Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales, Part B

(Navaranapaluk, the lying wife who started 

a war between two tribes. Source)

• Navaranapaluk came from a tribe of man-eaters but married a man from a tribe that didn't eat men
• One time when she went to visit her birth tribe, she put mittens on her feet instead of boots to make it look like the other tribe was treating her poorly
• Why did she feel the need to do this?
• When her birth tribe saw this they vowed to take revenge and wage war on the other tribe
• Her birth tribe waited until the men from the other tribe were gone and then they killed all the women of the tribe except for 3 that hid
• This seems cowardly
• When the men came back to see all their wives were killed, they correctly put the blame on Navaranapaluk who fled recently
• They prepared for war against her birth tribe by making lots of arrows
• What if they didn't make arrows? They might've lost the battle...
• Then they set out and came up behind the houses of her birth tribe. Her birth tribe knew they would come for revenge and had their women take turns watching but apparently didn't see them behind the houses
• Why didn't they have someone watch behind the houses which seems like the most obvious spot?
• An old woman from her birth tribe had a dream about two creatures fighting above her head, and when she told the man-eaters this, they saw it as a sign that the other tribe was near
• Seems far fetched. Maybe the man-eaters heard strange noises outside, planted a alarm system of some sort, or didn't know they were coming at all?
• The men of the man eaters came out of their houses but it was too late. The other tribe had already surrounded their houses. When they came out they were killed by arrows
• After killing all the men, they chose new wives from the widows and took them back to their tribe
• Maybe this sparks another round of revenge with the wives getting vengeance for their husbands?
• Two of the men carried off Navaranapaluk with her asking them which one was going to take her as wife.
• They laughed before cutting off her arms with their knives, making her bleed to death
• Seems like a strange way to kill her. Maybe slit her throat or take turns stabbing her repeatedly instead? Or the men could take her back to the 3 women survivors and they can stab her to death?

Bibliography
The Wife Who Lied by Knud Rasmussen