Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea
Sedna was an Inuit girl who had provoked her father’s wrath by rejecting all her human suitors; she married a dog and gave birth to several pups. Horrified, her father threw her into the sea and cut off her fingers when she tried to climb back into the boat. Sedna sank to the bottom of the sea, where she became a powerful spirit, and her severed fingers were transformed into the first seals. As mistress of the seas, Sedna is of the utmost importance to human survival. However, the mistreatment she suffered at her father’s hands has made her very capricious, and so if she is not constantly appeased she sets about imprisoning the sea animals and humanity starves. When this happens, a shaman must travel to her dwelling and face her terrible guardians before imploring Sedna face to face.
For the Inuit, all the sins of humanity fall into the ocean and accumulate in Sedna’s hair in the form of grease and filth. When the shaman travels to Sedna, he must take care to clean and braid her hair, since she cannot do it herself because her father cut off her fingers. In gratitude for this task, Sedna releases the animals and humanity is able to eat once more.