Week 10 Essay

This week I chose to read the Eskimo Folk-Tales reading unit from the un-textbook. I enjoyed the readings particularly because they were strange and fun to read. However, they did seem to end pretty abruptly and in ways that were almost unsavory, like there had to be more to the story than what I read. My favorite stories were definitely The Insects Who Wooed a Wifeless Man and Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak. The insects story was so bizarre, but humorous almost and definitely an interesting read. I even used it for my storytelling. The story of the Tupilak was interesting because it discussed a demon-like creature that is created by a human in order to do harm to someone for them. Many cultures have creatures like this in their mythology, and I wished the story told more about the Tupilak itself, but enjoyed it none-the-less. The ending to this story was like I mentioned before; strangely abrupt. It seemed like there was more to it, but there wasn't. It just ends with the brothers going home and the main character living for many years before dying. I would have liked to learn more about the Tupilak or see some cool pictures of it in the story, but I think the background information provided was good, and was motivated to search for more information on my own.

Carving of a tupilak (spirit), Eskimo, collected in Angmagssalik, E. Greenland, 1931-2. National Museum of Denmark, Department of Ethnography

Found on Crushevil

This reading doesn't really have a whole lot to do with my storybook, but as for my overall goals in this class, it fits in well. I took this class because I love learning about mythology and all the weird and cool stories associated with that, including odd creatures of all sorts. These stories had magic, elementals, revenge, and all sorts of other good stuff that kept me intrigued. I learned that Eskimo folk tales have similarities in cultural points (such as the importance of having a wife and being a provider), but definite differences to many other cultures i've read about and an importance of connection with nature. I like stories that focus on our spiritual or energy-based connection with the Earth and everyone around us, because I like to think we are all connected to each other and to the world around us in some sort of weird, beautiful way.