Kakortuliak, during a reindeer hunt, pursued a deer into a lake and secured it, but later encountered strange events. He saw raven-like beings with human features, lost the deer tallow mysteriously, and was carried through the air. Using a small tallow piece, he descended but returned home senseless and near lifeless. Afterward, he abandoned hunting, becoming a clairvoyant whose soul roamed and recounted distant lands and people.
Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875
► Themes of the story
Transformation: Kakortuliak’s journey from a hunter to a clairvoyant signifies a profound personal metamorphosis, highlighting themes of change and adaptation.
Supernatural Beings: His encounters with raven-like entities possessing human features introduce elements of the supernatural, emphasizing the mystical aspects of the narrative.
Underworld Journey: Kakortuliak’s experience of being lifted into the air and returning home in a near-lifeless state parallels a metaphorical journey to the underworld, symbolizing a venture into realms beyond the ordinary.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Inuit peoples
Abridged version of the story.
Kakortuliak was at a reindeer-hunt, when they only succeeded in hitting one large deer, which made its escape by jumping into a lake. Kakortuliak, however, pursued it by swimming, and fastened a line to its antlers, by which it was hauled on land. He got a large piece of the tallow, and leaving the party, went off by himself in search of further game. He saw two ravens pursuing one another; but on viewing them more closely they had the features of man.
At the same moment a reindeer suddenly bounded forth, apparently from his own bag; and he found the tallow at the same time had disappeared, a little morsel only remaining.
► Continue reading…
He then felt himself lifted off his feet and carried away through the air; but by rubbing his skin with the bit of tallow he again quickly descended towards the earth; yet without touching it he gained his home. On arriving, however, he had lost the use of his senses, and lay down almost lifeless, though unable to die. Such was, as has been told, the condition of the heathen when the ruler of the moon had taken the souls out of their body. From this time Kakortuliak gave up hunting, and turned a clairvoyant. His soul used to leave the body and roam about the inland and along the east coast; and on returning he related what he had seen, and how he had lived with the inlanders.
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Dreamtime Whispers 