Inuit Legends

By Charlotte Karetak and Vayda Kaviok

Inuraruninaat

If you see an inugarukniq, and you both of you are standing face to face, the inugarukniq will grow to your size.

You will wrestle the inugarukniq. If you pin it down, and it doesn’t move as you go away

slowly, it will disappear. You will remember the encounter a year later. But if you

remember the encounter before a year passes, You will die.

Mahahaa

When a Mahahaa walks into an igloo you should not smile, giggle, or laugh.

If you do the Mahahaa will tickle you to death. A Mahahaa is a thing that tickles you.

What is a Mahahaa?

A Mahahaa is a creature who tickles

people to death.

Sedna The Sea Goddess

Once upon a time there was a girl named Sedna. She was not married and her parents were tired of supporting her.

So they dragged her into a boat and when they were far from the land her father tried to drown her. Sedna tried to stay on the boat. She was holding on to the boat with her hands. Sedna’s father cut off her fingers.

Then her fingers fell in the water, one finger became a seal, another finger became a walrus, then another became a whale, and a fish. The she fell in the water and became the sea goddess.

Kiviok Kiviok is an Inuk the

travels across the Arctic facing various hardships, both real and fabulous. Kiviok was man with many lives.

He was a hero in many legends of the Inuit and he got into many adventures with creatures that lived in the Arctic.

How can Kiviok survive?

Kiviok can survive anything. He has many lives. He can transform into any animal

when he dies. His spirit never dies.

Brother moon and Sister Sun

All the people of the village were at the drum dance in a big igloo. A young girl hid herself in an igloo, someone entered the igloo; the wind blew out the light; the wind blew out the light, and someone pulled her hair and ran out again. She wanted to find out who did this; she put some ashes on her hair and waited.

The mystery visitor returns and gets ashes on his hands. When the girl goes to the big igloo, she realizes that the marked individual is her brother. Angry the girl grabs a torch and runs away. Her brother grabs his own torch and fallows in quick pursuit. They both run so fast that they take off into the air and when the girl becomes the sun and her brother, whose torch went out, became the moon.

Ijirait Once upon a time there was a girl

who love to play hide and seek. Her mother told her not to play hide and seek alone.

She didn’t obey her mother. She went to go hide somewhere then out of no where an Ijirak came disguised as another child. Then the child (Ijirak) said, “Lets go somewhere farther so they wont find us.” Then the little girl said yes. They ran as fast as they could, and far as they could go then they went to a really dark place, then the child transformed into a ijirak and said, “No one can find us now, your stuck with me.” Then she started to cry and she saw the inukshuk.

The inukshuk was pointing to a path. The path was the way to her house then the ijirak disappeared.

Qallupilluit Long ago, there was two boys

who didn’t obey their parents. They never did any homework.. They just played video games.

The next day, their mother told them to baby-sit their 8 year-old brother. They didn’t want to, the little boy heard them. So their little brother went outside and walked on to the ice plates. The pieces of ice were floating on top of the sea water, half an hour later the little boy was far away from the town.

The boys looked out the window they saw his little brother and behind him there was a Qallupilluk. The two boys were afraid to tell their mother, but they told their mother and the little boy got taken away forever. Then the two boys obeyed their parents.

What is a Qallupilut?

It is a sea creature, it is tall, and it has long hair,

and has an amauti to carry stolen children.

Where do Qallupiluit live?

Qallupiluit live under the sea ice. They wait for children who run upon the cracked ice

Why do Qallupiluit do that?

Qallupiluit adore children because they don’t have

children of their own.

Charlotte and Vayda just wanted to pass these legends on for the kids in the future to

know our Inuit Culture.