The Tupilak

Source: 
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo 
by Henry Rink 
[William Blackwood and Sons] 
Edinburgh and London, 1875

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► Themes of the story

Trickster: The brother embodies the trickster archetype by secretly creating a tupilak—a malevolent creature—to harm Nikook, using deceit and dark arts to achieve his goal.

Supernatural Beings: The story features the tupilak, a creature brought to life through ritual, representing the intervention of supernatural entities in human affairs.

Revenge and Justice: The narrative unfolds around the brother’s jealousy leading to an act of revenge against Nikook, and ultimately, the restoration of justice when the malevolent creature and its creator are destroyed.

► From the same Region or People

• North America
  • Arctic Region
    • Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

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Abridged version of the story.

An old man named Nikook, who had given up seal-hunting, once, entirely by chance, brought home a walrus. The middle one of some brothers with whom he lived grew jealous of him at this, and every morning repaired to the opposite shore of an island, where he secretly worked at a tupilak. Nikook got a suspicion of this, and following him, he surprised the wretch in the act of allowing his own body to be sucked by the monster, at the same time repeating the words, “Thou shalt take Nikook.” But Nikook hurried down, and seized him, crying, “What art thou doing there?” At that moment the man fell down lifeless. Meanwhile the brothers had also reached the island, and on being guided to the place by Nikook, they found the tupilak still sucking the dead. They then killed it with stones, sinking it, as well as the maker of it, into the sea. During five nights Nikook was disturbed by a bubbling sound, but afterwards nothing more was perceived.