September 24, 2009.

I am having so much fun creating my blog. I find the legends very intersting but they are pretty graphic stories as told by real Inuit who has passed them on verbally from long time ago.

I find the true facts interesting too. Doing this blog, I learned for the first time that the Aqsarniit (northern lights) are particles from the sun that we see dancing around, amazing huh?

I hope that in the near future some more people enter a lot more information about Inuit Constellations and Legends out into the web world!

September 24, 2009.

This entry was told by Tatilgak from Western Arctic Canada. Referring to the constellations Aagjuuk and Sivulliit.

These are magic words (Irinaliutit, Makilirut) are said when the sun is rising and he is going seal hunting.

"By which way, I wonder the mornings-
You dear morning, get up!
See I am up!
By which way I wonder,
the constellation Aagjuuk rises up in the sky?
By this way-perhaps-by the morning
It rises up!

Morning, you dear morning, get up!
See I am up!
By which way, I wonder,
the constellation Sivulliit
Has risen to the sky?
By this way-perhaps-by the morning.
It rises up!



Reference: The Arctic Sky, John MacDonald ISBN 0-88854-427-8

September 22, 2009.

This entry is about the legend of Sivulliik and Kingulliq. The stars Vega, Arcturus and Muphrid.

ILIARJUGAARJUK TOLD BY HERVE PANIAQ

The narrative's cast, Ningiuraaluk, the old woman, Uttuqalualuk, the old man, and lliarjugaarjuk, the little orphan boy, are transformed, respectively, into the stars Vega, Arcturus, and Muphrid. Occasionally, the legendary names are used when referring to them, but, more commonly, as Paniaq points out, Vega is termed Kingullialuk, "the big one behind," while Arcturus and its companion star, Muphrid, are, together called Sivu1liik, "the two in front." The three stars are known by other names. In the legend, Kingullialuk, is known as Ningiuq (or Ningiuraaluk) "the old woman." Of the Sivulliik stars, the smaller one is known as Iliarjugaarjuk ("the little orphan ") and the bigger one as Uttuqalualuk. These names are given to the stars when telling the legend.

Uttuqalualuk, when he was a young man, had murdered his brother-in-law and kept it a secret. He grew old with this secret. Iliarjugaarjuk, who had lost both parents, was now living with his grandmother. Whenever Iliarjugaarjuk visited Uttuqalualuk the old man would taunt him, chanting: “Iliarjugaarjuup katuma arnavit pamiallua ailugu kikkaruk, pamaa!” – “Orphan, go and get your mother's tailbone and eat the meat from it, pamaa!”

For some time Iliarjugaarjuk did not tell his grandmother about the old man's insults. When he eventually did, his grandmother told him to reply to Uttuqalualuk thus: “Uttuqalualuup piksuma sakialli angialli qungnikut sallikut kivi- tipiuk, pamaa!” – “Uttuqalualuk, your brother-in-law is your secret. On the crack at the further pressure ridge you did sink him, pamaa!”

Iliarjugaarjuk's grandmother taught him these lines. For some time the orphan was anxious and uncertain and would not risk to say these words to the old man even though Uttuqalualuk continued to taunt him as before. His grandmother, however, kept asking if he had yet responded to Uttuqalualuk in the manner she had taught him, adding that if the old man became aggressive on hearing these words she would come to Iliarjugaarjuk's rescue.

So once again the orphan boy visited the old man and, as usual, Uttuqalual sang: “Iliarjugaarjuup katuma arnavit pamiallua ailugu kikkaruk, pamaa!” – “Orphan go and get your mother's tailbone and eat the meat from it, pamaa!”

This time, when Uttuqalualuk had finished, the orphan boy summoned all his courage and responded in the manner he had been taught by his grandmother: “Uttuqalualuup piksuma sakialli angialli qungnikut sallikut kivitipiuk, pamaa!” - "Uttuqalualuk, your brother-in-law is your secret. On the crack at the further pressure ridge you did sink him, pamaa!"

Having said this, Iliarjugaarjuk, following his grandmother's instructions fled the igloo. All at once the old man took his knife and started to chase the boy. They ran round and round the igloo, the boy fleeing and the old man following. The grandmother did not immediately notice that Uttuqalualuk was chasing Iliarjugaarjuk, so she was late in coming to the rescue. As she joined the chase, the two in front of her, the boy and the old man, suddenly rose upwards into sky. The grandmother followed and they all turned into stars. The first two are therefore called Sivulliik and the late one, that is the one behind, is called Kingullialuk.

September 22, 2009.

This entry is on Nuutuittuq (polaris).

Hubert Amarualik quotes " Another important star was Nuutuittuq because it was stationary while the rest of the stars moved along. This star was also called Ulluriarjuaq. It was important to determine the direction of the west-northwest wind Uangnaq. If you are lost this star can tell you which direction to go because it is always stationary and can lead you on the right track home. The star is also useful when there is no wind to guide you. I have used this star for navigating... You can find Nuutuittuq easily as it is the largest in the location where it is situated. You can also locate this star even when there is a slight overcast."

Reference: The Arctic Sky, John MacDonald, ISBN 0-88854-427-8

September 21, 2009.

Some real facts about the Northern Lights
(Aqsarniit)

The other day we talked about how the Arctic regions are favored for seeing the Northern Lights. The auroral oval is a permanent fixture of our planet's upper atmosphere, and those fortunate enough to live under or near it, see the aurora routinely even when the sun is "quiet".

Although solar storms called flares are responsible for many auroras, the ones we see during the quiet times have a different origin. They're caused by holes in the sun's corona or outer atmosphere. Powerful magnetic fields just like the ones around your refrigerator magnets but much, much stronger, envelop the sun and contain much of the strong wind of particles that would otherwise stream away into space. Remember it's these particles -- electrons and protons -- that speed their way to Earth and excite our polar atmosphere to glow in the form of aurorae.

You can see more here.

September 19, 2009.

My next blog entry is about the Aqsarniit the Northern Lights. The scientific name is Aurora Borealis.

In my own experience as a child, we were made to believe that the Aqsarniit could take your head off if you whistle at them and play ball with your head once the Aqsarniit took it off. When we were playing outside when we were children, we would tease and whistle at the Aqsarniit and we could see them getting closer and closer til they almost reached us and then we would quickly run inside the house before we got beheaded by the Aqsarniit.

That was my own experience that I just shared.

Here is one version I found on the internet and you can see more of the pictures and more information here.

What the locals know
But the northern lights are more than that. They’re the living game of the past played out on today’s night sky. For in these splendid lights in the night sky you can see the Greenlanders of bygone days playing a game they always loved while alive:

They play football in the heavens, and the northern lights are the body stripes of the players running through the night after a large, frozen walrus head as their football.

If the game starts moving too far from the spectators, you can whistle out into the night to draw them closer again. But take care – the ancestors can be frightening if too close, so make sure you keep a proper distance, which can be done by rubbing your fingernails together so they make a clicking sound.

September 17, 2009.

This is a continuation of my blog entry from September 16, 2009.

I am researching astronomy from all around the circumpolar north and I was searching blogs and found this site comparing Alaskan, Canadian and Greenlandic Myths about the Arctic Sky.

I found it very interesting to read. Even though it is from different regions of the Arctic Sky, there are a lot of similarities between the Myths. They all have something to do with Inuit,animals and food.

Here is a link to that blog and it has other information on Inuit geography and Peoples Cultures.