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History

Creation Story - Malina and Anningan

The Inuit have several stories that go back to their beginnings. For traditional Inuit these stories are very important. One of the stories is about Malina, the sun goddess, and Anningan, the moon god. This Inuit oral tradition tells of a time when these two lived together as brother and sister. One night Anningan attacked his sister. During the fight, a seal oil lamp was overturned. Malina's hands became black from the oil. As she pushed Anningan away her hands got his face dirty. Malina ran as far away as she could into the sky. Anningan started to chase her, and continues to do so even today. Because he chases her so much, each night he becomes skinnier. That is why the moon gets smaller each evening of a month. At the end of a month Anningan disappears for three days to eat. Then he starts chasing her all over again.

Even though stories such as this may seem strange for many of us, what they tell us about the Inuit is that everything in their world is alive. The Inuit have stories for almost everything that happens.