Untitled

THE ICE-MAIDENS

by Mabel Kaplan, 1999

There is a land near the top of the world where there is no horizon, no blue to colour the skies, no ground just hills and valleys of silver-white snow. But to this day, during the first week of the arctic spring before the mountain ice begins its journey to the sea a small group of seasoned fishermen paddle out in their sealskin umiaks to harpoon a ribbon seal to offer at the mouth of an ancient glacier to Sedna, Spirit of the Sea.

This place, in the midst of the vast snow covered terrain, once hosted a small community of Inuit people ... men, women and children, who lived by hunting seal and fishing near the path of the glacier.

The people were accustomed to the uncanny sounds that from time to time rumbled beneath them. They knew Sedna was reaching up to gather and re-incarnate the souls of slaughtered seals, ensuring the harvest in the coming season. But, in time, as the ice began to move and shudder, the people grew afraid - afraid of being covered by the sheet ice creaking and groaning towards them on its way to the sea.

The Inuit gathered on the slopes above their huts with offerings of their best catch and called upon the Great Spirit.

"Spirit of the Air," they prayed, "protect us from the anger of Sedna, theSea Spirit. We have faithfully returned the souls of our hunt to the sea as she has bidden. Let her not close in upon us!"

And the Great Spirit looked with pity on them and - though it did not halt the relentless advance of the huge ice sheets - in a voice that boomed through the heavens, it always warned of the impending danger:

"Rest not in your snow huts this night. Fill your lamps with oil. Flee from this place. For tonight she will come and engulf your home."

And the people would hurry to make ready their stone lamps, gather theirpossessions - and sled down to a safe place in the snow-filled valley. There they camped until the danger passed. On return they dug out the frozen earth and built anew their sealskin huts partly submerged in the fresh snow. This was their way of life and they accepted it ... until one day as the men were returning from hunting and fishing in the early evening, they heard the booming warning of the Great Spirit.

"Rest not in your snow huts this night. Fill your lamps with oil ..."

And as always the people emptied their huts, made ready their stone lamps, piled their possessions onto sleds ... all the people - except the old tattooed seal-woman who lived near the very mouth of the glacier. No-one knew from whence she had come... only that she had appeared in the late winter of that year with her six granddaughters.

"I will not go," she said. "This is where I belong. I will not flee."

The women tried to persuade her to come with them. It was to no avail. The fishermen urged her to change her mind - "But what of your grandchildren? Will you not save them?"

"May the Spirit of the Sea protect them," she replied quietly.

And though the hunters repeated over and over the words of the Great Spirit- "Rest not in your huts ... tonight she will come ..." - the old woman would not listen.

By sundown the people had gone to safety far down in the snow-filled valley - all but the old woman and her granddaughters. During the night the people in the valley awakened to the eerie moaning and sudden cracking of ice reverberating into the black sky. Next morning Sedna ceased stirring and lay silent. The people returned. They set to work as they had done so many times before. As they dug ice caves and built new sealskin huts into the frozen earth they thought sadly about the old woman and her grandchildren.

Again, the men paddled their umiaks between the stands of pack ice to fish and hunt the seal.

Then . . . strange things began to happen.

One day a young hunter swept dangerously near the pack ice wall, saw a tiny arm made entirely of ice reach out and push his small craft to safety. Then a family fishing from their sealskin umiak reported seeing an ice-maiden jumping in and out of the ice, throwing fish and young seal into their boat before disappearing.

The people were no longer on their own - or at the mercy of the glacier. Their protectors were always near to hand. Some claimed that if you caught the right angle of light on the ice you could actually see up to seven human-like figures moving inside the great ice wall. As time went on, the people perceived these figures as none other than the tattooed seal-woman and her granddaughters - translated to that "other world" - forever "ice-maidens".

Then, one evening, an elderly fisherman caught by a wave, bumped against the ice wall. As he peered into the ice he saw the old grandmother herself.

He called to her. "Come, old woman, bring your children and return to us!"

But she could no longer hear the words of a mortal. She could but look into the heart and place there a gentle warning -"Come not too close until you are ready to join us."

After that, family by family the Inuits moved away from the glacier region until the whole community resettled in the safety of the snow-filled valley .

Today, only the fishermen return briefly in the arctic spring before the ice begins its journey to the sea . . . to bring in a fresh catch of ribbon seal and offer it at the mouth of the ancient glacier to the Spirit of the Sea.

This Story is Copyrighted, if in doubt, please read COPYRIGHTS section at TALESetc.com