Adlet
Encyclopedia
The Adlet in the Inuit mythology
of Greenland
and the Labrador
and Hudson Bay
coasts, are a race of fabulous creatures. While the word refers to inland native American tribes
, it also denotes a tribe with dogs' legs and human bodies. The lower part of the body of the canine Adlet is like that of a dog, their upper part is like a man's. All Adlet run very fast, and usually encounters between men and adlet end up in battle, usually with man as the victor.
In Inuit lore, they are often portrayed as in conflict with humans, and are supposed to be taller than Inuit and white people. In some stories they are cannibals. Inuit from Labrador
use the term Adlet, tribes west of the Hudson Bay
use the word Erqigdlit. The monstrous race begotten by the Adlet was identified with inland native Americans by the Labrador and Hudson Bay tribes; Inuit from Greenland
and Baffin Land, which had no native American neighbors, use the term to refer to the half human, half canine creatures.
An etymology of the word is proposed by H. Newell Wardle: adlet might come from ad, "below," and thus denote "those below." Alternatively, he argues, it might come from the stem agdlak, "striped, streaked," thus "the striped ones," in reference to American Indians who lived to the west and painted their faces. "Erqigdlet" might be a derogatory term denoting the same people. Atlat means "others," denoting American Indians from the Inuit perspective, though Newell Wardle considers this possibility secondary and deriving from phonetic similarity.
from an Inuit named Pakaq. His transcription, a translation by H. Rink, and an explanation (by Boas) were published in The Journal of American Folklore in 1889. The Inuit of Greenland
, according to Rink, tell the same story as those in Baffin Land. The story is often referred to as "The Girl and the Dogs" on the west coast of Greenland; on the east coast of Greenland it is known as "The Origin of the Qavdlunait and Irqigdlit" (that is, Europeans and Indians).
A woman, Niviarsiang ("the girl"), lives with her father, Savirqong, but will not marry, and hence is also called Uinigumissuitung ("she who wouldn't take a husband"). After rejecting all her suitors, she marries a dog, Ijirqang, with white and red spots. Of their ten children, five are dogs and the others are Adlet, with dog's bodies for their lower half and man's bodies for their upper half. Since Ijirqang does not go hunting and the children are very hungry, it falls to Savirqong to provide for the noisy household. At last he puts them into a boat and carries them off to a small island, telling Ijirqang to come and get meat daily. Niviarsiang hangs a pair of boots around his neck and he swims ashore, but Savirqong, instead of giving him meat, puts stones in the boots and Ijirqang drowns. In revenge, Niviarsiang sends the young dogs over to gnaw off her father's feet and hands. He, in return kicks her overboard when she happens to be in his boat, and when she hangs on the gunwhale he cuts off her fingers, which, when they fall in the ocean, turn into whale
s and seals
.
Since Niviarsiang is scared her father might kill the Adlet, she sends them inland, and from them a numerous people springs. The young dogs she sends across the ocean in a makeshift boat, and arriving beyond the sea they became the Europeans' ancestors.
: "by offering their [sexual] favors to the dog-like Whites the Inuit daughters serve as mediators in obtaining their desirable goods." A reading of the account as a "Whaler myth," in a culture in which the Inuit were economically dependent on the mechanically superior products supplied by the European whalers, the story transforms material dependence on the white whaler into a reciprocal relationship, whereby the European comes back to repay his mother.
Franz Boas and Hinrich Rink offer two options for the occurrence of a legend explaining the origin of whites. Either the tradition dates back to when the Inuit first made contact with Europeans (which they consider highly unlikely), or, more likely, it is the adaptation of an already existing tradition, modified to account for the coming of the Europeans. Signe Rink proposes a similar explanation in a hypothetical historical narrative that also takes linguistic evidence into account.
The "Dog Husband" theme is paralleled in other tribal mythologies. The Dakelh
(formerly known as the "Carrier tribe"), the indigenous people of the inland of British Columbia
, tell a number of similar stories. In one of those stories, a woman suspects she is being violated nightly, and throws a little bag of vermilion paint on the violator; the next day, she identifies him as a big dog, and later gives birth to four dogs. Father Morice, writing about this and other stories he had been told by the Carrier people, posits that there might be "a sort of national tradition among the hyperborean races of America, since even the Eskimo have a story which is evidently the equivalent of it," proceeding to summarize the account as given by Franz Boas in "The Central Eskimo" (1888). Similar stories (both about the Adlet and the woman who marries a dog) are told on the Siberian side of the Bering Strait
, among the Chukchi
.
who was in New York City
in the winter of 1897-1898, and published by A.L. Kroeber for the Journal of American Folklore
. Two Tornits (another fabulous race from Inuit lore) find themselves among savage and cannibalistic Adlet. They sneak out at night and as they are leaving they cut the thongs on the Adlet's sledges that fasten the crossbars to the runners. The dogs start barking, but as the Adlet mount their sledges the runners fall off and the Tornit get away. The same Smith Sound Eskimo also told a variant of the Adlet story related by Boas in "The Central Eskimo." In this version, the Tornit are the woman's offspring as well, but Kroeber remarks that they are "ordinarily not connected with this tale." Other stories told by the Smith Sound Eskimo, such as "The Origin of the Narwhal," also contain murderous Adlet.
, Alaska
, tell of a dog named Aselu who was tied to a stick. He set himself free by biting through the stick, then went inside, where he had intercourse with a woman. She consequently gave birth to men and dogs.
Inuit mythology
Inuit mythology has many similarities to the religions of other polar regions. Inuit traditional religious practices could be very briefly summarised as a form of shamanism based on animist principles....
of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and the Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
and Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
coasts, are a race of fabulous creatures. While the word refers to inland native American tribes
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, it also denotes a tribe with dogs' legs and human bodies. The lower part of the body of the canine Adlet is like that of a dog, their upper part is like a man's. All Adlet run very fast, and usually encounters between men and adlet end up in battle, usually with man as the victor.
In Inuit lore, they are often portrayed as in conflict with humans, and are supposed to be taller than Inuit and white people. In some stories they are cannibals. Inuit from Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
use the term Adlet, tribes west of the Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
use the word Erqigdlit. The monstrous race begotten by the Adlet was identified with inland native Americans by the Labrador and Hudson Bay tribes; Inuit from Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and Baffin Land, which had no native American neighbors, use the term to refer to the half human, half canine creatures.
An etymology of the word is proposed by H. Newell Wardle: adlet might come from ad, "below," and thus denote "those below." Alternatively, he argues, it might come from the stem agdlak, "striped, streaked," thus "the striped ones," in reference to American Indians who lived to the west and painted their faces. "Erqigdlet" might be a derogatory term denoting the same people. Atlat means "others," denoting American Indians from the Inuit perspective, though Newell Wardle considers this possibility secondary and deriving from phonetic similarity.
Origin
Franz Boas, an ethnologist who recorded many Inuit stories, gives an account of the origin of the Adlet; he had heard the story in Baffin Land, specifically in Cumberland SoundCumberland Sound
Cumberland Sound is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is a western arm of the Labrador Sea located between Baffin Island's Hall Peninsula and the Cumberland Peninsula...
from an Inuit named Pakaq. His transcription, a translation by H. Rink, and an explanation (by Boas) were published in The Journal of American Folklore in 1889. The Inuit of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, according to Rink, tell the same story as those in Baffin Land. The story is often referred to as "The Girl and the Dogs" on the west coast of Greenland; on the east coast of Greenland it is known as "The Origin of the Qavdlunait and Irqigdlit" (that is, Europeans and Indians).
A woman, Niviarsiang ("the girl"), lives with her father, Savirqong, but will not marry, and hence is also called Uinigumissuitung ("she who wouldn't take a husband"). After rejecting all her suitors, she marries a dog, Ijirqang, with white and red spots. Of their ten children, five are dogs and the others are Adlet, with dog's bodies for their lower half and man's bodies for their upper half. Since Ijirqang does not go hunting and the children are very hungry, it falls to Savirqong to provide for the noisy household. At last he puts them into a boat and carries them off to a small island, telling Ijirqang to come and get meat daily. Niviarsiang hangs a pair of boots around his neck and he swims ashore, but Savirqong, instead of giving him meat, puts stones in the boots and Ijirqang drowns. In revenge, Niviarsiang sends the young dogs over to gnaw off her father's feet and hands. He, in return kicks her overboard when she happens to be in his boat, and when she hangs on the gunwhale he cuts off her fingers, which, when they fall in the ocean, turn into whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s and seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
.
Since Niviarsiang is scared her father might kill the Adlet, she sends them inland, and from them a numerous people springs. The young dogs she sends across the ocean in a makeshift boat, and arriving beyond the sea they became the Europeans' ancestors.
Anthropological interpretation
One interpretation of the phenomenon of the Adlet (and the theme of the "Dog Husband") sees the difference between the dog-like children and the other, the Adlet, as crucial. The dogs are sent overseas and will return as white Europeans to bring things favorable to the Inuit, whereas the Adlet, "swift runners of an aggressive disposition," become a kind of inland spirit, to be kept at bay. Thus, the "Dog Husband" myth carries the value of a cargo cultCargo cult
A cargo cult is a religious practice that has appeared in many traditional pre-industrial tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures. The cults focus on obtaining the material wealth of the advanced culture through magic and religious rituals and practices...
: "by offering their [sexual] favors to the dog-like Whites the Inuit daughters serve as mediators in obtaining their desirable goods." A reading of the account as a "Whaler myth," in a culture in which the Inuit were economically dependent on the mechanically superior products supplied by the European whalers, the story transforms material dependence on the white whaler into a reciprocal relationship, whereby the European comes back to repay his mother.
Franz Boas and Hinrich Rink offer two options for the occurrence of a legend explaining the origin of whites. Either the tradition dates back to when the Inuit first made contact with Europeans (which they consider highly unlikely), or, more likely, it is the adaptation of an already existing tradition, modified to account for the coming of the Europeans. Signe Rink proposes a similar explanation in a hypothetical historical narrative that also takes linguistic evidence into account.
The "Dog Husband" theme is paralleled in other tribal mythologies. The Dakelh
Dakelh
The Dakelh or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.Most Carrier call themselves Dakelh, meaning "people who go around by boat"...
(formerly known as the "Carrier tribe"), the indigenous people of the inland of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, tell a number of similar stories. In one of those stories, a woman suspects she is being violated nightly, and throws a little bag of vermilion paint on the violator; the next day, she identifies him as a big dog, and later gives birth to four dogs. Father Morice, writing about this and other stories he had been told by the Carrier people, posits that there might be "a sort of national tradition among the hyperborean races of America, since even the Eskimo have a story which is evidently the equivalent of it," proceeding to summarize the account as given by Franz Boas in "The Central Eskimo" (1888). Similar stories (both about the Adlet and the woman who marries a dog) are told on the Siberian side of the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
, among the Chukchi
Chukchi people
The Chukchi, or Chukchee , ) are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...
.
Adlet stories
A number of stories containing Adlet were written down by ethnographers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."The Tornit and the Adlit"
Many tales were told by the "Smith Sound Eskimo," an Inuit from Smith SoundSmith Sound
Smith Sound is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait....
who was in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the winter of 1897-1898, and published by A.L. Kroeber for the Journal of American Folklore
Journal of American Folklore
The Journal of American Folklore is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003 this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society's founding in 1888. It publishes on a quarterly schedule...
. Two Tornits (another fabulous race from Inuit lore) find themselves among savage and cannibalistic Adlet. They sneak out at night and as they are leaving they cut the thongs on the Adlet's sledges that fasten the crossbars to the runners. The dogs start barking, but as the Adlet mount their sledges the runners fall off and the Tornit get away. The same Smith Sound Eskimo also told a variant of the Adlet story related by Boas in "The Central Eskimo." In this version, the Tornit are the woman's offspring as well, but Kroeber remarks that they are "ordinarily not connected with this tale." Other stories told by the Smith Sound Eskimo, such as "The Origin of the Narwhal," also contain murderous Adlet.
Aselu
The Inuit of Point BarrowPoint Barrow
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, tell of a dog named Aselu who was tied to a stick. He set himself free by biting through the stick, then went inside, where he had intercourse with a woman. She consequently gave birth to men and dogs.