Storytelling Eskimo Folk Tales

Book Eskimo Folk Tales

Author Knud Rasmussen

Year 1921

Once upon a time in a land not so far away a young woman longed to be a mother.  The young woman lived in the woods all by her lonesome with no one to keep her company.  She ran out everyday to collect food, water, to hunt, and to search for someone to keep her company.  The woman watched the animal families run about and every spring she watched as the various animals became mothers, and she envied them for their children. 

One spring the young woman ran out to hunt for the day and she encountered a small wolf pup.  The pup was small in size, so small that he was likely the runt of the litter left out to die on his own.  The young woman scooped up the pup and took him in for herself.  She decided then and there that she would raise the pup on her own, that he would keep her company and she would no longer be alone.

Over the years the young woman, who was now a young mother became closer and closer to her newly fostered son.  The pup grew swift and strong.  She taught him the ways of the woods.  She taught the pup how to hunt as soon as he was able so that they might share the daily load of the work to be done.  The pup grew into a wolf, and as he grew so did his skills for hunting.  He began to go after bigger and bigger prey.  The woman was pleased with her sons efforts, and as he continued to hunt larger animals he too grew larger, the cycle was seemingly endless.

The young pup was no more and now the old woman had a full grown wolf with her.  She knew that he had to go out and be free to explore for himself.  For one day soon she would be gone.  She remembered how lonely she felt before finding her pup.  One night when the wolf came home from his hunt the woman told him that he must find someone else to hunt with and find a family on his own.  She explained that soon she would be gone from this world and that she would be walking amongst the stars.  The wolf obeyed, knowing his mother was wise and meant only to look out for him.  He ran out on his own in search of a family to provide for, still every now and then he howls towards the stars and the moon, knowing his mother is out there listening. 

Black Wolf Pup
Image from Wikipedia

Authors Note

This storytelling post is based on the Woman who had a Bear as a Foster Son. In the original story an old woman in a village is brought a bear cub and told to raise it as her own.  The bear grows big and strong and provides game for the whole village.  In the end of the story the bear is thought to have killed someone in a neighboring village and the mother must send him away for protection.  I made some changes to this story to see how it could be perceived through another perspective.