Source recordScholarship
The Central Eskimo
Franz Boas · 1888 · English (with Inuktitut terms)
Scholarship
The Central Eskimo
Franz Boas
Boas's ethnography of the Inuit of Baffin Island and neighbouring regions, based on his 1883-84 stay in Cumberland Sound. It contains the account of Sedna and her father Anguta that made the name 'Sedna' widely known, and the story of the sun and moon siblings. An outsider's early record, using terminology now outdated.
About this work
Boas's ethnography of the Inuit of Baffin Island and neighbouring regions, based on his 1883-84 stay in Cumberland Sound. It contains the account of Sedna and her father Anguta that made the name 'Sedna' widely known, and the story of the sun and moon siblings. An outsider's early record, using terminology now outdated.
Where to start
Read the sections on religion and traditions; compare with Rasmussen and with Interviewing Inuit Elders.
Figures in the text
Heroes and divinities who feature prominently, with where they appear.
Deities and immortals
Sedna (the Sea Woman)section on religious ideas and traditionsmistress of Adlivun and the sea animals
Angutasection on religious ideas and traditionsSedna's father, who carries the dead to Adlivun
Anningan (the Moon Man)traditions, the sun and moonthe brother who becomes the moon
Malina (the Sun Woman)traditions, the sun and moonthe sister who becomes the sun
Key scenes
Turning points of the work, in reading order.
Sedna and the Fulmar
Sedna is deceived into marrying a fulmar; her father rescues her, throws her overboard in a storm, and cuts her fingers, which become the sea mammals.
The Sun and the Moon
A sister discovers her brother is the one visiting her in the dark; she flees with a torch and becomes the sun, and he pursues her and becomes the moon.
Stories drawn from it
Retellings in the atlas that quote or cite this work.
The Sea Woman: Sedna, Nuliajuk, TakannaalukoriginAcross the Inuit Arctic a young woman is wronged, thrown into the sea, and maimed, and becomes the keeper of the sea animals; the details, and even her name, change from region to region.
The Sun Sister and the Moon BrotheroriginA young woman discovers that the visitor who comes to her in the dark is her own brother; she flees with a blazing torch and becomes the sun, and he follows with a torch burned down to embers and becomes the moon.
Kiviuq's JourneysheroAfter a storm raised to avenge a mistreated orphan drowns the kayakers who mocked him, Kiviuq alone survives and begins a journey of many lifetimes, meeting a murderous woman, giant snapping shells, a fox-wife, and a goose-wife.
About this record
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Dates and authorship follow standard scholarly references; for many ancient works both are approximate or disputed.