Qallupilluit

Last updated

Qallupilluit
Similar entities Bogeyman
Folklore Mythical creature
Other name(s) Inuktitut: ᖃᓪᓗᐱᓪᓗᐃᑦ [1]
Qalupalik
Region Nunavut, Alaska

In Inuit mythology, the Qallupilluit (a.k.a. Qalupalik) are creatures that live along Arctic shorelines near ice floes. They are said to steal children that wander too close to the water. This myth is believed to serve the purpose of protecting children from a dangerous environment, keeping them from wandering too close to the ice. [2]

Contents

Appearance

The accounts of the appearance of the Qallupilluit differ across tales, but there are some commonalities. The Qallupilluit is often described as having green, slimy skin, long hair, and long fingernails. [3] Their hands are webbed like an aquatic creature, along with scales and fins. It wears an amautik, an Inuit parka mostly worn by women. [4] Some say that their parkas are made of eider duck feathers and are used to carry kidnapped children. [5] It is said to have two flippers, one is able to emit a shrill sound that paralyzes its victims. They also have the ability to alter their appearance, through a technique known as pilutitaminik. [6]

While some interpretations include the pronoun 'he', [7] the Qallupilluit is predominantly described in a feminine manner. It is said that the Qallupilluik uses the abducted children to maintain her long, flowing hair. She also has long fingernails and wears an amautik, a traditionally feminine garment. [4]

Mythology

They lurk under the water in the Arctic regions of the world, living along the coast. [5] The Qallupilluit hunt along the ice floes, kidnapping children that wander too close. One strategy they use for hunting is to emit an ethereal hum that will draw children closer to the water so they can be pulled in. Accounts vary as to what actually happens to the taken children. Some versions say that the child is simply devoured, while others say that they are held in a stasis-like state and used to fuel the youth of the Qallupilluit. [4]

Qallupilluit can be outsmarted by its targets. They are said to be invulnerable in their natural state, but some clever Inuit hunters found a way to bypass this. They would call out to it, and ask it to change shape for them, usually into something like a seal or a whale. Then, they could kill it and bring home a valuable catch. [6]

There are tales of children willingly being given to a Qallupilluit. One such tale is about a grandmother and her grandson, struggling without food. The grandmother called upon a Qallupilluit to come and take him away, as she was not able to feed him and he would be better off. Once the tribe was able to successfully hunt again, a young Inuit couple took it upon themselves to retrieve the child. They were able to track him down, tethered to a piece of seaweed by the Qallupilluit so he could not escape her. However, they were not able to retrieve him because the Qallupilluik would drag him back under the waves whenever they got too close. They stealthily hid nearby all night long, and cut him loose once the sun rose. [4] This tale has different variations, some versions have the grandmother giving the child to the Qallupilluit as a punishment, or becoming a great hunter after being rescued. [7]

In media

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit religion</span>

Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional Inuit religious practices include animism and shamanism, in which spiritual healers mediate with spirits. Today many Inuit follow Christianity ; however, traditional Inuit spirituality continues as part of a living, oral tradition and part of contemporary Inuit society. Inuit who balance indigenous and Christian theology practice religious syncretism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choctaw mythology</span> Part of the culture of the Choctaw

Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, a Native American tribe originally occupying a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States: much of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. In the 19th century, the Choctaw were known to European Americans as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" even though controversy surrounds their removal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parka</span> Fur-lined cold weather overgarment

A parka and anorak is a type of coat with a hood, often lined with fur or faux fur. These two kinds of garments are staple of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from caribou or seal skin, for hunting and kayaking in the frigid Arctic. Some Inuit anoraks require regular coating with fish oil to retain their water resistance. Parkas are typically longer, often extending to the thighs or knees. Anoraks are usually shorter than parkas, often hip-length, and are traditionally a pull-over jacket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies, many of which share certain themes across cultural boundaries. In North American mythologies, common themes include a close relation to nature and animals as well as belief in a Great Spirit that is conceived of in various ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bogeyman</span> Mythical creature

The bogeyman is a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behaviour. Bogeymen have no specific appearances and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehaviour. The bogeyman, and conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on the purpose of invoking the figure, often on the basis of a warning from an authority figure to a child. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification of, or metonym for, terror, and sometimes the Devil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuntilanak</span> Mythological creature

The Kuntilanak, also called Pontianak, or Yakshi in Hinduism/ Hindu mythology is a mythological creature in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is similar to Langsuir in other Southeast Asia regions. The Pontianak usually takes the form of a pregnant woman who is unable to give birth to a child. Alternatively, it is often described as a vampiric, vengeful female spirit. Another form of the Pontianak refers to the ghost or white lady of Southeast Asian folklore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese mythology</span> Collection of traditional Japanese stories, folktales, and beliefs

Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with Chinese and various Indian myths are also key influences in Japanese religious belief.

Kiviuq is a legendary hero of the epic stories of the Inuit of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauma</span> Deity of Eastern Baltic mythology

Latvian Lauma or Lithuanian Laumė, or Yotvingian Łauma is a fairy-like woodland spirit, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology or Yotvingian mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravens in Native American mythology</span> Traditional creation stories of indigenous peoples of North America

Raven Tales are the traditional human and animal creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are also found among Athabaskan-speaking peoples and others. Raven stories exist in nearly all of the First Nations throughout the region but are most prominent in the tales of the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit and Tahltan people.

Eloko is a term in a Mongo-Nkundo language referring to a kind of dwarf-like creature that lives in the forests. They are believed to be the spirits of ancestors of the people living there.

In Māori mythology, as in other Polynesian traditions, Māui is a culture hero and a trickster, famous for his exploits and cleverness. He possessed superhuman strength, and was capable of shapeshifting into animals such as birds and worms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasy Jatere</span>

Jasy Jatere is the name of an important figure in Guaraní mythology. One of the seven cursed children of Tau and Kerana, Jasy Jatere is one of the most important gods among the Guaraní speaking cultures of South America, especially in Paraguay.

Mythic humanoids are legendary, folkloric, or mythological creatures that are part human, or that resemble humans through appearance or character. Each culture has different mythical creatures that come from many different origins, and many of these creatures are humanoids. They are often able to talk and in many stories they guide the hero on their journey.

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak is a storyteller and a Canadian Inuk children's writer, who tells stories about Arctic and Inuit culture. He was born April 27, 1948, just north of Chesterfield Inlet, at a point of land called Qatiktalik. That same spring of 1948 he and his family moved to Repulse Bay and in 1960 to Rankin Inlet. In 2019, he lives in Sooke, British Columbia and plans to move to Manitoba in the summer.

Ningiukulu (Ningeokuluk) Teevee is a Canadian Inuk writer and visual artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West African religion</span> Body of mythology of the West African people

West African mythology is the body of myths of the people of West Africa. It consists of tales of various deities, beings, legendary creatures, heroes and folktales from various ethnic groups. Some of these myths traveled across the Atlantic during the period of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to become part of Caribbean, African-American and Brazilian mythology.

The muki is a goblin-like creature in the mythology of the Central Andes in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. He is known to be a miner and his existence is constrained to underground spaces: The muki lives inside the mines.

Uhlakayana, also known as Hlakayana, is a trickster figure featured in Xhosa and Zulu mythologies.

The Goose Wife is a mythical female character that appears in tales from the Inuit and other ethnic groups that dwell across the circumpolar Arctic region. The usual story is that the geese alight on land, become women by taking off their goose-skins and bathe in a lake. However, they are unaware that a human hunter is spying on them, and he steals the goose-skin of one of them, forcing her to be his wife. Due to the great similarities between both characters, the goose wife has been compared to the swan maiden, another female that alternates between human and bird forms.

References

  1. ↑ Boas, Franz (1888). "Qallupilluit". InuitMyths.com. Qikiqtani Inuit Association . Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. ↑ Pearce, Q. L. (11 May 2012). Native American Mythology. Greenhaven Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4205-0951-9.
  3. ↑ McElroy, D. R. (26 May 2020). Superstitions: A Handbook of Folklore, Myths, and Legends from around the World. Wellfleet Press. ISBN   978-0-7603-6629-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Williamson, Jenny; McMenemy, Genn (21 February 2023). Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-5072-1941-6.
  5. 1 2 Christopher, Neil (September 2007). "The Qallupilluit Strange Beings from the Sea Depths" (PDF). Pivut (1): 4.
  6. 1 2 Routledge, Karen (10 December 2018). Do You See Ice?: Inuit and Americans at Home and Away. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   978-0-226-58013-5.
  7. 1 2 "Qallupilluit". www.inuitmyths.com (in Inuktitut and English). Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "A Promise Is a Promise". OverDrive. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Graphic Novel Review: Putuguq & Kublu & the Qalupalik!". Colorful Book Reviews. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Pangnirtung developers raise money to translate video game into Inuktituk". CBC News. 26 January 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.