Character Catalog

A collection of foundational stories passed down orally from generation to generation by Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples. These narratives form the 'marine cosmogony' of the Arctic and have shaped hunting practices, shamanic rituals, and environmental ethics for millennia.

A collective ceremony in which the angakkuq entered a trance to journey to the ocean floor, comb Sedna's hair, and release the souls of animals. This fundamental ritual regulated the subsistence cycle of communities and maintained the balance between humans and the natural world.

Representations carved in ivory, soapstone, or whalebone depicting Sedna — often recognizable by her half-woman, half-fish body and fingerless hands — have been produced for centuries. These sculptures, first ritual then artistic, attest to the enduring vitality of the myth through to contemporary Inuit art.

A specific vocal genre, ayaya are semi-improvised drum-accompanied songs that evoke Sedna, the sea, and animals. Knud Rasmussen transcribed many examples; they represent a unique poetic form that expresses the intimate relationship between the goddess and the daily life of Arctic hunters.

Female vocal duels imitating the sounds of the Arctic environment (wind, sea, marine animals), performed during communal ceremonies. Certain sequences explicitly evoke Sedna's underwater world, making this practice a vehicle for transmitting the myth.

There is a woman at the bottom of the sea, Sedna, whose severed fingers became the seals and walruses. Shamans descend to her to untangle her hair and appease her anger, thereby releasing the animals for the hunters.

Nunavgak lives at the bottom of the sea. All marine life comes from her. When men fail to respect the rules of the hunt, her hair becomes tangled and the animals remain trapped. The shaman must dive in spirit to untangle it.

It is said that she was thrown into the water by one who had married her under false pretenses. Her fingers, cut off one by one, became the creatures of the deep. She now governs the world below.

Sedna is the mistress of the seals. Without her consent, no animal allows itself to be caught. That is why the hunter always gives thanks to the slain animal and pours fresh water into the seal's mouth to honor the goddess.

The elders repeat the words of their elders: Sedna waits at the bottom of the waters. She is neither good nor evil; she is just. What you give her in respect, she returns to you as food.

In Inuit cosmology, Adlivun is the underwater realm governed by Sedna, located beneath the surface of the Arctic Ocean. This is where the souls of sea animals reside, and where shamans would journey in spiritual trances to appease the goddess.

A large Arctic island considered one of the cradles of Thule Inuit culture and the territory where Franz Boas collected the first scholarly versions of the Sedna myth in 1883–1884. The region remains a living center of Inuit culture today.

A vast maritime expanse at the heart of Inuit territory, renowned for its abundance of seals, walruses, and beluga whales — animals directly associated with the Sedna myth. Coastal communities performed rituals in her honor before and after every hunting expedition.

A territory where the Sedna myth (known as 'Arnakuagsak' or 'Sassuma Arnaa') spread with the Thule culture around 1000 CE. Greenlandic shamans developed rich variations of the ritual combing of the goddess's hair.

The probable homeland of Thule culture and the point from which the Sedna myth spread eastward. The Yupik peoples of Alaska venerate a similar sea goddess, reflecting the circumpolar cultural unity surrounding this foundational figure.