Savirqong and his daughter Niviarsiang, who refused all suitors, faced a strange union when she married a spotted dog, Ijirqang. They had ten offspring—five Adlet and five dogs. Overwhelmed by their needs, Savirqong exiled them to an island. Betrayal and revenge ensued, leading to Ijirqang’s death and transformations of fingers into seals and whales. The Adlet became inland ancestors, and the dogs sailed to become Europeans’ forebears.
Source:
The Central Eskimo
by Franz Boas
[Bureau of American Ethnology]
Sixth Annual Report
Washington, 1888
► Themes of the story
Transformation: Niviarsiang’s fingers transform into seals and whales upon being cut off, illustrating physical metamorphosis.
Supernatural Beings: The Adlet, offspring with human upper bodies and dog-like lower bodies, represent mythical creatures within the narrative.
Creation: The story explains the origins of different peoples—the Adlet as ancestors of inland tribes and the dogs as forebears of Europeans—serving as a creation myth for these groups.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Inuit peoples
Savirqong, an old man, lived alone with his daughter. Her name was Niviarsiang (i.e., the girl), but as she would not take a husband she was also called Uinigumissuitung (she who would not take a husband). She refused all her suitors, but at last a dog, spotted white and red, whose name was Ijirqang, won her affection and she took him for a husband. They had ten children, five of whom were Adlet and five dogs. The lower part of the body of the Adlet was that of a dog and hairy all over, except the soles, while the upper part was that of a man. When the children grew up they became very voracious, and as the dog Ijirqang did not go out hunting at all, but let his father-in-law provide for the whole family, it was difficult for Savirqong to feed them.
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Moreover, the children were awfully clamorous and noisy; so at last the grandfather got tired of it, put the whole family into his boat, and carried them to a small island. He told the dog Ijirqang to come every day and fetch meat. Niviarsiang hung a pair of boots round his neck and he swam across the narrow channel. But Savirqong, instead of giving him meat, filled the boots with heavy stones, which drowned Ijirqang when he attempted to return to the island.
The daughter thought of revenging the death of her husband. She sent the young dogs to her father’s hut and let them gnaw off his feet and hands. In return Savirqong, when Niviarsiang happened to be in his boat, threw her overboard and cut off her fingers when she held to the gunwale. As they fell into the sea they were transformed into seals and whales. At last he allowed her to climb into the boat.
As she feared that her father might think of killing or maiming her children, she ordered the Adlet to go inland, where they became the ancestors of a numerous people. She made a boat for the young dogs, setting up two sticks for masts in the soles of her boots, and sent the puppies across the ocean. She sang: “Angnaijaja. When you arrive there across the ocean yon will make many things giving you joy. Angnaija.” They arrived in the land beyond the sea and became the ancestors of the Europeans.
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Dreamtime Whispers 