, he learns the exacting art of cutting domino‑shaped blocks from hard snow, stacking them like a spiraling tower, and carving a tunnel for entry. The task proves daunting, testing his patience and ingenuity, and it becomes the first real challenge that will shape his coming‑of‑age journey. Listeners will feel the crisp air and hear the quiet determination in his every move.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (282K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: The Macmillan Company, 1924.
Credits
Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
Release date
2022-03-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1879–1962
An Arctic explorer and writer who helped reshape how many readers saw the Far North, he combined hard travel with close study of Inuit life. His books and lectures turned years of northern expeditions into vivid stories about survival, geography, and human adaptability.
View all booksb. 1881
An early 20th-century novelist and screenwriter, she wrote dramatic fiction and also ventured into Arctic-themed storytelling. Her known work includes The Human Desire, Wits and the Woman, and Kak, the Copper Eskimo.
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