A long time ago, even before the first settlers came, the dogs had little ears like beavers. Back then everything, including all animals and human beings, was equal, and they would talk to each other in the same language. Dogs though, because of their ears, had a problem.

Each day, when a hunter named Kilook would go out on his camping and hunting trips, he would talk to do this dog team. But because of their small ears the dogs could not hear what Kilook said, so they just nodded their heads. When Kilook said, "Chee!" the dogs would answer "huh?" Then Kilook went up to the leader's ear in yelled, "Chee, I said Chee!" The dog only said, "Oh" and went along with Kilook. Then they went back to the village because they caught nothing.

Later on that night at the Eskimo dance, the men of the village were singing, but since the dogs couldn't hear what the men were singing about, they never danced; they would only watch the men and the women of the village dance. When the high chief came and talked to the dogs, since they couldn't hear the high chief, he thought the dogs were not paying attention to him. The high chief then went to Kilook and told him that his dogs were being disrespectful. But Kilook told the high chief that his dogs were deaf.

The next time Kilook went out hunting he started talk to his dogs, but the dogs couldn't hear him, as usual. So Kilook got really mad and went straight to the medicine man. The medicine man then attached an extra large ear to the dogs' heads. It was only then that dogs started hear and really understood the speech of man.

That is how the dog got his big ears.

BY: Norma Evan