Notes taken from stories out of Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen.
I liked the first story that was a part of this reading. It was the story of creation and how mankind came to be. It went through and told how Earth was dropped from the sky, and the hills and stones fell with it. Then mankind emerged from the earth and did not know how to walk or crawl. Then it's unknown but a man and a woman found each other and started to collect children for their own. The woman made children's clothes and brought children home. Then mankind flourished and then desired to have dogs. A man went out with a leash and called out to the dogs. The dogs came out from the hills and shook off their coats full of sand.
Then it goes on to talk about how children were born but there was no death. There was also no light and the people lived in the dark, with the only light being the water that they burned in their lamps. Mankind started to crowd the Earth, and then a mighty flood came from the sea. Many men drowned and the markings can still be seen on the high hill-tops.
Two old women talked back and forth about if being without light and death was better than being with light and death. Then one woman's prophecy came true and the people had light and death. Then, a recently deceased person did not understand that he was dead, and tried to come out of the tomb he was buried in. The old woman pushed him back in and told him he was too heavy to carry.
The story ends with telling how people now needed to go and hunt because they could not eat of the earth anymore. It also tells of how when people die, they go up into the night sky and become bright stars.
The next story was about a bear and his foster mother who was human. The story progresses with the bear going from a cub to a full-grown adult. The bear became a skilled hunter to provide for his mother and himself. The local tribes tried to kill it, but the foster mother gave him a collar to be identified with. Later in the story, the bear kills a man that would not leave him alone. This causes the mother to become sad and realize she has to let the bear go. Both the bear and the mother were heartbroken when he had to finally leave. The mother put soot on her hand and rubbed the bear's fur so she would be able to identify him later on.
(Caption: Night Sky by Pixbay)
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