Reading Notes: Inuit (Eskimo) Folk Tales, Part A

Bibliography: The notes are on the Eskimo Folk Tales unit. Story source: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Here are my reading notes for this week!

One story that stuck out to me was "The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son." This creative folk tale featured a great narrative of a relationship between a bear and a woman who raises the bear. I enjoyed the character of the woman, who nurtures the bear but is willing to let him go when he grows and the need arises. They model a compassionate understanding between human and animal. I am writing about Saint Francis's love for animals some in my storybook project, so this relationship could help serve as a guide when I am crafting my stories. The story also ends with a bit of mystical mystery, suggesting that the bear may still be alive. This was a fun twist and left the reader curious. I want to practice ending my own stories in ways that leave readers thinking and engaged. 

Another tale that I found interesting was "The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man." This story has a clever and funny opening: "THERE was once a wifeless man. Yes, that is the way a story always begins." This really made me laugh and seems to be true in a lot of stories! The man in this story is a bit of an outcast, rejected by society and dealing with chronic sleepiness. Things begin to turn around for him after he saves the life of a mysterious "noseless one" who was from "beneath the earth" and who blesses our main character. The girls in the town begin to like him and he becomes an impressive hunter/fisher. He marries a woman, but eventually tells her his secret to hunting and loses all he has: the ability, his wife, etc. The story ends in a strange way, but I was fascinated by this idea of losing all you have after exposing yourself. The reminded me of some modern book/movie plots. This story and others in the unit were told in engaging, easy to comprehend ways!

According to source, "Photograph of a book illustration of an Inuit village, Oopungnewing, 

near Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in the mid-19th century." Originally from 

Arctic Researches and Life Among the Esquimaux: Being the Narrative of an Expedition in Search of Sir John 

Franklin in the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862 by Charles Francis Hall (1865). 

SOURCE: Wikimedia