Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk-Tales (Reading A)

(Pexels)

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago: 

• It is said that man came from the earth as little children 
• Man wanted dogs so they called out with a leash and dogs appeared
• They did not know sunlight, only darkness
• When the first man died, others covered his body with stone 
• When men die now, they go up into the sky and become the shining stars 

Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak:  

• Nukúnguasik lived with many brothers 
• He overheard one of his brothers telling a Tupilak to bite and kill Nukúnguasik
• He jumped out out his brother and frightened him so badly he died 
• When he returned home his brothers wanted to search for the one that just died and Nukúnguasik went along 
• They found the Tupilak eating the dead man's body and hurried him there 

The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster Son: 

• A woman was given a bear cub and she took it to her home 
• The nearby children would come to the house and play with the bear cub every day 
• When it grew older the adult began to play with it but soon it grew too strong for them too 
• It grew too large and one day killed a man so she had to set her bear free to live with others of its kind 

Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of the Ghosts: 

• Qalagánguasê’s parents lived where the tides were strong 
• He was paralyzed from the waist down 
• When he was alone one day a ghost appeared and drank from the water tub so he hid 
• He told the people this and the next time he was alone a ghost appeared again
• The ghosts told Qalagánguasê that if he did not tell the people of them then he would gain strength 
• He told the people anyway and did not begin to feel strong 
• One day he was left alone again and his father came and took him to the land of the ghost and he was never seen again 

Atungait, Who Went A-Wandering: 

• Atungait took a sled trip with a strong woman 
• He visited a tribe in the winter and saw there was a woman who always won the game of foothall
• He gave her his thickest pelt and they left together on his sled 
• They spent much time traveling and going on adventures but he had to return home to his wife so he did 
• He returned home to his wife and killed her because she was lying about seeing other men 
• He returned to the strong woman and made her his wife 

The Giant Dog: 

• There was a man who had a giant dog that could swim the sea and haul a whale 
• The man wished to have a son but never did so he gave his amulet to his dog which allowed him to resist the coming of death 
• One day the dog ate a man so he was forced to leave it 
• The man watch this dog grow feral and noticed it began to hunt in-land dwellers and that is why they fear dogs. 

Story source: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).