Irdlirvirisissong

Irdlirvirisissong, a celestial figure, lives in the sky and visits her cousin Aningan. Known for her upturned nose and a plate for her dogs, she awaits the deceased to feed her dogs their entrails. She spares those who don’t laugh at her eerie dance and song. Aningan warns visitors not to laugh, as laughter signals their demise, ensuring their intestines become dog food.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: Irdlirvirisissong is a celestial entity residing in the sky, interacting with humans and otherworldly figures like her cousin Aningan.

Divine Punishment: She enforces a strict code, punishing those who laugh during her eerie dance by feeding their entrails to her dogs, highlighting the consequences of disrespecting sacred rituals.

Underworld Journey: The narrative involves encounters with the deceased, as Irdlirvirisissong awaits souls to determine their fate, reflecting themes of life after death and the journey into the unknown.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Erdlaveersissok in Greenland;
Ululiernang in Baffin Land;
in Angmagsalik she is the sun’s mother (Jupiter)

Irdlirvirisissong has a house in the sky, and sometimes visits her cousin, Aningan. Her nose is turned up on the sides, and she carries a plate called qengmerping for her dogs, of whom she has a number. She waits for people who die, so that when they come she can feed her dogs on their intestines.

She dances about, saying, “Qimitiaka nexessaqtaqpaka” (“I look for food for my dear dogs”). If the people laugh, she cuts them open, and gives their entrails to the clogs. Otherwise they are spared. Aningan warns the people not to laugh.

When an angakok comes up to visit Aningan, he turns his head aside so that his laughter may not be seen. If he begins to laugh, Aqoq says, “Qongujukpouq” (“He laughs”). Irdlirvirisissong goes driving with her dogs.

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Aningan

A young girl lived with her grandmother when Aningana, the moonman, requested to cohabit with her. After her grandmother’s permission, Aningana promised to bring foxes as sustenance but departed after overwhelming the house with them. Separately, Aningana abducted another woman, injuring her to prevent escape. Forbidden from looking into other homes, she disobeyed and suffered burns, later grieving for a lost, ragged boy on Earth.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: Aningan, as the moon man, represents a celestial entity interacting with humans.

Forbidden Knowledge: The woman disobeys Aningan’s prohibition against looking into another house, leading to her punishment.

Love and Betrayal: Aningan’s relationships with the women involve elements of desire, coercion, and betrayal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A girl lived with her grandmother. One day, Aningana, the moon man, came down, importuning her to allow him to cohabit with her. She first asked her grandmother for permission, who granted it. Then she went out with Aningana.

When they came in again, they found there was nothing to eat. Aningana, however, did not go out to get food, but said, “For the cohabitation I shall cause to present themselves to you a great number of foxes.”

Having said this, he went away, while the grandmother and grandchild remained in the house.

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Soon a fox entered the house of his own account, and then another, and still another; and a fourth came into the house, and a fifth, and a great many, so many, in fact, that the house was crowded, and the old woman almost smothered. Thereupon the women said, “Sh!” thus driving out part of the foxes. The rest they killed and ate. The foxes thereafter did not come in again.

* * *

Aningan drove down to earth and brought back a woman, whom he put into his house. He cut or stabbed the soles of her feet, so that she could not leave him. Aqong (his wife) desired Aningan, and panted, “ax, ax.” He, however, did not desire her, and threw her away from him toward the window (that is, off the bed). He forbade the woman he had brought to look into another house. She, however, disobeyed him, and in consequence the side of her face was burnt. She looked down from the sky, and saw a poor little boy in ragged clothes wandering about, unable to find his mother, and she wept to see him. [The whole tale seems mangled.]

Igimassuxssuq

Igimassuxssuq, a giant man from Cape Parry, was notorious for killing and eating people. Fearing him, his wife fled to Saunders Island, but he pursued her. Despite his size, he squeezed into a house where villagers confronted him. Denying his deeds, he was bound by his wife, who, urged by the villagers, killed him with a knife, ending his reign of terror.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: Igimassuxssuq is depicted as a giant, a being of extraordinary size and strength, which sets him apart from ordinary humans and aligns with the theme of encounters with supernatural entities.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative unfolds in the harsh Arctic environment, where survival is a constant challenge. Igimassuxssuq’s journey over the ice to pursue his wife highlights the struggle against natural elements inherent in Inuit life.

Revenge and Justice: The villagers, along with Igimassuxssuq’s wife, take decisive action to end his reign of terror. Their collective effort to bind and kill him serves as a form of communal justice, restoring peace to their society.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Labrador and Greenland story

Igimassuxssuq, or Igimarassuxssuq, was a very large man, who lived at Oangaxssut (Cape Parry), and killed and ate people. His wife became afraid, and weeping ran away to Akpan (Saunders Island). He followed her, going over the ice, until he also reached the house. “Let me come into the house,” he said. The door of the house was small, and Igimassuxssuq was a large man, but at last he managed to squeeze into the house. When the people asked him where those were whom he had eaten, he said, “Some one else has eaten them.” Then his wife tied his hands with thongs, and the people said: “Let his wife stab him with a knife.” Then his wife stabbed and killed him.

It is also said that another man later strangled her, and slashed her open in front.

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The bear

A woman raised a bear as her child. The bear, initially small, grew large and hunted seals to provide for her. Tragically, the bear was hunted and killed by men. Overcome with grief, the woman wept until she turned to stone. Her stone form remains visible at Ita, serving as a timeless reminder of her sorrow.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The woman’s profound grief leads to her physical transformation into stone, symbolizing the permanence of her sorrow.

Supernatural Beings: The bear, acting beyond typical animal behavior by hunting seals and providing for the woman, takes on a near-human role, blurring the lines between human and animal realms.

Loss and Renewal: The narrative centers on the woman’s loss of her bear-child and her subsequent transformation, reflecting themes of mourning and the enduring impact of loss.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A woman had a bear for a child.

At first it was small, but soon it grew very large. It used to go out and hunt seals and bring them home, thus providing for her.

One day, however, he was hunted. First the dogs caught him, and then the men came up and speared him and thus killed him.

When his mother heard this she began to cry, and cried until she was turned to stone. She can be seen even now at Ita.

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The Aglirtoq woman and the bear

A woman fleeing from men found refuge in a snow-house owned by a bear who had transformed into a man. Unseen by her, the bear donned his skin, became a bear again, and hunted a seal. He skinned it and shared the catch with the woman, who later recounted the encounter, marveling at the bear’s generosity and unique snow-house.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The bear’s ability to change into a human form highlights themes of physical transformation and the fluid boundaries between human and animal realms.

Supernatural Beings: The bear’s shapeshifting nature introduces a supernatural element, emphasizing the presence of extraordinary creatures within Inuit folklore.

Sacred Spaces: The snow-house serves as a sanctuary for the woman, symbolizing a sacred space where she finds refuge and encounters the bear’s generosity.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A woman ran away from men. She came to a snow-house, owned by a bear. The bear was inside, but he had changed himself to look like a man.

This woman, who was aglirtoq (under restrictions), went into the house. After a while the bear, who was also in the snow-house (but whom she had not seen, as the house was a double one), got up and went into the entrance passage, where he put on his big skin and thus became a bear.

Then he went down to the water and dived. He stayed under a long time, but finally reappeared, carrying a seal in his mouth.

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This bear then skinned it, and brought the seal into the house. Then he cut up the seal he had caught, and gave that aglirtoq woman some of the skin [fat?] to eat. She gave her children some of the skin and then went away, going home. When she arrived, she told her story: “There is a bear who has a snow-house. I went in. He caught a seal and I ate of his catch. He gave me its skin to eat.”

The gull

A gull abducts a young girl to be his wife, carrying her to his cliffside home. While he searches for food, the girl escapes using a rope and returns home. The gull, overcome with grief, is shot by a man from her household. Another tale recounts a girl being swallowed by a narwhal, only to be expelled unharmed later.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The gull exhibits anthropomorphic qualities, such as abducting the girl to be his wife, indicating interactions with beings beyond the natural world.

Forbidden Knowledge: The girl’s experiences—being taken by the gull and swallowed by the narwhal—expose her to extraordinary events that are beyond common human understanding.

Transformation: The narrative involves the girl’s physical relocation to the gull’s cliffside home and her subsequent escape, symbolizing a journey of change and resilience.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Greenland and Labrador story

High up on a cliff lived a large gull. Once he saw an unmarried girl come cut of a house. “Will you not be my husband a little,” said the girl, who was still wearing a child’s hood. The gull flew down, and, picking her up by the tip of her hood with his bill, carried her to his habitation to be his wife far up on the cliff. But then the gull went away to get something to eat for his wife. He flew far away over the sea to get whale-meat. When he was gone, the girl let herself down from the cliff by a rope, and ran home. The gull, coming back, saw her, but was too late to catch her, and in his grief flew about, crying, kotiuk. Thereupon a man came out from the house, and shot him, hitting him under the wing.

This (or another?) girl is also said to have been swallowed by a narwhal, but to have been puffed out again by it.

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The woman who married a Tuneq

A tuneq marries an old woman and provides for them by hunting a ground-seal. Once the food is gone, they travel to a house with many people, where the tuneq departs. Sea-gulls then enter the house, are caught and cooked by the people. This echoes Greenlandic folklore of Avarunguak and a giant catching auks in a similar way.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The tale involves a ‘tuneq,’ a supernatural entity from Inuit folklore, who marries a human woman.

Transformation: The narrative depicts a shift in the woman’s life as she transitions from her previous existence to living with the tuneq, adapting to new circumstances and experiences.

Sacred Spaces: The couple’s journey to different dwellings, including the tuneq’s house and another inhabited by multiple people, signifies transitions into spaces that hold particular significance within the story.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A tuneq married an old woman. After he had married her, they walked away and entered his house. The tuneq then went away to the sea, and soon returned, carrying a ground-seal on his back. This they cut up and lived upon, until they had eaten it all.

Then they went away until they came to a house where there were a number of people. They entered this, went to bed, and slept. Next day the tuneq went away. Thereupon a number of sea-gulls came to the house and went in. [In Greenland, Avarunguak visits a giant who catches auks in the same manner.] The people caught them, picked their feathers, cut them in pieces, put them in a pot over the fire, and ate them.

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Inukpan

Inukpan, also known as Inukpakssua, is a mythical giant in Inuit folklore. Stories depict him as so massive that people could walk on his toe or use his boot-string as a kayak cover. He mistook bears for foxes and crushed them effortlessly. In one tale, he captured five kayakers in his hand, but they escaped his giant home while he slept.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: Inukpan himself is a colossal being, so immense that humans could walk on his toe or use his boot-string as a kayak cover. His interactions, such as mistaking bears for foxes and effortlessly crushing them, highlight the presence of extraordinary beings within the narrative.

Supernatural Beings: Inukpan’s existence and actions transcend the natural world, showcasing the influence of supernatural entities in Inuit mythology. His ability to capture five kayakers in his hand and his enormous dwelling further emphasize this theme.

Cunning and Deception: The captured kayakers exhibit resourcefulness by escaping from Inukpan’s giant home while he sleeps, demonstrating human ingenuity and the use of wit to overcome formidable challenges.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

The same tale is found among the central tribes. The Greenlanders also tell of Inugpait, giants that live across the sea.

Inukpan, also called Inukpakssua, was a very large man, who did not really exist, but whom stories tell about. It is said that he was so large that people could stand on his big toe, and walk about on it, and that the flat skin-thong of his boot-string could be used as a kayak-covering by ordinary men. It is also said that, seeing several bears, he called them only foxes, and, picking them up between his fingers, crushed them dead.

At one time, when he was out in his kayak, he saw five kayakers some distance away. He went after them, soon reached them, and then scooped up all five, kayaks and all, in the hollow of his hand. He took them to his house, which was enormously large, and put them over the lamp. Then, however, he fell asleep, and the men climbed down, went out, and ran home before he awoke.

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The thinking image

Near the abandoned Hudson’s Bay Company post at Nachvak lies a stone resembling a woman deep in thought. Local Eskimo legend tells of an outcast woman who, exhausted and despairing, wished to become stone. A crow circled her, cawing thrice, and turned her into rock. Today, the figure remains revered, adorned with offerings like beads, needles, and tobacco by passersby.

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

Transformation: The woman’s change from human to stone.

Supernatural Beings: The crow’s mystical role in her transformation.

Sacred Spaces: The stone’s significance as a revered site where offerings are made.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

About half a mile from the old Hudson’s Bay Company post at Nachvak (now abandoned) is a curiously formed stone. It is situated on a point, and in going by in a boat, it appears like a woman seated with her chin on her hand, thinking. The Eskimo of that vicinity relate the following story in connexion with this rock.

Once there was a woman who was an outcast from the village. She had no people nor relatives, and was a slave for everybody. One day she was going along in a boat by this point. She had been rowing in the umiak all day, and was very tired. She went ashore, and sat down on a rock and started thinking.

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First she wished that she were dead and her labour over. Then she wished that she could be changed into a stone, like the one she was sitting on. While she was thinking this, a crow flew over her. He made three circles over her, and as he cawed three times, she was gradually turned into a stone.

She is still seen in the same position with her hand to her chin, thinking. The Eskimo make offerings to her of needles, tobacco, and matches, whenever they pass. Some of the women have put a necklace of beads around her neck.

Story of the narwhal

A snow-blind young man, cruelly neglected by his mother, survives thanks to his sister’s secret help. Tricked into believing he missed killing a bear, he discovers his mother’s deceit and plots revenge. When his sight returns, he hunts a whale and ties the line to his mother, dragging her into the sea. Her cries echo among the whales, believed to linger eternally.

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

Family Dynamics: The narrative delves into complex familial relationships, highlighting the mother’s cruelty towards her son and the sister’s secretive support, showcasing both betrayal and loyalty within a family unit.

Revenge and Justice: The son’s calculated retribution against his mother for her deceit and mistreatment underscores the pursuit of justice and the consequences of betrayal.

Supernatural Beings: The transformation of the mother into a being whose cries are eternally echoed among the whales introduces an element of the supernatural, blending human actions with mystical outcomes.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once a young man who lived with his mother and sister. He was snow-blind, and for some reason his mother wished to get rid of him. She tried to starve him. But his sister on the sly, used to bring him bits of meat. He could not hunt because he was snow-blind. But one day a bear came to the snow-house, and his mother guided his bow so that he could shoot the bear through the window. He shot the bear, and killed him. But his mother did not want him to know that he had killed the bear, so she told him that he had missed it, and that his arrow had stuck into the hard ice on the side of the snow-house. So she was living on the meat of the bear, she and her daughter, while her son was starving.

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But his sister managed to feed him something on the sly. At first she would not tell him where the meat came from, but he kept questioning her, and at last she told him that he had killed the bear. Then he knew that his mother was trying to starve him, and he planned to be revenged on her. So in the spring, after the ice had broken up, when he had got his sight back, he used to hunt for white whales along the shore.

One day he and his mother and sister were all standing on the beach, and he was waiting with his harpoon to strike a whale.

He struck one with his whale harpoon, which had a long line attached. He tied the end around his mother’s waist; as the whale swam out to sea, it dragged her down the beach and into the water. As she went, she kept crying, innialuma, “My son did it.” When the whale went down, she would go down too, and when it came up, she would come up too, crying, innialuma, “My son did it,” over and over again. Finally she disappeared.

She still lives with the white whales, and in the spring, when they are going along the shore, the people can hear her crying, luma, luma, innialuma, and say that she is still alive among them.