Although the principal religious ideas of the Central Eskimo and those
of the Greenlanders are identical, their mythologies differ in many
material points. I will only mention here that they believe in the
Tornait of the old Greenlanders, while the Tornarsuk (i.e., the great
Tornaq of the latter) is unknown to them. Their Supreme Being is a woman
whose name is Sedna.
The first report on this tradition is found in Warmow’s journal of his
visit to Cumberland Sound (Missionsblatt aus der Brüdergemeinde, 1859,
No. I, p. 19). The editor says:
The name of the good spirit is Sanaq or Sana, and he seems to be
worshiped as the unknown deity. Nobody could give a definite
answer to Brother Warmow’s frequent questions as to what they
believed he was. They only said they invoked his help if they were
in need. “Then we ask him,” one of the men said, “and Takaq (the
moon) gives us what we want, seals and deer.” Another one said
that Sanaq had lived on the earth and afterwards ascended to the
moon.
In Hall’s account of his explorations in Frobisher Bay it is mentioned
that the tribes of that country, the Nugumiut, believe in a Supreme
Being, and the following statement is given (Hall I, p. 524):
There is one Supreme Being, called by them Anguta, who created the
earth, sea, and heavenly bodies. There is also a secondary
divinity, a woman, the daughter of Anguta, who is called Sidne.
She is supposed to have created all things having life, animal and
vegetable. She is regarded also as the protecting divinity of the
Inuit people. To her their supplications are addressed; to her
their offerings are made; while most of their religious rites and
superstitious observances have reference to her.
It is of great importance that in the journals of Hall’s second journey
Sedna is mentioned a few times (spelled Sydney), this being the only
proof that she is known among the tribes of Hudson Bay.
The statements of the whalers visiting the Sikosuilarmiut and the
Akuliarmiut of Hudson Strait correspond with my own observations. Before
entering into a comparison of this tradition with similar ones belonging
to other tribes, I will give the particulars of the myth as I received
it from the Oqomiut and the Akudnirmiut.