A jealous man forbade his two lovers from interacting with others, leading them to flee. They found refuge near a whale carcass but were discovered after the man consulted a conjurer. He captured one woman and blinded the other to control her. While staying at the site, he profited by trapping animals attracted to the carcass before returning to his camp.
Source:
Ethnology of the Ungava District,
Hudson Bay Territory
by Lucien M. Turner
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Eleventh Annual Report, 1889-1890
Washington, 1894
► Themes of the story
Forbidden Love: The man’s jealousy leads him to impose strict restrictions on his two lovers, forbidding them from interacting with others.
Cunning and Deception: The women, weary of the man’s control, deceive him by fleeing along the coast to escape his oppressive behavior.
Divine Punishment: The man’s actions result in dire consequences for the women, including capture and blindness, reflecting a form of retribution for their defiance.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Inuit peoples
A man fell in love with two women and was so jealous of them that he would not permit them to look upon others, much less speak to them. The women finally wearied of the restrictions placed upon them and resolved to desert the man. They fled along the coast until they were faint from hunger.
At length they came upon the body of a whale cast on the shore. Here they determined to dwell for a time. The man sought for the women in every possible place with no success. A conjurer was consulted, and after much deliberation, he told the deserted man to journey to a place where he would find the carcass of a whale and to secrete himself in the vicinity and watch for the women.
► Continue reading…
He started out accordingly and before long had the pleasure of seeing the two women. They detected the man hastening toward them and tried to secrete themselves until he should get by. He seized one of them, however, and bound her with thongs. The other was less disposed to submit, and the man put out her eyes to deprive her of the privilege of looking at any man. They remained about that locality for some time, and various animals of the land came to the carcass to feast upon the remains. The man caught a great number of foxes and other valuable furs and after a time returned to the camp whence he came.
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