Tales and traditions of the Eskimo, with a sketch of their habits, religion, language and other peculiarities

by Hinrich Johannes Rink

As regards their development when they first became known to modern Europeans, the Eskimo may be classed with the prehistoric races of the age of the ground stone tools with the exceptional use of metals. It has been usual to designate all nations of this kind as "savages;" some authors have even described them as being totally destitute of those mental qualities through which any kind of culture is manifested, such as social order, laws, sciences, arts, and even religion. That those opinions find utterance can scarcely be wondered at when we observe the carelessness with which such important questions are discussed, and see travellers who merely go on shore from a ship and spend a couple of hours with the inhabitants proceed to make inquiries as to their ideas of God and the origin of the world; and also how European settlers among natives whose language they are quite unconversant with pretend to have found them altogether without religion.

249 pages.

Genres: Mythology, History, Folklore

472 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[G. Munckel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este libro reúne veintiocho de los cuentos y leyendas de los inuit que Rink recopiló y transcribió, en algunos casos cotejando diferentes versiones, a mediados del siglo XIX. Permiten conocer algunas de sus costumbres de estos pueblos, como la caza (con arpones y lanzas), los largos viajes (a pie o en kayak), los materiales con que trabajan (en un lugar donde la madera es un lujo muy escaso), su alimentación y su forma de organizarse para sobrevivir en un territorio inhóspito, así como un poco de su mitología (pero no suficiente para mi gusto).

Algunas de estas historias presentan a hombres dispuestos a medir su fuerza (a veces sobrehumana) con sus vecinos, a otros dispuestos a vengarse de quienes los ofendieron o mataron a los suyos, y también a gente que decide abandonar su hogar e internarse en el frío. Los protagonistas son siempre los inuit, pero en algunos casos también hay lugar para la naturaleza y lo fantástico, siempre integrado a la vida cotidiana.

Aunque el libro no está mal, le hacen falta más y mejores notas descriptivas sobre los seres mitológicos que aparecen en algunas historias, primero porque son muy pocos y desconocidos, y también porque, por ejemplo, decir de un kilivfak que es “otra bestia fabulosa” es casi lo mismo que nada, más aún cuando al googlearlo no se encuentra mucha más información al respecto.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very weird tales from a culture situated at the world’s edge. Sometimes bleak, but most often completely singular, these stories prove themselves truly isolated from the storytelling traditions anywhere else. An example:

A woman named Arnasugaussak, on being scolded by her parents for having broken her mother's precious needle, fled with her daughter to the inland, where they lived with people, who after a while were transformed into partridges, and afterwards with others who changed into reindeers. Finally, they returned to the sea-coast, and saw some men flensing a whale. While standing calling out to them they were converted into stones.

[Nate D]

Not actually reading the kindle edition, but the online public domain one: http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inu/t...

[Lulu]

1871 inuit Canada