James Mooney - Native Americans - 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies

He was very glad and thankful to the bird, which told him to return to the hut. Then he found the skin of the bear he had killed drying in the warm rays of the sun. He got very angry and cut it into small pieces. He entered the hut and asked his mother: “From whom did you get the bearskin I saw outside of the hut?” The mother was frightened when she found that her son had recovered his eyesight, and prevaricated. She said, “Come here, I will give you the best I have; but I am very poor; I have no supporter; come here, eat this, it is very good.” The boy, however, did not comply and asked again, “From whom did you get yon bearskin I saw outside the hut?” Again she prevaricated; but when she could no longer evade the question she said, “A boat came here with many men in it, who left it for me.”

The boy did not believe the story, but was sure that it was the skin of the bear he had killed during the winter. However, he did not say a word. His mother, who was anxious to conciliate him, tried to accommodate him with food and clothing, but he did not accept anything.

He went to the other Inuit who lived in the same village, made a spear and a harpoon of the same pattern he saw in use with them, and began to catch white whales. In a short time he had become an expert hunter.

By and by he thought of taking revenge on his mother. He said to his sister, “Mother abused me when I was blind and has maltreated you for pitying me; we will revenge ourselves on her.” The sister agreed and he planned a scheme for killing the mother.

When he went to hunt white whales he used to wind the harpoon line round his body and, taking a firm footing, hold the animal until it was dead. Sometimes his sister accompanied him and helped him to hold the line.

One day he told his mother to go with him and hold his line. When they came to the beach he tied the rope round her body and asked her to keep a firm footing. She was rather anxious, as she had never done this before, and told him to harpoon a small dolphin, else she might not be able to resist the strong pull. After a short time a young animal came up to breathe and the mother shouted, “Kill it, I can hold it;” but the boy answered, “No, it is too large.” Again a small dolphin came near and the mother shouted to him to spear it; but he said, “No, it is too large.” At last a huge animal rose quite near. Immediately he threw his harpoon, taking care not to kill it, and tossing his mother forward into the water cried out, “That is because you maltreated me; that is because you abused me.”

The white whale dragged the mother into the sea, and whenever she rose to the surface she cried, “Louk! Louk!” and gradually she became transformed into a narwhal.

After the young man had taken revenge he began to realize that it was his mother whom he had murdered and he was haunted by remorse, and so was his sister, as she had agreed to the bad plans of her brother. They did not dare to stay any longer in their hut, but left the country and traveled many days and many nights overland. At last they came to a place where they saw a hut in which a man lived whose name was Qitua´jung. He was very bad and had horribly long nails on his fingers. The young man, being very thirsty, sent his sister into the hut to ask for some water. She entered and said to Qitua´jung, who sat on the bed place, “My brother asks for some water;” to which Qitua´jung responded, “There it stands behind the lamp. Take as much as you like.” She stooped to the bucket, when he jumped up and tore her back with his long nails. Then she called to her brother for help, crying, “Brother, brother, that man is going to kill me.” The young man ran to the hut immediately, broke down the roof, and killed the bad man with his spear.

Cautiously he wrapped up his sister in hares’ skins, put her on his back, and traveled on. He wandered over the land for many days, until he came to a hut in which a man lived whose name was Iqignang. As the young man was very hungry, he asked him if he might eat a morsel from the stock of deer meat put up in the entrance of the hut. Iqignang answered, “Don’t eat it, don’t eat it.” Though he had already taken a little bit, he immediately stopped. Iqignang was very kind to the brother and sister, however, and after a short time he married the girl, who had recovered from her wounds, and gave his former wife to the young man. 10

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An old hag lived in a house with her grandson. She was a very bad woman who thought of nothing but playing mischief. She was a witch and tried to harm everybody by witchcraft. Once upon a time a stranger came to visit some friends who lived in a hut near that of the old woman. As the visitor was a good hunter and procured plenty of food for his hosts, she envied them and resolved to kill the new comer. She made a soup of wolf’s and man’s brains, which was the most poisonous meal she could prepare, and sent her grandson to invite the stranger. She cautioned him not to say what she had cooked, as she knew that the visitor was a great angakoq, who was by far her superior in wisdom.

The boy went to the neighboring hut and said: “Stranger, my grandmother invites you to come to her hut and to have there a good feast on a supper she has cooked. She told me not to say that it is a man’s and a wolf’s brains and I do not say it.”

Though the angakoq understood the schemes of the old hag he followed the boy and sat down with her. She feigned to be very glad to see him and gave him a dish full of soup, which he began to eat. But by help of his tornaq the food fell right through him into a vessel which he had put between his feet on the floor of the hut. This he gave to the old witch and compelled her to eat it. She died as soon as she had brought the first spoonful to her mouth.

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Once upon a time two women who were with child quarreled with their husbands and fled from their families and friends to live by themselves. After having traveled a long distance they came to a place called Igdluqdjuaq, where they resolved to stay. It was summer when they arrived. They found plenty of sod and turf and large whale ribs bleaching on the beach. They erected a firm structure of bones and filled the interstices with sod and turf. Thus they had a good house to live in. In order to obtain skins they made traps, in which they caught foxes in sufficient numbers for their dresses. Sometimes they found carcasses of ground seals or of whales which had drifted to the shore, of which they ate the meat and burnt the blubber. There was also a deep and narrow deer pass near the hut. Across this they stretched a rope and when the deer passed by they became entangled in it and strangled themselves. Besides, there was a salmon creek near the house and this likewise furnished them with an abundance of food.

In winter their fathers came in search of their lost daughters. When they saw the sledge coming they began to cry, as they were unwilling to return to their husbands. The men, however, were glad to find them comfortable, and having staid two nights at their daughters’ house they returned home, where they told the strange story that two women without the company of any men lived all by themselves and were never in want.

Though this happened a long time ago the house may still be seen and therefore the place is called Igdluqdjuaq (The Large House).

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A long time ago there lived three brothers. Two of them were grown up, but the third was a young lad whose name was Qaudjaqdjuq. The elder brothers had left their country and traveled about many years, while the youngest lived with his mother in their native village. As they had no supporter, the poor youth was abused by all the men of the village and there was nobody to protect him.