A lame hunter, struggling to match others in hunting, spotted a distant bear on drift ice. Desperate to prove himself, he invoked his torngak for help. Miraculously, the bear became blind, allowing the hunter to kill it with ease. His success not only provided much-needed food but also earned him respect and admiration from fellow hunters and the community living in snow-houses.
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
Divine Intervention: The hunter’s plea to his torngak (spirit helper) results in the bear’s blindness, enabling him to make the kill.
Transformation: The hunter’s status evolves from being underestimated due to his lameness to being celebrated for his successful hunt.
Community and Isolation: Initially marginalized because of his physical limitation, the hunter’s achievement leads to his acceptance and admiration within the community.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Inuit peoples
There was once a hunter who was lame, and, although he was a good hunter, he found it very hard to keep up with the other men, when they went hunting for seals and bears. One day he went up on a hill to spy for seal on the ice. He saw a bear far off on the ice. Now he could not get near the bear, because he could not walk fast enough, and the bear was making for the drift ice.
So he wished his torngak would come to his aid, and he moaned and groaned as if in great pain. He closed his eyes and said, “If I could get to that bear, nobody would be able to say that I was a poor hunter any more. I would be the best hunter, for none of the others are killing anything, and the people are going hungry.”
► Continue reading…
When he opened his eyes, he saw that the bear was walking about and stumbling as if it could not see. Then he knew that his torngak had indeed helped him and made the bear blind. He limped out on to the rough ice, and got near enough to kill the bear with his bow and arrows. He gained the good favour of all the other hunters by his deed, and of all the Eskimo living in snow-houses at the hunting ground.
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Dreamtime Whispers 