What does Sedna provide for the Inuit people?

Sedna is a centrally important goddess for the Inuit, and is said to hold sea animals entangled in her hair, only to release them when she is appeased by offerings, songs or a visit from an angakok (shaman).

Who is Sedna and why is she so important to the Inuit?

The story varies from one region to the next. However, in all versions, a young woman becomes the mother of all sea creatures. As the sea goddess, Sedna has dominion over her creatures and controls the availability of seal, walrus, fish, whale, and other sea animals to Inuit hunters.

What does Sedna mean?

: a probable dwarf planet that orbits beyond the orbit of Neptune with a mean distance from the sun of about 520 astronomical units (48.3 billion miles)] and a diameter of approximately [870 miles (1400 kilometers)] [The planetoid] Sedna at its closest approach to the sun is still two and half times as far away as …

What did Sedna find out when she got to her new home?

Sedna got into her husband’s kayak and travelled with him to her new home. When they arrived at his island, she saw that her home was nothing but some sticks and bits of moss and feathers clinging to a large rock. Her husband took off his hood, and she realized that he was not a man, but an evil raven.

Why was Sedna important to the Inuit people?

The Inuit people believed in the divinity of the sea and all the animals that dwelled in it. In many myths and legends of Arctic culture, Sedna is the highly honored deity and plays an important role, no matter versions of her story and diversity of her names given her by different Inuit groups.

Who was the Inuit goddess of the sea?

Drawing based on an Inuit mask depicting the sea goddess Sedna. Sedna was the sea spirit according to the peoples of northern Canada and Greenland, known as Inuit. Sedna was a young girl who stubbornly refused to marry anyone. Her father forced her to marry a dog. Sedna’s father felt sorry for her and drowned the dog.

Is the story of Sedna a creation myth?

A creation myth, the story of Sedna shows how she came to rule over Adlivun, the Inuit underworld. Sedna is also known as Arnakuagsak or Arnaqquassaaq (Greenland) and Satsuma Arnaa (Mother of the Deep, West Greenland) and Nerrivik (northern Greenland) or Nuliajuk (District of Keewatin, Northwest Territories).

What happens to Sedna in the spirit of the sea?

Sedna is kidnapped by a different bird creature in yet another version. Her father then leaves in his kayak to rescue her from the floating ice-island where she is imprisoned while the bird creature is away. The creature, enraged by her disappearance, calls to a spirit of the sea to help him.