SIVULLIQ: Ancestor, by Lily H Tuzroyluke (2023)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Dec 21, 2024

∙ Paid

“As I sit with the old man, I wonder, did I learn enough? I’m the last adult left in my family. Did I ask enough questions? How will I teach my boys to become whalers? I can’t help the tears. The old man hears my crying. He pats my knee without looking and goes back to his defeathering. In a second, I’m recovered. I breathe deep. I hide my tears.”

title: SIVULLIQ: Ancestor

author: Lily H Tuzroyluke

published: 2023

publisher: Epicenter Press Inc. Alaksa Book Adventures

genre: historical fiction

setting: Inupiat Nunaat, Spring 1893

summary: “Sivulliq: Ancestor chronicles a mother’s profound and relentless strength to reunite with her child, the beauty of untouched arctic lands, and indigenous connection to the earth.”

main themes/subjects: mothering & family, hope, arctic landscape, qamutiik travel, how the imagination of the story teller can be a vessel for ancestral knowledge & wisdom, Indigenous community & mutual aid, what losing elders does to families /communities /entire cultures, soulloss & the tortured vestiges of humanity it leaves behind in a body, the resourcefulness of courage, Indigenous justice

CW: smallpox genocide, colonization, grief, whaling, kidnapping, anti-Indigenous & anti-Black violence & racism, soulloss, racist misogyny & violence, generally nasty & soulless colonizer behavior, child death

representation: Inupiat & other Indigenous arctic peoples (Yu’pik, Inuit, &c.), brave women, extended family & adoption, mutual aid Indigenous communities

tropes & devices: dual POV, adventure quest (to rescue a kidnapped child), tragic scarred hero, deep research—& not just academically speaking iykwim…

“‘The river knows the fastest way to the ocean.’ … She speaks to the boys as we work on the dog packs. ‘These rivers originate from an ancient sea. A thousand years ago, this land was covered in a sea. My mother said when your spirit is troubled, seek a river. Rivers take our messages to the other world, the spirit world.’”

my thoughts:

This is a tricky book to “review” because it is such a deeply personal, heartfelt, & human work that to read it is to engage with it on a kind of spiritual & emotional level that really defies words. In fact, the way that Tuzroyluke herself uses language to craft her narrative very much transcends the usual literary modes & in so doing, she creates something completely original & purely Indigenous in that every creative choice was in service to each aspect of the story regardless of expectations re: grammar & literary structure but never sacrificing characterization or story.

Tuzroyluke’s writing kept the pace so efficiently & effectively it very much felt inspired by traditional oral storytelling styles. I particularly noted the parts on the ship when the whalers would be having a conversation & Tuzroyluke would only specify the names of some of the speakers—like Emilio or Remigio etc.—giving the impression that the sailors were rather a faceless extension of their sociocultural origins & conditioning more-so than individuals capable of critical, individual thought, which, of course, they were. In fact, Ibai (who is a Black whaler), via his status as a natural outsider, is the only whaler who is able to think more critically & isn’t afraid to have different thoughts feelings values goals & desires than those around him, & it is his POV we see these chapters from, singling him out as the “real human being” among the soul-lost.

The other two characters that I was very interested in learning more about were Nasauyaaq & Ag’niin (the very brief bit about her in chapter 3 practically burst off the page for me—I would LOVE her entire story & also a better visual understanding of their ancestral house… 👀). Nasauyaaq however was definitely hinted at having a very long & sadly dark history. I was particularly curious about her relationship with Christianity & the Reverend (chapter 10) & if that had any deeper significance to do with her role in the story in some ways… (DM me if you have thoughts / want more about this bc I don’t want to get too spoilery here…)

I also really really loved how Tuzroyluke didn’t draw out the super tense or disturbing scenes because she was aware of how the anticipation of the action & everything that was going on was tense enough in its own right that it didn’t need to be dragged out like I feel many authors end up doing in their stories for some reason… It was all just paced so excellently. & none of the suspense, tension, or conflict felt manufactured at all which I felt was uniquely successful especially for an historical fiction novel that is so well researched / understood & depicted that it feels both fully real & believable & also satisfies the expectations of the genre & delivers a high quality, fast-paced, & engaging story to the reader—really the work of a perfect novel.

“Nothing is like the old days. If he hunted with his father, he’d get a bite of the heart. He’d give the seal to an Elder and the Elder would feed him, bless him, and give little ivory trinkets. But this is not the old world. This is a new broken world. There are few Elders. There are few hunters to teach my son. My son doesn’t have a father. Instead of blessings and trinkets, he retreats to the ice with a seal claw.
In a moment, he runs to me. ‘Aaka? Will you pray for me?’
I try not to cry. ‘Creator, watch over this new hunter. Help him learn the weather. Help him learn our ways. Bless his days with animals. May he provide for our people his entire life.’”

The theme of mothering/parenting/mentoring—& just generally how children are taught, treated, & educated by adults, parental figures, & elders—& the contrast between the way the Inupiaq characters engaged with Ebrulik & Naqua versus how the whalers treated Gerald & Sam was my favorite of the book. I particularly noticed how E & N weren’t coddled but they were very much & very often praised & loved—& anytime they had to go through something dangerous or difficult (like their mad dash to follow the ship, or being in charge of the umiaqs during the boardings, &c.), their parents & guardians didn’t shield them from the reality of what was happening but they did support & encourage them & allow them to approach the situation on their own terms—i.e. decide what they wanted to be part of or ask for more help or time to rest etc.—to a very large extent.

In the Inupiaq communities, the children were never treated cavalierly or patronizingly but respected as individuals & given a say & a choice in things & indeed were valued so highly that much was sacrificed in the effort to rescue Samaruna when she was abducted by the whalers. It was like the ultimate study in proper parenting & child welfare via the whole dynamic between the elders & the youths in the Inupiaq communities versus the horrible way children were objectified & sacrificed in the whaling communities & european cultures. The exploration of this theme really adds an important dimension to the history of the abductions of Native children & their displacement into boarding schools away from their families & just the deeply unjustifiable, irredeemable violence that was on so many levels.

i would recommend this book to readers who want to read the best historical fiction novel they will ever read in their life. this book is best read when you’re in the mood to cry a lot. (Feel free to DM me for more info /more specific CWs if you need it.)

“Trust there are others, too. Time to sleep, time to dream of our Ancestors. Pray the Ancestors tell their stories in our dreams.”

final note: I would LOVE to see this adapted to the screen so. damn. much.

season: mid-/late-winter

music pairing: Angela Amarualik &

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SIVULLIQ: Ancestor, by Lily H Tuzroyluke (2023)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

title: SIVULLIQ: Ancestor

genre: historical fiction

my thoughts:

In a moment, he runs to me. ‘Aaka? Will you pray for me?’

I try not to cry. ‘Creator, watch over this new hunter. Help him learn the weather. Help him learn our ways. Bless his days with animals. May he provide for our people his entire life.’”

“Trust there are others, too. Time to sleep, time to dream of our Ancestors. Pray the Ancestors tell their stories in our dreams.”

further reading:

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