Kapugen Timeline and Summary

Kapugen, we learn, is Miyax's father, who has disappeared at sea. Before he left, though, he taught Miyax a lot about the wilderness and how to survive, which certainly comes in handy for our girl.
When Miyax reminisces about her childhood in the flashback in Part 2, we find out that Kapugen's wife and Miyax's mother died when Miyax was just four years old. The death was devastating to Kapugen.
He was so sad, he walked Miyax all the way to the seal camp, where they lived together in traditional Eskimo style for the next five or so years.
Their domestic bliss was rudely interrupted by Aunt Martha, who tells Kapugen that Julie has to move to Mekoryuk to attend school, and Kapugen has to go to war.
Later, as she lives a quiet life on the tundra in her ice house, Miyax hears from a passing hunting family that a man named Kapugen lives in a nearby town.
Kapugen is shocked and pleased when Miyax shows up at his door. But he has changed. He's no longer a traditional Eskimo hunter; he lives a modern life with a gussak wife.
His change in character devastates Julie, but she returns to live with him nonetheless.