Week Ten: Eskimo Folk Tales

This week, I am reading the unit entitled Eskimo Folk Tales. I have always been fasciated by the life of Eskimos and I am excited to learn more about their culture from this unit

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago
The story begins with an unknown narrator telling the readers about storytellers and that they do not lie. The narrator goes on to begin the story to tell how men came to earth. Men were said to come forth out of the earth among the willow bushes and that men and women learned to live together. Once there were more men and women, they desired to have dogs and the men found them. The same with children who grew on the earth. There was no sun in this time and men did not know how to die and crowded the earth, so came a mighty flood from the earth and death was known. Now, when men die, they go up into the sky and become brightly shining things there.

Nukungasik, Who Escaped from the Tupilak
This story begins with Nukunguasik who one day rowed to an unvisited, beautiful island. On the island, he came upon a brother who was making a Tupilak. The brother became so frightened that he fell down dead but the Tupilak was still alive. The man rowed home and his brothers were glad to see him. They went out in search of the dead brother and found him in grief. They buried the brother and the Tupilak and the man lived for many more years before dying.

The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son
The story begins with an old woman who obtained blubber and meat from those in the town. One day a wife came to the woman's home to ask if she wanted a bear cub. The woman put it in her home to thaw and noticed that it thawed and began to grow. She spoke human speech to it and it began to gain a human mind. People in the town brought her things for the cub and it continued to grow, making children cry. One day hunters nearly killed the bear so the woman made a mark for it to wear to keep it safe and it caught food for the woman. The bear killed a man and the woman threw him out of the house. The woman smeared him with oil and  that tells the world of the bears with the black spot on the side.

Qalaganuase, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts
Qalaganuase lived near the sea with only his family until they died and he was looked after by strangers. He was without strength and the lower part of his body was dead. He heard a noise in the house and hid, only to see a ghost walk in. He told people but they did not believe him. Many days passed and then suddenly the walls shook and many ghosts of his family were there. He found the ghosts a pleasant thing and they left when they heard the villagers. People still did not believe him. Finally, Qalaganuase went with the ghosts and was turned into one so he would be lame no longer.

Isigaligarssik
Isigaligarssik was a strong man who lived in a house with many brothers. One day a wizard called upon him to see his spirit. A girl asked to have Isigaligarssik and he also wanted her. The wizard told him this would never work and Isigaligarssik went home wifeless. He wanted to kill the wizard and the villagers disagreed. However, Isigaligarssik still stabbed the wizard and ran quickly home to put on his charm dress to keep himself safe. The wizard shot and missed Isigaligarssik and Isigaligarssik won his wife again.

The Insects That Wooed a Wifeless Man
This story begins with a wifeless man, as many stories do. One day, the man went out on his kayak and heard another man yelling and went to help. He saw that the man was a "Noseless One" from beneath the earth. The man saved the noseless one and rowed home. That evening, the wifeless man wanted to rest and woke up the next day to find a wife. During this time, he lost the power to hunt and was all alone.

Makite
Makite could never catch a seal on his kayak. He decided to go up into the hills to live alone. Many brothers went after him but couldn't find him. He found a house and went in as it began to shake. Makite heard the master of the house talking and said that he would kill him. Makite then ate and they both went to sleep. Makite saw that a great black thing was approaching the house and the dwarfs went out to fight it. Makite then built himself a house and lived there until he died.

Atungait, Who Went A-Wandering
This is the story of a man who wanted to go on a sledge trip with a strong woman. He went to visit a tribe who wanted to play football and watched the strongest of the players. He then took some dogs and climbed a cliff. He found some interesting people, as they were all left-handed and all had one shorter leg than the other. He found his wife kissing another man and roughly killed her so that he could make another woman his wife.

The Giant Dog
This story begins with a man who had a giant dog that could swim and haul whale to shore. The man wanted a son but didn't have one so gave the amulet to the dog. One day, the dog killed a man and the man was forced to move to a new place. The dog and man were forced to move many times and the dog grew to become big and fierce and had many enemies. A stranger tried to kill the dog and it could not be killed. The dog would roam the land and that is how island-dwellers got their fear of dogs.

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother
This is the story of Papik who often went hunting with his wife's brother. The brother often brought back more game than Papik. One day, Ailaq did not return at all and Papik was accused of killing him. An old woman died and sought to avenge Ailaq. Much time passed and Papik was out hunting when a monster had come to kill Papik. Many villagers tried to kill the monster that was the old woman who was avenging her son. It is now said that when any man killed his fellow without good cause, a monster would come a strike him dead with fear.

Patussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle
This story begins with a man named Patusorssuaq who was fonder of his uncle's wife than his own. Patusorssuaq killed his uncle when he heard that he and his wife were moving away. The wife fled from Patusorssuaq and found her farther. Patusorssuaq then went to kill his wife but she had also fled. He took his uncle's wife and lived with her until she died. One day a fox came to him and it was the soul of the uncle who killed him. This shows that punishment comes to the man who kills.

The Wife Who Lied
The story of the wife who lied begins with a woman who put mittens on her feet rather than boots. She made war against the tribe to which her husband belonged and they set out and crept into a store shed the village. The men of the village found all their women dead and fled away. War then ensued. Among them, an old woman had a strange dream that there were avengers around her. The woman was then murdered by the avengers and died.

The Eagle and the Whale
This story begins with many brothers who had two sisters who would not marry. One wanted an eagle husband and the other a whale. The sisters were carried off by these animals. The brothers then killed the eagle and the whale to get their sisters to come back home.

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton
Atdlarneq was a strong man who was a great hunter. One day while hunting, he saw a woman who welcomed him into her home with great quantities of food. The master of the home came back and saw that his cheeks were made of Copper. Atdlarneq was forced to eat and drink so much in order that he not be killed but he nearly gorged himself to death.

Angangujuk
This is the story of Angangujuk, a child who lived alone with his family. One day his mother could not find him and her husband said that he would kill her for killing their son. The husband went to some wizards to see if they could help locate the child but no one could help. A spirit came to the husband and then he wandered to the east until he came to many houses and found his child. The child would not respond and the father became angry and put the son under a magic sleep. The father took Angangujuk back home.

Atarssuaq
Atatssuaq had many enemies, yet he could not be killed. He had a son and threw him into the water. The son did not die but became a clever swimmer. One day Atatssuaq swam with his son and the son was a better swimmer. The boy kept going under water for a long time and the father thought he had died. And the boy was increasingly more clever. One day the father Atatssuaq was killed while hunting and the boy swam to the kayaks of his father's enemies. The son drowned all the men who killed his father and went home.

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq
Tungujuluk and Saunikoq were from the same village and both were wizards. Saunikoq did not have any children and soon began to plan evil. One morning, Saunikoq went out to hunt and stole his brother's son to kill. Instead of killing the boy, he killed a seal instead and took it home to see. The brother then moved and to another city and hasn't been seen since.

Kanagssuaq
The last story in the unit begins with a man and woman living in a place where it was so cold that all hunting had to be stopped. They began to die from hunger. Kanagssuaq finally was able to catch a seal and took it home. There was suddenly a lot of food in his home. Kanagssuaq then learned to tie a tow-line and caught many animals.