BOAS.] SEDNA AND THE FULMAR. 585 



wliereupon the earth opened and swallowed the hut, tlie father, the 

 daughter, and the dogs. They have since lived in the laud of Adli- 

 vun, of which Sedna is the mistress. 



This tradition is handed down in an old song. I shall give the sub- 

 stance of it here, as it differs in some points from the above myth. 



The story br>;iiis whfii t]u- fulmar cari-irs 8im1u:i tu his home and 

 she discovers lliat In- has l.r.ni-lit lici- In a \.'iy wrrtclicd tent. The 

 nest year t hi' fathi'r and a limt her, Avlioni I timl lucutiuued nowhere 

 else, came to visit her and take her home. Tlie fulmar follows their 

 boat and causes a heavy gale to rise which almost upsets it. The 

 father cuts off her fingers, which are transformed into whales, seals, 

 and ground seals. Besides, he pierces her eye and thus kills her. 

 Then he takes the body into the boat and carries it to the shore. 

 There he lays it on the beach and covers it with a dogskin. When 

 the flood comes in it covers Sedna. 



Sedna and her father are described by the angakut (see p. 591), 

 who sometimes visit her house or see them when both dwell among 

 the natives, as follows: She is very large and much taller than the 

 Inuit. In accordance with the second form of the tradition she 

 has only one eye and is scarcely able to move. Her father is also a 

 cripple and appears to the dying, whom he grasps with his right 

 hand, which has only three fingers. 



There is a remarkable resemblance between this tradition and one 

 related by Lyon (p. 363), who describes the religious ideas of the 

 Iglulirmiut, more particularly the genii of one of their angakut. He 

 says that the principal spirits are Aiviliajoq (Ay-willi-ay-oo) or Nu- 

 liajoq (Noo-le-ay-oo), a female siDirit. and her father, Napajoq (Nap- 

 pay ok) or Anautalik (An-now-ta-lig). Then he continues: 



Tlie former is in the fii'st place the mother, protectress, and not unfrequently the 

 monopolist of sea animals, which she sometimes very wantonly confines below, and 

 by that means causes a general scarcity in the upper world. When this is the case, 

 the angakok is persuaded to pay her a visit, and attempt the release of the animals 

 on which his tribe subsist. I know not what ceremonies he performs at the first 

 part of the interview; but as the spell by which the animals are held lies in the hand 

 of the enchantress, the conjuror makes some bold attempts to cut it off, and, ac- 

 cording to his success, plenty, more or less, is obtained. If deprived of her nails, 

 the bears obtain their freedom; amputation of the first joint liberates the netsiq 

 (Pagomys) ; while that of the second loosens the ugjuq (Plioca). Should the knuckles 

 be detached whole herds of walrus rise to the surface; and should the adventurous 

 angakoq succeed in cutting through the lower part of the metacarpal bones, the 

 monstrous whales are disenthralled and delightedly join the other creatui'es of the 

 deep. * * * Her house is exceedingly fine, and very like a Kabluna (European) 

 looking-glass (?) ; and, what is still more attractive to an Eskimo, it contains plenty 

 of food. Immediately within the door of the dwelling, which has a long passage 

 of entrance, is stationed a very large and fierce dog, which has no tail, and whose 

 hinder quarters are black. * * * Aiviliajoq is described as being equally won- 

 derful in her personal appearance as in her actions. She is very tall and has but 

 one eye, which is the left, the place of the other being covered by a profusion of black 



