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Lumaaq

Artist: Henry Napartuk A long time ago, there was a widow named Lumaaq. She had a son and a daughter, and one dog called Irquaq.

Lumaaq’s son was blind. Lumaaq neglected her blind son, and let him live by himself in an old, abandoned igloo. She did not care for him lovingly.

One spring, when the igloo windows were melting away, a hungry polar bear appeared outside the blind boy’s igloo. Lumaaq and her daughter were very frightened. Lumaaq told her son to grab his bow and arrow, and shoot the bear. The blind boy shot an arrow, and killed the polar bear dead.

As soon as the bear fell, Lumaaq shouted, “Qimmituanga pitippaa. Irquaq pitippaa.” [The arrow has hit our only dog! Iqquaq is dead!”]

The blind boy thought he had shot the polar bear. He had a feeling that his mother was not speaking the truth. He said, “If it was the dog, it would have made a whimpering sound” [Maralarajalaurpuq]. He thought his mother was lying. But he could not be sure.

That evening, the blind boy’s sister brought him some polar bear meat. The boy’s sister loved him. She often brought food to her brother. She cared for him. She loved him.

The loons watched over the blind boy and his family. The loons saw everything that happened.

In the late spring, as the rivers and lakes began to thaw, the blind boy’s sister took him by the hand and walked him to a nearby lake. On their way, the boy asked his sister to mark the way. He asked her to build Inuksuit [rock markers], so that he could find his way home. When they reached the lake, the sister said goodbye to her brother and left him by the shore.

Artist: Johnassie Mannuk The loons were waiting for the boy by the lake. As soon as the sister was gone, the loons told the blind boy they were going to hold his head under the water. They told him, “You must stay perfectly still under the water until you feel as though you absolutely must have air. Only then can you move.”

But under the water, the boy panicked. He could not stay calm. He wanted air. He needed air. He struggled to the surface of the water. But he could not open his eyes. He could not see.

And so, a second time, the loons carefully coached the boy. This time, he stayed calm under the water. He stayed under the water much longer, and whenfinally he felt that he must have air, it was the loons who helped him out of the water. It was the loons who helped him to slowly open his eyes. This time, he could see. He could see the land. He could see the big rocks. He could see the sun.

But he wanted to see more. He wanted to see clearly. So for a third time, the loons helped the boy under the water. This time the boy kept his eyes open. This time he stayed completely calm. This time he could see the fish in the water. Finally, when he was desperate for air, he lifted his head out of the water for the last time. The boy could see clearly. He could see the burrows of lemmings. He could see strands of straw.

He walked back to camp, following the Inuksuit that his sister had left for him. As he got close to the melting igloos, he saw a polar bear skin stretched out between sticks that had been pushed into the ground. The skin was drying pauktuat. Now he knew that he had been right. He had killed the polar bear. The boy was very angry, so angry that he ripped the polar bear skin to shreds.

Artist: Elisapee Inukpuk Then he noticed some whales in the surf. He grabbed his ipiraq [harpoon line], tied it around his mother’s waist, and prepared to harpoon one of the whales. While he hunted, he sang,

Anaanamma nasaujanga
Qaviujivuq qavirviujivuqLuma,
Luma, Luma, Luma, Lu,Lu,Lu.

While the blind boy was singing, his mother Lumaaq was still tied to the harpoon line. When he shot his harpoon into a whale, the whale pulled Lumaaq over the rocks, off the shore and into the sea. There, she transformed instantly into a whale.

Lumaaq sang a song as she was dragged under the water:

Pikungatuuq pikungatuuq
Pinguattaup qaanganut salumajumut
Aquvillanga Lumaaq !

Excerpt from: Unikkaangualaurtaa (Let's Tell a Story)