When the Sea Animals Disappeared

The sea stopped giving them animals.

No seals.

No whales.

For families who lived from the water, an empty hunting ground meant hunger.

In the Greenlandic story, the animals had not vanished. They were trapped below in the long black hair of Sassuma Arnaa, the Mother of the Sea.

Her hair had become filthy and tangled.

The animals were caught inside it.

An angakkoq was asked to go down to her.

He sat with his body bound and entered a trance.

His spirit went into the sea.

The journey led deeper, towards the place where Sassuma Arnaa lived. Guardian dogs blocked the way. Spirit helpers helped him pass them.

When he finally reached her, he saw the animals held in the knots of her hair.

He asked forgiveness on behalf of his people.

Then he tried to comb the knots out.

Sassuma Arnaa resisted.

She seized him and tried to drown him.

The angakkoq survived the struggle and returned to her hair.

He kept combing.

The knots loosened.

One by one, the animals came free.

Above them, seals and whales returned to the sea.

The hunters could go out again.