Bücher
Service
This definitive collection of Inuit legends is thoughtfully introduced and carefully annotated to provide the historical and cultural context in which to understand this rich oral tradition.
Neil Christopher is an educator, author, and filmmaker. He first moved to the North many years ago to help start a high school program in Resolute Bay, Nunavut. It was those students who first introduced Neil to the mythical inhabitants from Inuit traditional stories. Together with his colleague, Louise Flaherty, and his brother, Danny Christopher, Neil started a small publishing company in Nunavut called Inhabit Media Inc., and has since been working to promote Northern stories and authors.
Germaine Arnattaujuq is an award-winning Inuit artist and illustrator, best known for her prints and etchings depicting Inuit myths and traditional ways of life. In 1999, she designed the special edition two-dollar coin commemorating the founding of the territory of Nunavut. She is the co-author, with Gyu Oh, of My Name Is Arnaktauyok: The Life and Art of Germaine Arnaktauyok, and she has illustrated numerous books. Germaine is the recipient of the 2021 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. She lives in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Table of Contents
Editor's Note ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Chapter One
How the World Came to Be and Other Creation Stories...................................................................25
The Struggle for Day and Night................................................................................................................................... 27
Origin of Death................................................................................................................................................................... 29
How Children were Formerly Obtained.................................................................................................................. 30
Thunder and Lightning................................................................................................................................................... 31
The Brother and Sister who Became Thunder and Lightning....................................................................... 33
Origin of the Sun and the Moon.................................................................................................................................. 35
The Mother of the Sea Mammals................................................................................................................................ 37
The Orphan Girl who Became the Mother of the Sea Mammals................................................................... 42
The Woman who Married the Dog ............................................................................................................................ 44
Origin of the Walrus and of the Caribou ................................................................................................................. 48
Origin of the Caribou....................................................................................................................................................... 50
Origin of the Narwhal...................................................................................................................................................... 51
How the Narwhal Came.................................................................................................................................................. 58
Origin of the Agdlaq......................................................................................................................................................... 62
The Hunters that Transformed into a Constellation.......................................................................................... 64
The Akla that Turned into Fog..................................................................................................................................... 65
Origin of Fog........................................................................................................................................................................ 67
Origin of the Red Phalarope and of the Web-footed Loon............................................................................... 71
The Ptarmigan.................................................................................................................................................................... 73
The Ptarmigan and the Snow Bunting..................................................................................................................... 74
The Ptarmigan and the Small Bird ............................................................................................................................ 75
The Wind .............................................................................................................................................................................. 76
The Loon and the Raven................................................................................................................................................. 77
Chapter Two
Mistreatment and Consequence ..............................................................................................................79
Qaudjaqdjuq........................................................................................................................................................................ 81
The Boy who Harpooned a Whale ............................................................................................................................. 86
The Artificial Skull that Frightened People to Death......................................................................................... 89
Papik....................................................................................................................................................................................... 91
Pautusôrssuaq, who Murdered his Uncle............................................................................................................... 95
The Wife-changers ........................................................................................................................................................... 98
The Man who did not Observe Taboos .................................................................................................................... 100
The Emigration to the Land Beyond the Sea......................................................................................................... 102
Podluksak............................................................................................................................................................................. 106
Murdering a Stranger...................................................................................................................................................... 107
Tale of an Agdlaq............................................................................................................................................................... 110
The Emigration of Women............................................................................................................................................ 112
The Woman who Escaped to the Moon................................................................................................................... 114
Atanaarjuat.......................................................................................................................................................................... 121
Lice.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 128
Storm Caused by a Loon................................................................................................................................................. 129
Chapter Three
Journeys and Adventures ...........................................................................................................................131
Kiviuq..................................................................................................................................................................................... 133
Kiviuq..................................................................................................................................................................................... 140
Atungait................................................................................................................................................................................. 150
The Soul ................................................................................................................................................................................ 157
The Soul that Let itself Be Born Again in all the Animals of the Earth....................................................... 161
Chapter Four
Hardships and Famine ................................................................................................................................165
Ijimagasukdjukdjuaq....................................................................................................................................................... 167
Igimagajug, the Cannibal ............................................................................................................................................... 170
Karnapik, the Cannibal................................................................................................................................................... 174
Separated from Camp...................................................................................................................................................... 177
Kating Saved his Family in Time of Famine........................................................................................................... 179
Taboos and Starvation .................................................................................................................................................... 182
An Unsuccessful Whale Hunt....................................................................................................................................... 183
The Old Woman and her Grandchild........................................................................................................................ 186
The Woman who Could not Be Satiated.................................................................................................................. 189
Chapter Five
Animals in Human Form.............................................................................................................................193
The Woman who Heard Bears Speak ....................................................................................................................... 195
The Man who Took a Wife from Among the Wild Geese.................................................................................. 198
The Man who Took a Fox for a Wife.......................................................................................................................... 202
Ititaujang .............................................................................................................................................................................. 205
Dialogue between Two Ravens ................................................................................................................................... 210
The Man who Married the Fox .................................................................................................................................... 213
The Boy who Lived on Ravens..................................................................................................................................... 219
The Visitor............................................................................................................................................................................ 222
The Woman who Transformed herself into a Bear ............................................................................................ 226
The Woman who Became a Bear and Killed her Enemy.................................................................................. 229
The Fox .................................................................................................................................................................................. 233
The Woman who Became a Raven............................................................................................................................. 234
Story of Three Girls .......................................................................................................................................................... 236
The Fox and the Wolf....................................................................................................................................................... 240
The Bear Country.............................................................................................................................................................. 241
The Country of the Bears and Wolves...................................................................................................................... 243
The Muskox ......................................................................................................................................................................... 246
The Country of the Wolves............................................................................................................................................ 247
How Inuit Learned the Proper Taboos for when a Bear is Killed................................................................. 250
The Polar Bear and the Boy.......................................................................................................................................... 251
The Woman and her Bear Cub..................................................................................................................................... 255
Chapter Six
Animal Fables.................................................................................................................................................259
The Owl and the Lemming............................................................................................................................................ 261
The Owl and the Lemming............................................................................................................................................ 263
The Bear and the Caribou.............................................................................................................................................. 264
The Owl and the Raven................................................................................................................................................... 265
The Foxes.............................................................................................................................................................................. 266
The Fox and the Rabbit................................................................................................................................................... 268
The Owl and the Two Rabbits...................................................................................................................................... 269
The Owl that was Too Greedy...................................................................................................................................... 270
The Owl and the Bear...................................................................................................................................................... 272
The Race of the Worm and the Louse....................................................................................................................... 273
The Raven that was Anxious to be Married........................................................................................................... 274
Glossary................................................................................................................................................................................. 277
References............................................................................................................................................................................ 285
