Inuit Stories and Legends

    Certain stories and legends passed by elders from one generation to the next are integral components of Inuit culture. Usually, it was the grandmothers who were the storytellers. Inuit children listening to the accounts of legendary characters and events would learn about the traditions, values and beliefs of their people.

Common themes and motifs are repeated in many of the stories and legends. The topics can be distilled into the following: an abused orphan who gains supernatural strength and uses it to get revenge for mistreatment he has endured; a woman who manages to survive on her own after separation from a husband who mistreated her; a bachelor who, after being rejected by women, takes an animal or bird as his wife and does quite fine; a woman who after rejecting every admirer, finally accepts a spouse, only to learn that her husband is an animal; people who are raised by animals and animals who are raised by people; and an Inuk who encounters evil spirits during the course of many adventures and outsmarts them to get away.¹

The legendary characters Kiviuq and Sedna figure prominently in the stories. They were real for Inuit in the past. However, even though the stories continue to be relayed, Inuit today look upon the stories differently from their ancestors. Christianity has replaced traditional beliefs. Therefore, most Inuit look upon these stories as an important part of their history and identity, but do not maintain that Kiviuq and Sedna exist post-contact.

It is interesting to note that as Inuit elders shared stories they did not provide descriptive details of characters or events. Rather, the Inuit way of telling stories was to lay the events out pragmatically. Without visual information or colourful storybooks, listeners were free to imagine the physical attributes of the characters and their surroundings.

Now that Inuit have a written language, the stories are being recorded in books. The new forms of art are another important resource by which to preserve the stores. Many older Inuit artists remember listening to storytellers in their youth. They call upon their imaginations and their memories when they make art that illustrates the stories from the past.

When looking at the works, we must keep in mind, however, that artworks have limitations when it comes to storytelling. The artwork created is not the actual story, but, rather, references the stories.

In Gallery Three, Our Stories, images of Inuit beliefs, stories and legends by various artists are brought together. Kiviuq and Sedna are subject matter in many of the works. To help exhibition visitors better understand the artworks; we provide versions of stories about Kiviuq and Sedna below.

The Legends of Kiviuq

Kiviuq is a legendary, heroic Inuk. Stories outlining his many and varied adventures are told throughout the Arctic. Kiviuq has lived a long time and has experienced many lives. Inuit elders say that he is in his last life now, on an adventure somewhere. However, before he dies he will return to see his own people, the Inuit. Versions of Kiviuq's adventures change depending on where you are in the Arctic, and who is relaying the tale. The name Kiviuq has many different spellings, such as Keeveeok, Qiviuq, Kivioq and the one we are using, Kiviuq.

One well-known legend of Kiviuq tells of his friendship with the grandson of an old woman. Everyone mistreats and makes fun of the old woman's grandson except Kiviuq. The old woman wants revenge on all the mean people, so she comes up with a plan. She changes her grandson into a seal and has him swim out to sea. All of the hunters follow him because they, of course, think he is a real seal that will provide a good meal for their families. Before the hunters reach her grandson, the old woman magically creates a storm in which everyone but her grandson and Kiviuq are drown. Her grandson swims safely back to shore, where she turns him back into a boy. Kiviuq drifts away in his kayak to a foreign land where he continues to experience adventures and lives with people of many different nationalities.

In another adventure, Kiviuq comes across a group of cannibals. Cannibals are people who eat other people. In the Arctic, there is always the possibility that you might starve if you do not catch enough food. In this adventure, Kiviuq encounters cannibals who want to eat him because they do not have enough caribou, seals, fish or walrus to eat. The cannibals do not want to starve, so they are willing to eat any living thing, including people. Inuit believe that cannibalism is wrong, so the stories show how horrible and tragic it is to be a cannibal.

As the story goes, Kiviuq comes to a village of cannibalistic spirits. Kiviuq is scared the spirits will try to eat him, so he hides from them in the house of a kindly old woman and her two sons. While the cannibals are asleep, the old woman tells Kiviuq how to escape. She whispers to him, "Find the cannibal spirits' sleds and cut every single sinew that holds them together. If you miss even one rope, they will track you down. They will use the leader's dog to track you. It has two heads. The dog will wag its tail and howl before it jumps on you. Shoot him in the ear with your bow and arrow."

While the cannibals are still asleep, Kiviuq does as the old woman says. He cuts all of the ropes that hold the cannibals' dog sleds together. Then, he escapes into the night. However, as the sun rises Kiviuq hears the cracking of a whip and a howling dog. It seems to him that the dog's cry is not one dog but two. Kiviuq worries, "Oh no! I must have missed cutting a sinew on their sleds. The dog with two heads is following me!"

Just then, he sees them. They are coming fast. As the dog howls and starts to jump toward him, Kiviuq shoots his bow and arrow. But the dog is still coming! Suddenly, the two-headed dog moans with pain and runs away. Kiviuq is relieved. He must have hit the dog in its ear. As the dog runs away, his master calls his name, "Alullaq, Allulaq!" But the dog cannot hear his master because of the arrow in his ear. The dog was in so much pain that he did not notice the water in front of him. He splashed straight into the water pulling the sled and driver in behind him. Both the dog and his master drowned. It was a narrow escape for Kiviuq. He was almost eaten!

In another adventure, Kiviuq came across a woman bathing. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. However, he noticed that on the shore lay her clothing. It was all feathers. The beautiful lady was actually a goose-woman! Kiviuq decided that he did not care if she was a bird woman. He wanted her for his wife, so he stole her feather clothing. Kiviuq then asked the goose-woman to marry him. She agreed. Time passed and the goose-woman grew to love Kiviuq. Eventually, they had children. She liked being a goose. However, she was unhappy. She liked to eat her own food that consisted of grass and sand instead of people food like caribou and seal meat. Kiviuq insisted that she eat people food because that is what he hunted. One day, the goose-woman decided that she should be able to eat whatever food she wanted, so she did. Kiviuq got angry with her.

The goose-woman did not think it was right for Kiviuq to insist that she eat human food. One day when he was away hunting she found her feather clothing from where Kiviuq had hidden it. She put her feathers back on, gathered her children and flew with them far away to the south. Before she met Kiviuq she flew south every winter, like many birds do.

When Kiviuq returned his family was gone. He did not know where they went, so he searched everywhere for them. Searching everywhere takes a long time. One day he met a big man chopping wood. His name was Eqatlejok. With his axe, the man created fish from pieces of wood. Kiviuq begged Eqatlejok to help him. The fish-maker decided to help Kiviuq because he felt sorry for him. Eqatlejok made Kiviuq a large fish to carry him over the sea to where his family was living. He climbed on the fish and it carried him through the water. At the end of the journey, Kiviuq found his goose-family. His goose-wife decided that she liked it better when Kiviuq was around and Kiviuq decided that he did not care if she ate goose-food. They decided to live together again and let each other be who they really were.²

The Legend of Sedna the Sea Goddess

The legend of how Sedna became a Sea Goddess is told throughout the Arctic. The story varies from one region to the next. However, in all versions a young woman becomes the mother of all sea creatures. As the sea goddess, Sedna has dominion over her creatures and controls the availability of seal, walrus, fish, whale and other sea animals to Inuit hunters. This version is a compilation of many Sedna stories.

Once there was a young woman named Sedna. She lived in the Arctic with her mother and father. She loved her mother and father very much and was very content. Her father was a skilled hunter, so he provided very well for his family. Sedna had plenty of food and warm furs to wear. She liked the comfort of her parent's home and refused to marry. Many Inuit men desired Sedna for a wife and asked her parents for permission to marry her. But Sedna refused them all. Even when her parents insisted it was time for her to marry she refused to follow tradition and obey them.

This continued for quite some time, until one particular Inuk came to visit Sedna. This man promised Sedna that he would provide her with plenty of food to eat and furs for clothes and blankets. Sedna agreed to marry him. After they were man and wife, he took her away to his island. When they were alone on the island, he revealed to her that he was not a man at all, but a bird dressed up as a man! Sedna was furious, but she was trapped and had to make the best of it. He of course was not a good hunter and could not provide her with meat and furs. All the birdman could catch was fish. Sedna got very tired of eating fish every day.

They lived together on the island for a time, until Sedna's father decided to come and visit. Upon seeing that his daughter was so unhappy and that her husband had lied to her, he killed the birdman. Sedna and her father got into his kayak and set off for home. The birdman's friends discovered what they had done and wanted to avenge the birdman's life. They flew above the kayak and flapped their wings very hard. The flapping of their wings resulted in a huge storm. The waves crashed over the small kayak making it almost impossible to keep the boat upright.

Sedna's father was so frightened that the storm would fill his kayak with water and that he would drown in the icy waters that he threw Sedna overboard. He thought that this would get the birds to stop flapping their wings, but it did not. Sedna did not want to be left in the water, so she held tightly to the edge of her father's boat and would not let go. Fearing that she would tip him over, the father cut her fingers off, one joint at a time. From each of her finger joints different sea creatures were born. They became fish, seals, walrus and whales.

Sedna sank to the bottom of the ocean and there became a powerful spirit. Her home is now on the ocean floor. If you have seen her you know she has the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish.

Sedna now controls all of the animals of the sea. The Inuit who rely on these animals want to maintain a good relationship with Sedna, so that she will continue to allow her animals to make themselves available to the hunters. Inuit have certain taboos that they must follow to keep Sedna happy. One of these says that when a seal is killed it must be given a drink of fresh water, not salt water.

If the hunters do not catch anything for a long time, the Shaman will transform himself into a fish. In this new form, he or she will swim down to the bottom of the ocean to appease Sedna the Sea Goddess. The Shaman will comb the tangles out of Sedna's hair and put it into braids. This makes her happy and soothes her anger. Perhaps it is because Sedna lost her fingers that she likes to have her hair combed and braided by someone else. When she is happy and she allows her animals to make themselves available to the hunters. Animals do not mind giving themselves up to provide food, clothes and shelter for Inuit.