Sedna, Goddess of the Sea
Sedna is the revered goddess of the sea in Inuit mythology, known for her deep connection to marine life and her dualistic nature. She begins as a beautiful young woman who, in her quest for love, is deceived by a spirit-bird disguised as a handsome man. Once taken to his rocky home, her dreams of an ideal life are shattered, leading to a desperate plea for rescue that results in her father cutting off her fingers to appease the spirit-husband. From her severed fingers, the animals of the sea—seals, whales, and walruses—are born, establishing her as a key deity overseeing these creatures, which are crucial for the survival of the Inuit people.
Sedna embodies the complexities of nature and human existence, often portrayed in art as both a beautiful goddess and an anguished spirit. Her figure is significant in Inuit culture, symbolizing the need for respect and ritual to maintain balance with the sea. Annual feasts and special rituals are traditionally held to honor her, particularly during times of scarcity. Sedna’s influence extends beyond mythology, as her name has even been used to designate a celestial body in our solar system, highlighting her enduring legacy in both Inuit tradition and contemporary society.
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Subject Terms
Sedna, Goddess of the Sea
Author: Traditional Inuit
Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE
Country or Culture: North America
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
In a sealskin tent along the coast of Baffin Island lives a young girl, Sedna, and her father, Kinuk. When Sedna reaches a marriageable age, she cannot find a man who matches her intelligence and beauty. One day, a handsome and charismatic young stranger arrives in his kayak. Wearing a unique black-and-white-striped anorak and carrying a spear made of ivory, he is clearly a man of wealth and distinction. While Sedna and her father remain inside the tent, the stranger professes his love for her and promises many splendid things, including beautiful animal skins, feasts, a warm home surrounded by other large houses, and an endless supply of oil for her lamp. Thus captivated, Sedna steps out of the tent to get a better look and is greeted with further amorous promises until she is thoroughly wooed. She gathers her sewing needles and bids farewell to her father, who is sad at the thought of her leaving him but happy that she has found a suitable mate.
The man sets Sedna in his kayak, and away they paddle into the sea. They journey until evening, when they reach a rocky coastline that the man calls home. Rather than the large houses and fattened animals she was promised, Sedna sees only hundreds of loons. When she turns around to complain, in her husband’s place is a black-and-white loon; her husband is a spirit-bird. She cries and cries at the thought of marrying a loon and living among all those noisy, waddling birds. She begs him to take her back home, offering to give him her pouch of sewing needles or any other possession he might desire, yet he ignores her pleas and continues to fluff up their nest and feed her fresh fish.
In time, Sedna’s father becomes worried, as the newlyweds have yet to visit. He paddles around the islands in search of Sedna until he finally finds her in a nest, crying her heart out. She gladly accompanies him back to the kayak, and he begins to paddle home in all haste, only to find his son-in-law following in hot pursuit. When Sedna’s husband catches up, he demands to see her, as she is hiding under some skins. When her father refuses, her husband angrily transforms into a loon and commands a storm that sends powerful waves crashing into the kayak. The tossing and turning makes Sedna’s father fearful of capsizing, and he knows the only way he can survive is to placate the spirit-bird by tossing his daughter overboard.
As poor Sedna frantically grips the kayak, her father cuts off her fingers. From her joints are born seals, whales, and walruses. From that day forward, Sedna rules over the animals of the sea as a one-eyed goddess—she lost the other to the stormy sea—with a long mass of black hair. As for Sedna’s father, who is sad beyond belief, he returns to his tent only to be swept into the sea by another violent storm. As punishment, his soul is now imprisoned at the bottom of the sea, in the land ruled by his daughter, the sea goddess.
SIGNIFICANCE
This version of the Inuit myth of Sedna is based on the tale recounted in Evelyn Wolfson’s anthology Inuit Mythology. There are many other versions told by the indigenous people of the Arctic region. In some cases, Sedna is not a beautiful and proud young woman but a grotesque, cannibalistic figure born of the original creator-giants or a maltreated orphan who is pushed into the sea by other children. Other stories say that she marries a dog rather than a bird or that the bird she marries is not a loon but a fulmar. In many accounts, Sedna’s father kills the spirit-husband and they are pursued by his angry relatives. Sedna is sometimes referred to as Taleelayuk, Nuliajuk, or Uinigumasuittuq, among other names.
Regardless of the variations, the sea goddess is among the most important spirits or deities in Inuit culture, as she oversees the seals, whales, walruses, and other animals of the sea upon which the people depend for their survival and livelihood. Regardless how mean-spirited or benevolent she can be, she always has two sides, as do most Inuit spirits, and thus commands deep respect. Indeed, dualism pervades traditional Inuit cosmology and society.
To honor Sedna, the Inuits traditionally held annual feasts during which they shared meat, exchanged gifts, and made offerings to the sea goddess. They also drank from a special vessel of water to honor her water home. Such feasts were especially important during periods of famine. Humans had to observe taboos and rituals to appease Sedna, lest she be displeased and bring pestilence, tempest, or famine. To plead for more animals for hunters during a famine, the people would call upon a shaman to use his powers to communicate with Sedna. Typically, the shaman would also offer to comb and braid her hair, as she cannot do so herself without fingers. Alternatively, the shaman might have to grapple with and overcome the goddess.
Sedna takes many forms in Inuit sculpture, paintings, and other artwork. She is sometimes depicted as half human and half seal or whale. She has been alternately portrayed as a classically beautiful goddess with long, flowing hair and dreamy eyes or as a capricious and assertive goddess with staring or anguished eyes and a mass of untamed hair. Her fingerless hands usually feature prominently in artwork.
In 2004, Sedna was honored by American astronomers who named a newly discovered object in the solar system for the goddess. This celestial Sedna has yet to be officially classified, although some believe it to be a dwarf planet smaller than Pluto.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Laugrand, Frédéric B., and Jarich G. Oosgten. Inuit Shamanism and Christianity: Transitions and Transformations in the Twentieth Century. Montreal: McGill-Queens UP, 2010. Print.
---. The Sea Woman: Sedna in Inuit Shamanism and Art in the Eastern Arctic. Fairbanks: U of Alaska P, 2008. Print.
Rudinger, Joel. Sedna: Goddess of the Sea. Huron: Cambric, 2006. Print.
San Souci, Robert D. Song of Sedna. Garden City: Doubleday, 1981. Print.
Tchana, Katrin Hyman. “Sedna, Woman of the Sea: Supreme Deity of the Inuit People.” Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from around the World. New York: Holiday, 2006. 22–29. Print.
Wight, Darlene Coward. “The Inuit Sea Goddess.” Canada’s Changing North. Ed. William C. Wonders. Rev. ed. Montreal: McGill-Queens UP, 2003. 94–95. Print.
Wolfson, Evelyn. “Sedna, Goddess of the Sea: Baffinland Inuit of Nunavut, Canada.” Inuit Mythology. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2001. 67–77. Print.