Monday, June 17, 2013

Lumaaq



Based on an Inuit legend of the Narwhal…

Lumaaq “lived with his sister and stepmother, who were very evil. The stepmother made him hunt for her, but she would often tell him he had missed his kills when in reality she was keeping all of the food for herself. One day a loon asked what was wrong with his eyes, and when Lumaaq told him, a number of loons took hold of the boy and pulled him under the surface of a lake, letting the water wash out his eyes. Lumaaq could finally see; however, he didn’t share this with his family, because he wished to get revenge on his stepmother. One day they went whaling, and he tricked her into tying the rope of the harpoon around her waist, right before he threw the harpoon into a large whale she had not seen. She was pulled into the ocean by the whale and became the first narwhal.”