How Sedna Became a Sea Goddess

The Inuit inhabit the coldest climes of the Arctic, stretching across the coasts of Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Here’s one of their stories.

In the cold, cold Arctic lived a beautiful young maiden with long, flowing tresses by the name of Sedna. Her parents were anxious to arrange a match for her but she would refuse every suitor who came her way. Sedna loved her parents dearly and had a comfortable life. Her father was a hunter and would provide his family with meat to eat and fur to wear. Life was good. Why marry at all, thought she. She turned down many young men who asked for her hand and her parents were getting worried.

‘You have to marry soon, Sedna!’ said her father. ‘We will grow old and die one day. What will happen to you then?’ But young Sedna ignored him and continued to comb her lovely, long hair and looked at her reflection in the icy waters of the sea.

One day, a suitor came to their home bearing gifts of fur, blankets and food. He was dressed in the warmest of furs but his face, he kept hidden in a hood. Sedna’s parents were very impressed and persuaded her to marry the young man. ‘He seems to be rich and will provide more for you than we ever can,’ said her father. ‘You would be foolish to refuse him.’

‘You must marry one day, Sedna,’ said her mother, ‘and this boy seems like the best match you will ever get.’ Finally, a reluctant Sedna was persuaded to marry the young man. After the wedding, Sedna and her husband left for his island home on his kayak.

On reaching the island, Sedna could see no hut or tent. In fact, there was nobody else anywhere. All she could see around her were just bare rocks and a steep cliff. Furious, she turned to her new husband. ‘Where have you brought me?’ she asked angrily. The man laughed, a wicked, evil, cackling sound. He then threw off the fur coat he was wearing and the hood covering his face. Sedna was shocked at what she saw. Her husband was a bird—a jet black raven!

Screaming, she tried to run away but there was nowhere to escape to on that little island. The raven man caught her and dragged her to the top of the cliff where she saw a few tufts of hair and some feathers, which made for a poor nest. Leaving her there, cold and shivering, he flew away.

All day long he was out looking for food. At dusk he returned, bringing back cold fish to eat. Sedna could not imagine eating that icy cold, raw fish. Cold, hungry and miserable, she cried and cried until her heart broke.

The howling arctic winds carried her cries to her father. What have I done, thought the father to himself when he heard his daughter’s cries. I forced my poor daughter to marry much against her wishes and now she is crying helplessly somewhere. Where was she? What could have happened?

Her mother began to weep. ‘You must go find her at once. She is a brave girl and would never cry easily. She’s in some danger. Of that I’m certain.’

Sedna’s father nodded sadly. He felt guilty when he thought of his beloved daughter. ‘I will leave right away!’ he said and began loading his kayak for the journey. He paddled for days through the frigid waters of the Arctic, with the howling winds carrying his daughter’s cries leading the way.

When Sedna’s father finally found his way to the island, he saw his daughter on the shore waiting for him. Relieved and happy, she climbed onto her father’s little boat.

‘Quickly, Father! We have to leave as fast as we can!’ she urged him. They paddled off into the sea on their kayak, travelling as fast as it would take them. After they had gone a long distance, Sedna turned back to look. She could see a little black speck following them. She knew it was the raven man, who must have discovered that she had left. ‘Quickly, Father! That horrid bird has seen us . . . Faster, faster, faster!’ she shouted.

But the big black raven caught up with them and was soon swooping down upon them. The father took his oar and swung at the bird with it but he missed. The raven flapped its wings above the surface of the water and the sea was suddenly awhirl. The usually calm waters of the arctic suddenly began to whip up a violent storm and the little kayak began to toss and turn in the sudden turbulence.

The kayak filled with water and Sedna’s father feared that the boat would capsize. Fearing for his life, he threw his daughter out of the boat, shouting loudly so that the bird would hear: ‘Here is your precious wife, raven . . . You can keep her! Just let me go!’

Sedna was shocked by her father’s behaviour. She swam towards the kayak and managed to cling to its side, begging her father to let her back in. But poor Sedna! Her father was so terrified at the storm whipped up by the evil raven that he cared not for his daughter any more. As she clung to the side of the boat, he feared she would tip him over. With the paddle he began to pound her freezing fingers on the side of the boat. One by one, her fingers fell to the bottom of the sea, turning into fishes, seals, walruses and other sea creatures. Sedna, too, lost her grip and began to sink down into the sea.

Not giving up, she rose again in the choppy waters and tried to hold on to the sides of boat with what remained of her hands. But her father chopped off her hands. They broke easily, with a single blow, as they were frozen from the cold. The stumps fell into the deep ocean, turning into larger sea animals as they reached the sea bed—whales and sharks.

As for Sedna, disappointed and angry, she gave up and began to sink down, down, down to the bottom of the sea. But once she was there, she was transformed magically into a spirit and thus became the goddess of the sea. And there she remains to this day with her companions, the seals and the whales.

It is her anger against humankind that whips up storms and the fury of the seas. Shamans (those who can see and talk to spirits) go down to the ocean floor to comb her long, tangled hair to calm her down.

Thus appeased, she releases her sea creatures so that Inuit hunters can partake of the bounty of the sea. And when a hunter catches a seal, he offers his thanks to the benevolent sea goddess for her kindness by pouring water into its mouth. For he remembers it is Sedna, the sea goddess, whose generosity puts food on his dinner table.