Qopuk

"You must be careful. Smoke Mountain is more dangerous than you will ever understand. But the Last Great Wilderness is real... and you will get there without me, brave little bears."

— Qopuk before he dies in Smoke Mountain, pages 48-49

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Qopuk (ko-puck) is an old, heavy, frail male polar bear with dark, dull eyes, graying, flattened, matted, filthy fur, a brownish gray muzzle, enormous teeth, enormous paws, and a sunken frame.

History

In The Original Series arc

Smoke Mountain

Near the beginning of the book, Toklo, Lusa, Kallik, Ujurak, and Taqqiq encounter Qopuk in a small forested area. Lusa senses that he is not hostile, and asks if he is okay.

After knowing that he is near death, the bears prepare to leave, when he starts mumbling about The Last Great Wilderness. He says that he knows how to get there, and the bears try to persuade him to lead them there. He is too weak to move, and instead offers to tell them about The Last Wilderness and that they need to cross a wide river and the Smoke Mountains in order to get to it.

He dies soon after telling them the stories. Lusa, Kallik, and Ujurak perform a burial for him before they move on.

Trivia

• His name means "ice crack" in Inuktitut.