Over the next three posts I'm going to reveal three sculptures that provide an insight into Greenland's myths and legends that are imbued with the country's natural landscape, darkness and the harshness of the hunter's life that hold deep meaning to this day in a society that, as our Walking Tour Guide commented, "is Christian and that regularly attends church on Sunday".
For a deeper understanding of the myths and legends see this link:
This link reveals that in former times, belief in spirits and witchcraft was well-rooted in the Inuit people. The harsh natural world in which they lived, the winter darkness and the violent storms outside the turf huts and igloos provided plenty of opportunity to tell tales in these self-built homes which were heated only by oil lamps and body heat.
It was a society where people lived close together but isolated from other local communities. So, it gave rise to excitement and pleasure when good storytellers retold classic tales and when visitors from outside had something new to recount.
The early Inuits believed that nature was endowed with the spirits. Every single stone, piece of straw, animal and organism was alive and had a soul. They also believed that the human soul could migrate from animal to animal, and this led to a proliferation of imaginative stories.
This belief is not so surprising for a people who lived so close to nature and who were completely dependent on nature's living resources.
The sculpture "The Blind One and the Mother of the Sea" in Nuuk, Greenland, depicts a central figure of Inuit mythology, the Mother of the Sea ("Sassuma Arnaa"), and the "Blind One" (Uitsataqángitsoq), a shaman who helps her. The sculpture was created by Greenlander artist Christian Rosing. It sits on the shoreline of the Colonial Bay below the Egede Statue and Nuuk Cathedral. You can just see the black form on the rocks in the other photo, between the two red houses and to the left of the yellow building which incidentally was the original hospital. The statue is positioned in the water and appears to rise and lower with the tide, which adds a dynamic and symbolic element to the artwork. I have found a photo of the sculpture at low tide.
The sculpture illustrates a well-known Greenlandic myth that highlights the importance of respecting nature and society's customs.
- According to the legend, the Mother of the Sea became covered in filth due to the misdeeds and indifference of humans. As punishment, she gathered all the sea animals in her long, dirty hair at the bottom of the ocean, causing a famine among the people.
- A blind shaman descended to the bottom of the sea to help her. He combed her hair, removing the dirt and tangles. When the clumps of dirt were thrown away, they came to life as various sea animals (seals, whales, birds, etc.), which were then released for the hunters.
The story serves as a moral lesson about environmental stewardship and the consequences of human greed and disrespect.
The Lumaaq Story of the 'Blind Man (or Boy) and the Loon" reveals the origin of the 'Blind One' or shaman. A Loon is an spices of duck as shown in the photo.
A blind boy lives with an abusive female guardian, either a mother, grandmother, or stepmother. He also has a sister. One day a polar bear arrives in their camp. Through the window of their house, the blind boy shoots the bear. His guardian lies, telling him he missed and then keeps the bear's meat for herself and the sister. The sister brings meat to the boy in secret.
The boy goes to a lake, where he is brought underwater by a loon. The loon brings him underwater and surfaces several times. Each time they surface the boy can see a little more. By the end his sight is entirely restored.
Now that he can see, the boy takes part in beluga whale hunt at the beach. His guardian comes hunting too, serving as the anchor for the harpoon line. A rope is tied around her waist, and her job is to pull back and brace against the whale. She is pulled out to sea by the whale, either because the boy did not help her pull back, or because he deliberately harpooned a whale that was too large. The large whale pulls her into the water, and she is lost. In some versions she becomes a Narwhal, her hair becoming the horn.
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