Reading Notes: Eskimo Stories Part A

Setting: I chose to focus on setting for these reading notes because the stories are told by the Inuit/Eskimo people, who lived in cold environments. Many of the other units take place in jungles or forests with an average climate, so it's interesting to see if there's any differences up north. There is a lot of imagery of lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. There is also a lot on forests and mountains.

Polar bear, Wikipedia

"A long, long time ago, when the earth was to be made, it fell down from the sky. Earth, hills and stones, all fell down from the sky, and thus the earth was made."

• This story doesn’t have a specific setting, but it is talking about the formation of the earth overall.

“One day he rowed northward in his kayak, and suddenly he took it into his head to row over to a big island which he had never visited before, and now wished to see. He landed, and went up to look at the land, and it was very beautiful there.”

• You can easily picture this place.  This is a typical location for a story with a large body of water and island.

“In the summer it went out hunting in the sea, and in winter on the ice”

• This bit shows how cold it gets in these places.

his parents lived at a place where the tides were strong

• Again, water is a major theme.

“One of the other men in his village was a wizard.”

• There was very little setting for this story except explaining that a wizard lived in the village. I just think it’s funny.

"It may be you have seen today the great hills away in the blue to the south; if you go up to the top of the nearer hill, you will find nothing there, but he who climbs that one which lies farther away, and reaches the top, he will find such things there.”

• This is a really beautiful mental picture of hills.

“On their way they came to a high and steep rock, rising up from the open water.”

• Another beautiful picture, of a cliff and water.

Bibliography: Inuit/Eskimo Folktales, Source