Sacred-Texts Native American Inuit
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[A tale from South Greenland.]
AT Tasiusanguak there once lived a handy and clever fellow, called Kenake (pron. Kenakee). It was in those times when the whalers used to touch on the isle of Umanak (district of Sukkertoppen), and people used to go there and fetch the rejected matak (whale-skin). Once Kenake went away to call on the whalers' on this errand. The natives in those times used to gather merchandise for trading with the Europeans. When he had begun dealing with them, he chanced to give some offence to the sailors; and in a struggle that ensued Kenake was killed. The captain, however, was not made aware of this accident till later. The wife of Kenake placed his corpse in the boat, and prepared to go home, her son steering, and she herself being now the only person to row. When the boat was about to push off, the master of the ship threw a number of nice things—such as various kinds of knives, and other trifles highly prized in those days—into the boat; but Kenake's wife flung them into the sea, all the while crying for her lost husband. At last, however, the son got hold of a knife, which he secretly put aside, thinking it rather too bad to throw away so many valuable p. 386 articles. When she was about to push off in good earnest, the sailors caught hold of her boat in order to prevent her going, but biting their fingers, she obliged them to let go one after another; and after this they were allowed to return to Tasiusanguak. Although she grieved sorely, she asked her relatives and countrymen not to avenge the murder of Kenake; but nevertheless they some time afterwards began to busy themselves with the dead body for the purpose of turning (by charm) the son into one whom the Europeans did not dare to look upon, and also to make him proof against shaft and spear. When he was full grown, and had become a seal-hunter, and was possessed of a tolerable store of merchandise, the whalers again happened to arrive at Umanak. His relatives soon set out for the ship; and the second time they set off with their boat well loaded, the eye-me-not was of the party. His relatives having finished their bartering, he climbed on deck, bringing the things he had for sale, expecting the sailors to come on deck to barter with him. Finding that they did not even approach, he got his things back into the boat, but soon returned without any goods, rummaging about the deck, and taking away from the ship whatever he fancied; and though the sailors became aware of this, they turned away, pretending not to observe anything. Having brought the things into his boat, he went back on deck; and it being now meal-time on board, the visitors were now all treated to a meal, except the eye-me-not. But he revenged himself by going into the cabin and laying hold of whatever he chose, such as flensing-knives, and so forth. When caught in the very act of stealing these things, they quickly turned away, pretending not to see; and he only stopped of his own accord, when he had taken all he wanted. He went on this way all his life, as often as whalers came to the place. When a ship had been at Umanak for some time, and the sailors were missing p. 387 {see picture on page 387} p. 388 too many of their belongings, they went off in a sloop for Tasiusanguak to attack the robbers. Approaching the shore, they would call out, "Come forth, thou fellow whom no one can bear to look at!" and while he obeyed the summons, and went down to them, his old mother would sit on the roof of the house pronouncing spells. If the charm succeeded, the token was that the nose of the first sailor who landed would begin bleeding. On seeing them land, the eye-me-not went down to assist them in hauling up their boat; and when the very first man set foot on shore, his nose was seen to bleed. When they had all landed, and each had his nose bleeding, the eye-me-not was seen running from one to another, wringing and pulling their arms to make them look at him. Then he would lift up his jacket, saying, "I am the thief!" But they only turned away; and he went on trying to make them aim their guns at him, still repeating, "It is I; I am the thief!" They hung back despite his efforts to excite them into shooting him. Such was his habit throughout his life whenever a whaler put into port there. As long as the strangers stayed at Umanak, their tormentor never left them at peace, but was always hanging about them. No one talked to them so much as he did, although he could not make out what they answered, and though they could not bear to look at him.