Sedna -Eskimo Goddess of the Sea

Clay, fur, mixed media

Sedna is a tragic figure from an old Eskimo myth. The story is summarized as follows-

Sedna lived with her father in an igloo by the seashore, and there were no seals or walruses to for them to hunt. There were no animals in the sea. Sedna was beautiful but had never chosen to marry. One day a handsome young hunter came to their home, wearing rich and beautiful clothes. He called for Sedna to join him, to travel with him to the land of the birds. At first she refused, but after his many gifts she could no longer resist. When they were out to sea, the man droped his paddle into the water and transformed into a loon, a spirit bird with the power to become a human being. Sedna sat on his back and they flew toward his home, a cold and windy island where there were only fish to eat. Soon she was lonesome and afraid, and it was nearly a year before her father came to visit her. She begged him to take her back in his kayak, and he agreed. They were quickly followed by the loon spirit, but Sedna refused to go back with him and the bird plunged into the sea. A storm swelled, the sea gods angry at Sedna's betrayal to her husband. Her father became terrified, and to save himself he pushed his daughter overboard. Sedna gripped the edge of the kayak, but her father, frenzied with fear, pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed her hands until she was forced to let go.

Then it is said, an astonishing thing happened: the blood that flowed from Sedna's hands congealed in the water, taking different shapes, until all the different types of sea creatures came into being. At last the storm ended, and Sedna sank to the bottom of the sea, and all the sea animals that were born from her blood followed her.

To this day, Eskimo hunters pray to Sedna, goddess of the seas, who commands all the sea animals from her watery home. She is vengeful and bitter, and controls the success of their hunt. The spirits of the great medicine men swim to her to comb her hair because her hands still hurt. If done well, she releases a seal, a walrus, or a whale.