Introduction-E

took her for a wife. They had a son, and that son was our father. He was the oldest son.
She had had children before, but they also died of starvation, but the oldest son she had
with our grandfather was our father. When she wanted to switch to Christianity, it was
a big event. Our father heard her voice from outside. She called her husband her uncle,
and she asked, “Uncle, should I come in or not?” Of course he said she could enter. They
used to use pieces of clothing for pillows, and her clothing was still inside. The wife was
outside and the entrance was blocked. There was a bag of summer clothing in the porch.
She had put them on and pushed her way in. No one could explain how she had ended
up outside the iglu. After that event, which couldn’t be explained, our grandfather
wanted to become a Christian. Therefore, they went out to catch what they would use
to siqqiqtiq. They went to hunt seal through a seal breathing hole and they came right
back with their catch. They each took a small bite of the seal, maybe the heart. That’s the
way they changed over from their old way of life. That’s how it was done, yes.
What was the name of your grandmother?
Paniaq: The story of my grandmother has been written [by Rasmussen]. Her name was
Ataguttaaluk, and she had this (gesturing across his forehead) around here. My
grandfather had one eye and it seemed like a big lump.
Ataguttaaluk wore a headband?
Paniaq: She had a headband around her forehead. It was metal and it was polished. I
started remembering her when she was wearing it. She always wore it.
I have heard that people who had eaten humans before had some sort
of identification. Was this her identification?
Paniaq: When they were young they wore head bands as hair ornaments. Even men
used to wear them under their hair above their ears. They would have a clasp at the back
to hold them up. It was used as a hair ornament.
Elisapee: I do not know about that myself.
Paniaq: She ended up outside, even though there didn’t seem to be a way outside, and
she was without clothing, this is hard to explain. She had had to have a power greater
than herself to go through that. That in itself is a miracle. This unexplainable event was
what caused her husband to decide to siqqiqtiq. It was due to the taboo rituals that
considered the event not an ordinary event. They had different ways of dealing with
matters. This woman had gone through an extremely difficult ordeal. If she had not
eaten human flesh she would have died. It was because she had eaten human flesh that
when they came upon her she was still alive. 3
54 Introduction to the Oral Traditions