An angakok on Kekertarsuak

An angakok on Kekertarsuak encountered a terrifying scene when visiting his sister: lifeless villagers with staring eyes and his sister creeping toward him with a devouring expression. Fleeing, he escaped with his dogs and later performed a conjuration. His vision revealed the villagers had been scared to death by a kayak skin used in a funeral—a chilling tale blending supernatural and cultural beliefs.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The angakok’s conjuration and the eerie, lifeless villagers suggest interactions with supernatural elements.

Forbidden Knowledge: The revelation that a funeral object caused the villagers’ deaths implies the existence of hidden or dangerous knowledge.

Transformation: The villagers’ sudden shift from life to death, possibly due to supernatural fear, indicates a profound change.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

An angakok on Kekertarsuak set off in his sledge to visit his married sister. On approaching the house his dogs suddenly stopped. After in vain trying to urge them on with his whip, he alighted and went up to the house on foot. But seeing no people about, he looked in at the window, and was horror-struck at seeing all the people lying or sitting about lifeless, their eyes open and staring. His sister alone showed signs of life, and seeing her brother, began to move her mouth as if chewing, and crept towards the entrance. At sight of this he was struck with terror, and fled to his dogs, but was again unable to make them stir. Not until the sister had come quite close, her mouth widely opened as if to devour him, did they suddenly start; and thus he escaped to his home.

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Afterwards he performed a conjuration, and undertook an angakok flight to examine the place. On his return he reported that those people had been frightened to death by the sight of a skin-cover from a kayak (viz., which had been used at a funeral to carry the corpse upon).

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Kuanak, an angakok in South Greenland

Kuanak, a South Greenland angakok, faced mystical and perilous adventures during his spiritual journeys. Surviving attacks by supernatural beings and near-death encounters, he escaped through the sea and earth, emerging at home. On another flight, his drum moved on its own, signaling his distress after falling unconscious outside. He later endured an undersea ordeal, aided by his grandmother’s magic, eventually returning to life with the help of chanting elders.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Underworld Journey: Kuanak’s ventures beneath the sea and earth, encountering supernatural beings and challenges, align with the motif of a journey into realms beyond the ordinary world.

Supernatural Beings: Throughout his adventures, Kuanak interacts with various mystical entities, including an amarsiniook and his grandmother’s spirit, highlighting the theme of engagement with supernatural beings.

Transformation: Kuanak undergoes significant physical and spiritual changes during his ordeals, especially when he is revived from a near-death state through magical means, embodying the theme of transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

Kuanak, an angakok in South Greenland, started for a flight, having previously had his feet and his head tied together. While passing along between two high rocks, an amarsiniook rushed out from the mountain-side and wanted to take him into his hood. He made his escape by dropping into the sea, and proceeding onwards beneath the surface of the sea and the earth, finally emerged from the floor of his own house. Another time, when he had gone off on a flight, his drum, which he had left in the house, was lifted up by itself, and soared about in the room till at length it stopped and fell down. At that same moment a voice was heard from without, and hastening to look whence it came, they found him in an almost dying state lying upon the snow, an old skin-cover from a kayak having frightened him and caused his downfall.

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Kuanak was once capsized by a seal he had just harpooned; but being an anghiniartok, his senses again returned, and he found himself at the bottom of the sea, in company with his grandmother. She tied his kayak-jacket close to his body, leaving no part of it uncovered, and then supplying him with a piece of skin by way of kayak, she pushed him upwards. When he emerged from the water he first betook himself far out to sea, and thence made the land again, but happened to touch at an inhabited place, where somebody was emptying out the urine-tub, which scared him away from the shore. He tried to land on another place, but here a woman, dressing her hair on the beach, scared him away. If he had a third time taken fright, he would never have returned to the land of the living. But he happened to land at Pisugfik, where a couple of old men were sitting playing at dice. They at once knew him to be an anghiniartok; and on merely touching his naked body, he dropped down senseless; but on their chanting a magic lay, he revived. They then brought him back to his homestead, where his relatives, who had already finished their days of mourning and nearly forgotten him, were gladly surprised at hearing the crew of the boat that brought him home intuning Kuanak’s song.

The bird’s cliff

A father and son kayaking encounter a menacing kayariak but escape by killing it on an ice floe. Before dying, the creature creates a fog, leaving them lost at sea. They reach land and find a mysterious house inhabited by black and white figures, later revealed to be gulls, ravens, and a falcon in a cave.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The father and son encounter a kayariak, a mythical creature, during their journey.

Transformation: The mysterious house’s inhabitants are revealed to be gulls, ravens, and a falcon, indicating a transformation or disguise.

Conflict with Nature: The protagonists face challenges posed by natural elements, such as the fog created by the kayariak and their subsequent struggle to find land.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A father and his son, while kayaking far off the land, fell in with a kayariak, who at once gave chase to them. They fortunately escaped by jumping out on a flake of ice, from which they struck their persecutor dead; but before sinking into the sea he spat repeatedly, turning round to all parts of the horizon, on which a dense fog arose, causing them to wander, and preventing their gaining their home. At last they reached land, and the father, being angakok, soon perceived a house and entered it. They found one side of it inhabited by black people, and the other by white ones. After staying a while and having some talk with the inmates on both sides, they left the house; but on looking behind them, they saw that the house was a cave in the rock, the inhabitants gulls and ravens, and a drollish visitor staying with them, a falcon.

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Avigiatsiak

Avigiatsiak, a young woman, was taken by a whale while sharpening her knife on the beach. After living with whales, she escaped, transformed into a seal, and was caught by a man who harpooned her. Her remains, except her head, were discarded, but her spirit entered the man’s wife, leading to her rebirth as a child, again named Avigiatsiak.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Avigiatsiak’s journey from human to whale captive, then to seal, and finally to reborn child illustrates significant physical and spiritual metamorphoses.

Rebirth: Her cycle of death and subsequent rebirth as a child named Avigiatsiak highlights themes of renewal and the cyclical nature of life.

Supernatural Beings: Interactions with whales and seals, which possess mystical qualities in Inuit culture, emphasize the connection between humans and the supernatural realm.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

Avigiatsiak was the name of a young woman who, while grinding her knife on the beach, was taken by a whale. After living for a time with the whales, she fled and was transformed into a seal, living with the seals.

As such she was caught by a man, hauled upon the ice, and cut to pieces, all excepting the head, which was thrown beneath the bench.

From thence she slipped into the womb of the man’s wife who had harpooned her, and was afterwards born anew, and called Avigiatsiak.

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The visiting animals

An old man grieving his son’s death built a winter-house near the grave. One evening, three mysterious visitors—a tall man, a flat-nosed man, and a small, pale figure—arrived. They requested unusual items before departing. The old man was astonished to see them transform into a reindeer, a fox, and a hare as they left, with the hare reportedly seeking something for a new tooth.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The visitors reveal their true forms as a reindeer, a fox, and a hare, indicating interactions with supernatural entities.

Transformation: The mysterious visitors undergo physical changes, shifting from human-like appearances to animal forms.

Ancestral Spirits: The old man’s grief and the subsequent visitations suggest a connection between the living and the spiritual realm, possibly representing ancestral spirits offering guidance or comfort.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

An old man, while staying in a firth to fish for salmon, lost his son, who died at some distance up the country. In his grief he could not persuade himself to leave his son’s grave, and he therefore put up his winter-house on the spot. In this lonely abode they were once surprised by seeing three men entering the house, one of them tall and long-nosed, the other smaller and with a flat nose, and the last of very small stature and white as snow. After passing the evening talking with the host, the short-nosed man, before starting, asked for a piece of sole-leather, and the white one wanted a piece of walrus-tooth. The old man saw the departing visitors out, but when they left him, stood dumfoundered at seeing them bounding off in the shape of a reindeer, a fox, and a hare. It is said that the hare had need of something for a new tooth.

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The kidnappers

A group of brothers attempted to abduct a girl, but her mother used a magic chant to summon a sudden gale, causing their demise. Later, an angakok (shaman) reported seeing a shoal of dolphins while kayaking and, understanding their speech, identified them as the transformed brothers.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The brothers are transformed into dolphins after their failed abduction attempt.

Supernatural Beings: The mother’s use of a magic chant to summon a gale demonstrates the influence of supernatural forces.

Divine Punishment: The brothers face a supernatural consequence for their wrongdoing, aligning with the concept of divine retribution.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A band of brothers tried to carry off a girl by force; but her mother, by means of a magic lay, caused them all to perish in a sudden gale. Some time after, an angakok, who had been out kayaking, stated that he had seen a shoal of dolphins; and listening to their speech, he made them out to be those brothers, who had been thus transformed.

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The giant of Kangersuak or Cape Farewell

A war raged between northern and southern tribes, with the north’s champion watching from Kangersuak. The champion had killed a man whose son, trained in angakok magic, sought revenge. He tricked the giant onto a marshy plain, causing him to sink. From beneath, the son pierced the giant’s feet and killed him, avenging his father and ending the champion’s reign.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Revenge and Justice: The protagonist seeks to avenge his father’s death by confronting and ultimately defeating the giant responsible, restoring balance and justice.

Trickster: Employing cunning and strategic thinking, the son lures the giant onto a marshy plain, using his wit to outsmart and overcome a physically superior adversary.

Supernatural Beings: The narrative features a formidable giant and references to angakok (shamanic) magic, highlighting interactions with supernatural elements within the story.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

The people from the south (or east) and those from the north (or west) were at war with each other. The latter had a powerful champion, who was sitting on the top of Kangersuak to watch the Southlanders passing by.

A man who had been killed by him left a son, who practised angakok science, and revenged his father by inducing the giant to walk with him over a marshy plain, where he went down, and from beneath pierced the feet of the giant, and afterwards killed him.

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A tale from Labrador

Sikuliarsiujuitsok, a giant feared for his strength, avoided sleeping in unfamiliar places. Known for catching a whale alone from his kayak, his size made walking on new ice impossible. Once lured into a snow hut, he was ambushed and killed after a fierce struggle in which he killed four men. His three powerful nephews used a stone enclosure to trap and kill their victims.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: Sikuliarsiujuitsok is depicted as a giant with extraordinary strength, capable of catching a whale alone from his kayak.

Conflict with Authority: The community’s fear and eventual ambush of Sikuliarsiujuitsok highlight a struggle against a dominant and oppressive figure.

Revenge and Justice: The plot to kill Sikuliarsiujuitsok, despite his formidable power, reflects the community’s pursuit of justice against his tyranny.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

Sikuliarsiujuitsok, on account of his great size, was unable to walk upon new ice. He, all by himself, caught a whale from his kayak. But he was much dreaded and hated, and never ventured to sleep in strange places. He was, however, once persuaded to stay for a night in a snow-hut; and being too big to find room in it, he lay all doubled up, and allowed his feet to be tied together. In this condition he was hauled out and killed, but not before he himself had killed four men in the struggle. He had three sisters, one of whom had three sons, likewise powerful men. They had an enclosure, fenced in with stones, into which they enticed all those they intended to kill.

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Atungak, a tale from Labrador

Atungak pursued his runaway wife, and their journey led them to encounters with cannibals, a tribe of ill-natured lame people, and otherworldly phenomena. Facing gruesome hospitality and strange dangers, they narrowly escaped, traversing surreal landscapes and ultimately meeting their long-lost son at a seal’s breathing hole. Remarkably, they traveled the world unchanged by time, leaving behind tales and traces in northern caves and cliffs.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Quest: Atungak’s pursuit of his runaway wife leads them on a journey filled with challenges and discoveries.

Supernatural Beings: Their encounters with cannibals, ill-natured lame people, and otherworldly phenomena highlight interactions with entities beyond the ordinary human experience.

Transformation: Despite traversing surreal landscapes and facing various dangers, Atungak and his wife remain unchanged by time, suggesting a transformation in their understanding or perception of the world.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

This story, and the next from East Greenland, being both imperfect fragments, received from the most widely severed Eskimo countries, will be found to contain some very curious similarities.

A man named Atungak had two wives. One of them having run away, he pursued her in his sledge, and soon overtook her. They then travelled together, and came to cannibals, whose chief invited them to his house, and set before them a dish of man’s and wolves’ brains mixed together. When they declined eating it, another was served consisting of the flesh of a child and of a walrus; and this also being rejected, they brought in dried reindeer-flesh, which they ate with hearty appetite. Meanwhile the people got hold of some children, and feigning to pet them they killed them and sucked out their brains. A young lad was also there who carried a sling wherewith to entangle strangers; but when he approached Atungak with this design he was struck on the head with a piece of pyrites-stone, and fell to the ground. Afterwards, when his mother came from another house to look for him she only found one of his legs left, lying under the bench, with the boot still on it, by means of which she recognised it.

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She then exclaimed, “Ye have done very ill in taking that miserable Ajajusek, who ought to have served his younger brother for food.” Atungak and his wife travelling on, came to a country the people of which were all lame. Before they reached them the chief came to receive them, and warned them against his people as being a very ill-natured set. Nevertheless, when Atungak’s wife saw their ball-playing, she could not help laughing, and said that they hopped about like so many ravens. Atungak got very much afraid when he heard the bystanders repeating this. He at once cut asunder all the lashings of the sledges belonging to the lame people, so that they could not pursue them. Hastening from there they came to two black bears engaged in a fight, and no other way being left they were obliged to pass between them; after which they came to a pot boiling of itself, which they could not avoid crossing over. Lastly, they came to a man watching at the breathing-hole of a seal, and on speaking to him they recognised him as Atungak’s son, whom they had left behind a child. They had travelled over the whole world without changing or getting old. In the north, caves and clefts in the rocks are still to be seen, in which they are said to have rested.

Among the last angakut at Kangerdlugsuatsiak

The story recounts the mystical lives of Greenlandic angakut (shamans). Kapiarsuk and Avangnanersuak were said to secretly conjure food from a magical opening in the ground, sharing it with a curious child who later forgot the event. Another shaman, Kuvatsiak, discovered his brother Usuinak was taken by spirits and often saw him struggling to escape their grip. Kuvatsiak later embraced Christianity after a dream-inspired baptism.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative involves interactions with spirits and mystical forces, such as the ingnersuit who seize Usuinak.

Forbidden Knowledge: The child witnesses the secret ritual of conjuring food but is made to forget, highlighting the pursuit and concealment of hidden truths.

Transformation: Kuvatsiak’s journey from shamanism to Christianity signifies a profound spiritual change influenced by dreams and revelations.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

Among the last angakut at Kangerdlugsuatsiak (Greenland) was a man named Kapiarsuk, and a woman called Avangnanersuak, who every day during the whole winter used to go out together to catch partridges, but never brought any home, and never were seen to eat anything at all. At last a child, who was anxious as to their doings, one day asked leave to accompany them, and soon observed that they never looked for any partridges at all; but having come a good way up the country, Kapiarsuak commenced to strike a flat rock with his staff, and murmuring certain words, an opening appeared in the ground, out of which they went on angling and hauling up different kinds of food, allowing the child to partake of the good fare.

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On going home they gave it a small fish to swallow, after which it lost all remembrance of what it had seen. Not until he was full grown, many years after, did he suddenly recollect the event and narrate it.

Another angakok of the same place, named Kuvatsiak, had two brothers, Usuinak and Igpak, of whom the former, having gone out kayaking, did not return, and entirely disappeared. In the evening they saw the clothes of the missing brother moving about by themselves. Kuvatsiak forthwith began to conjure, by means of which he found out that he had been seized by the ingnersuit. Kuvatsiak had a dream somewhat like that of Akamalik; and when he began growing old he often met with his deceased brother out at sea. He observed some black thing lying on the top of his brother’s kayak, who laboured in vain to rid himself of it, saying that that was the only impediment hindering him from leaving the under-world people and returning to the land of the living. When the first missionary came to the country Kuvatsiak had a dream that induced him to get baptised.