Myths

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Title: Woman who went to the Moon
Artist: Qinnuayuak, Tikituk
Date: 1990

Title: Animal Acrobats
Artist: Teevee, Jamasie
Date: 1971

Title: Angako's Dream
Artist: Ashoona, Sorosiluto
Date: 1972
Title: Shaman's Dance
Artist: Saila, Pitaloosie Pudlat
Date: 1969

Title: Spirit with Symbols
Artist: Pudlat, Pudlo
Date: 1961

Title: Ecclesiast
Artist: Pudlat, Pudlo
Date: 1969
Title: Inugagulligaq
Artist: Manumie, Qavavau
Date: 2002

Title: Talelayou and Spirit Fish
Artist: Etidlooie, Kingmeata
Date: 1981

For countless generations, elders passed down vibrant myths and stories to the young—sometimes communicated through narrative storytelling, sometimes through song. These stories helped teach moral lessons and values, respect for one another and the world, spiritual matters and supernatural beliefs. While a number of these old stories have been forgotten, many live on through graphic arts.

One story shared across much of the Arctic told of the underwater sea goddess, Sedna, or as she is known elsewhere, Talilayuk or Nuliajuk. As a young woman, Sedna angered her father after refusing the offers of many suitors. One day, as they traveled by boat, Sedna’s father threw her overboard hoping to rid himself of his burdensome daughter. Sedna grasped the side of the boat to save herself, but as she did so, her father took out his knife and chopped at her fingers. Her fingers fell into the sea and turned into a seal, a walrus, a whale and a fish. Sedna, too, fell into the sea and continues to reside there in the guise of a half-fish half-human. She is the mother of all sea animals.