Inuit Stories of Being and Rebirth by Bernard Saladin d'Anglure Peter Frost

Author:Bernard Saladin d'Anglure, Peter Frost [Bernard Saladin d'Anglure, Peter Frost]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780887558306
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
Published: 2018-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 26. Revenge of Walrus-Skin, the mistreated orphan, who kills his adversaries thanks to the polar bears that the Moon Man sent him. After a text and drawing by Daividialuk Amittuq Alasuaq, Povungnituk, 1971. Made by Johanne Lévesque. Archival fonds of B. Saladin d’Anglure.

In his variant Ivaluarjuk, much more than Kupaaq, stresses the women’s malice toward Kaujjajjuk. They begin to sing derisively while he is still being looked for: “Where is Kaujjajjuk, Kaujjajjuk, miserable wretch? Not too good to frighten bears away! Not too good to make a morsel for the bears! Well and good, let him tease them! Well and good, let them eat him up!” So sang the women (Rasmussen 1929, 90). They were always the cruellest to Walrus-Skin.

There remained only an old woman, the one who had been kind to Walrus-Skin. The old woman was so afraid that Walrus-Skin discovered her trying to hide under the dogs’ feeding trough. Walrus-Skin approached her and told her that he didn’t want to kill her and that she need not fear him. He said to her, “You took good care of me when I needed help. I’m not going to hurt you now.” They were the two sole survivors of the camp.

Ivaluarjuk adds (Rasmussen 1929, 90):

Afterwards he (Kaujjajjuk) married the old woman who had always sided with him. That was his way of thanking her. So the miserable Kaujjajjuk became a strong man and a great fighter, because the Moon Spirit came to him as the Lord of Power and cleansed him from his mother’s breach of taboo.

In the second variant told by Kupaaq, Walrus-Skin has a somewhat older sister and an adult brother, Igalaaq. This brother sends them to get seawater, and to do so they have to walk over the fast ice. The ice breaks away, and Walrus-Skin and his sister are taken far off to the south on the drift ice. After several days of drifting, the ice floe comes close to shore, and they manage to get to a camp where they are welcomed. Afterwards, however, they suffer all kinds of abuse. Here is the second story that Kupaaq told me:

Lost on the Ice

Kaujjajjuk was a little boy. He had an older sister and an adult brother. Kaujjajjuk’s big brother went hunting for nattiq [ringed seal] at the breathing hole, and he caught one. Kaujjajjuk was happy when his brother came home with the ringed seal. He went to meet his brother and said to him, “Igalaaq, did you catch a ringed seal?” His big brother said to him, “I intended to catch a ringed seal, and I got one! If you’re not tired, go and get some salt water.”

When Inuit killed a seal and wanted to make stew, they salted it with seawater. To get seawater they often went far away on the ice and collected it from crevasses or at the edge of the fast ice, where open water appears.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Igalaaq, that you’ve caught a ringed seal!” Igalaaq again replied, “I intended to catch a ringed seal.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.