A powerful angekok sought to uncover the secret resting place of the caribou. Guided by his torngak, he traveled for two moons, finally reaching a massive turf-and-rock house guarded by a giant caribou king. The caribou entered the house in bands, protected by their leader. Though the angekok shared his vision, he withheld the location, fearing transformation into a mouse. The secret remains a hopeful mystery for the people.
Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916
► Themes of the story
Forbidden Knowledge: The angekok seeks the hidden resting place of the caribou, a secret location that remains elusive to others.
Supernatural Beings: The story features the angekok (a shaman) and his torngak (spirit helper), highlighting interactions with spiritual entities.
Transformation: The angekok is warned that desiring to harm the caribou could result in his transformation into a mouse, emphasizing the consequences of certain actions.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Inuit peoples
There was once a great angekok who felt it his duty to find out for the people the place where the caribou went to when they passed in great numbers into the interior. So he asked his torngak to show him where they went. His torngak told him the way to go. He told him to walk on and on, and not to stop until he told him. So the angekok started off. He walked day after day. For two moons he walked. His boots did not wear out because his torngak was with him.
At last, one day, his torngak said, “Stop! Make no noise, and wait till sunset. Then you will see the resting place of the caribou. You must not wish to kill what you see, or I’ll turn you into a mouse.”
► Continue reading…
So the angekok did as he had been told. When the sun went down, he saw a very large house made of turf and rock. Standing across the door was a very big deer. It was the king of the caribou. He was so big that the other caribou could walk in under him without touching him.
The caribou came up in big bands, and all passed under the king into the house. When the last one had passed in, he lay down and kept guard over the others.
The angekok went home and told the people what he had seen. But he did not dare tell them where to find the wonderful place, for fear that they might desire to kill so many caribou and his torngak would turn him into a mouse. So the Eskimo know that there is a place where the reindeer live and stay with their king, but although they are always looking for it, they can never find it. But they hope to do so some time.
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Dreamtime Whispers 