MYTHS OF THE FAR NORTHTHE SUN PERSON
The spirit of the sun began life as a young woman
who was abused by her brother. In deep distress, she
mutilated herself and then went to live as far away
from her cruel brother as she could. She took up
residence high in the sky, where she became known as
the Sun Person. There she appeared every morning,
often taking on an orange colour, with streaks that
represented her dreadful wounds. Undeterred, her
brother turned into the moon and chased her across
the sky, trying in vain to capture her, thereby causing
the alternate appearance of the sun and moon in the
heavens. People were sorry for the way the Sun Person
had been treated, but mothers also saw her as a
valuable source of energy in their cold homeland,
and would expose their infants to her warm rays.
ALIGNAQ
The guilty brother of the Sun Person (see above) was called Alignaq.
After turning into the moon, he continued his lustful pursuit of his
sister, giving up eating, and hence growing thinner and thinner.
Then he disappeared for three days to eat his fill, before returning
to chase his sister again. This is why the moon waxes and
wanes. As the moon god, Alignaq also ruled the weather
and the tides. He lived in a large igloo on the moon, along
with the souls of game animals such as the caribou. The
souls of the land animals lived inside his igloo, while
those of the sea creatures, such as seals and walruses,
swam in a vast tub of water that he kept outside his
door. Most of the time Alignaq wandered the sky on
his celestial hunting expeditions, keeping a close eye
on human behaviour. If people did evil, he withheld
game from them until they mended their ways.
THE BOY SHAMAN
The myths of the Gwich’in of Alaska tell of a poor boy
who had the powers of a shaman. For some time, he
used his powers to bring his tribe plentiful food. He
also ensured that they were always well supplied with
caribou, which provided them with meat to eat and
skins to make clothes and tents. But one day the boy
shaman made a momentous announcement. He told his
mother that he was travelling to the sky. He said to her
that she should look for him on the moon, and that she
would be able to tell merely by looking at him what the
prospects were for the food supply on Earth. If she
saw him upright or bending backwards, there would be
food aplenty for the people. Then they should share
their food with the old and helpless. But if he was bent
forwards, they should expect that caribou would not be
very plentiful, so they should build up their stores.Wounded sun
The orange sun, which often
creates a blotchy colour in the
Arctic sky, reminded people of
the wounds of the Sun Person.
The Inuit believed that the
sun’s warmth would infuse
strength into their children’s
limbs, making them swift
runners and nimble hunters.Alaskan shaman’s mask
The boy shaman would have worn
a mask like this to free his spirit
from his body so that he could
commune with other spirits.Moon spirit
This finger mask, made of wood and polar bear
hair, was worn by Alaskan women during dances.
It represented Alignaq, the spirit of the moon.Caribou
The Inuit believed that even animals had
souls, so they needed to be appeased
after being killed. The souls of dead
game animals resided with Alignaq.143