Saviour

For weeks now, Toklo had been having dreams of Sedna. In those dreams, Sedna, the Mistress of the Sea kept calling to him. Like all in his tribe, Toklo had first learnt of Sedna, the beautiful and terrifying sea-deity, when he was a child. The tale was typically told during the summer months, when his people moved from their ice-igloo villages to the warm-season tents. For as far back as he could remember it had been Ujarak, the village leader, who would gather the children in a circle and tell them the various Sedna stories. Ujurak even claimed to have met the deity.

Toklo remembered Ujurak’s Sedna stories very well. But one story stood out from the rest; Ujurak always began the telling in the same way, “Sedna was a beautiful but conceited woman who pushed away the advances of all of the men in her village. Even when mighty hunters from other villages would come to seek her out, she would refuse them. Sedna viewed all men as being beneath her, not good enough for the gift of her beauty.”

Ujurak has always been a great storyteller. He never just sat there when telling his tales, but instead became very animated and added lots of body motion and vocal emotion to every tale. But this was even more so whenever he spoke of Sedna. Pointing to the sky, Ujurak continued sharing Sedna’s saga, “But one day while Malina, the sun goddess, shone high in the sky, Sedna met a man so special that she immediately fell in love with him. The man told Sedna that he was also in love with her and asked that she marry him and come away with him across the sea to his home.

Sedna quickly said yes! The two were joined together and the man took her away to his home across the sea. But once there, Sedna discovered that his home was a giant nest and the man was really a bird.” Typically at this stage Ujurak would make great big wings out of his arms, and vigorously flapped them around and “flew” circles around his audience while he spoke “Sedna was appalled and frightened! She wanted to get away but knew she would have to wait for her father to visit so she could escape.

One full year later her father finally came to visit and upon seeing Sedna’s terrible situation he grabbed his daughter and escaped with her in his boat. But when the great bird, who had pretended to be a man, found they had left, he flapped his wings and caused the sea to form giant waves, which threatened to sink Sedna and her father’s boat.

Her father was so frightened that he threw Sedna overboard to appease the bird’s anger. But Sedna held onto the boat rails with such a strong grip that her father had to cut off her fingers to try and save himself. He didn’t succeed at the first attempt, even when he tried cutting at the first joint, so he had to try again and started cutting off at the knuckles. It was only then that poor Sedna finally let go. But out of her pain, fear and misery, the rest of the Children became blessed.” Always at this point in the story, Ujurak looked sad, but then brightened a bit, when he spoke of what bounties Sedna’s sacrifice had brought them all, “Those fingers became the Walrus and Whales and other animals that feed the Inuit people to this day. Sedna, being so beautiful was saved by the fish of the sea who brought her down to the depths of the ocean and made her their Mistress. Giving Sedna dominion over every creature in the seas. To this day it is Sedna who commands which animals, and in what quantities, will make themselves available for the hunt, so that we, the Children, have food to eat. But even after becoming a goddess, Sedna remained quick to anger. This is especially true whenever she looks into the waves and does not see a beautiful woman looking back at her in the reflection.” Ujurak would then pause, and look at the audience, “you see Children, even after becoming a goddess and being treated with reverence by all the Children of the sea, she still hung on to her vanity. Beware to always look deep into the people around you, not just at the surface. Sedna reminds us every day that beauty is skin deep.”

Toklo awoke alone as always in the confines of his tent. He had never married though he had opportunities. He was a good hunter and a great fisherman able to help provide meat and fish for his village. He would make a good husband and father but he could never seem to find a woman to settle down with. Something, he felt, was missing and he could not put his finger on what that was.

Toklo cleaned the sleep from his eyes and quickly ate some dried fish. He then grabbed his pack in which he kept his hand-carved fishing lures, most made of bone, and some provisions. Then he retrieved his Kakivait, the three-pronged spear he used to harpoon the fish he could lure near to the surface. When he had gathered all of his gear and provisions he walked out into the relative warmth of the sun.

Most mornings Toklo would join with others from his village and head to the fishing hole together. But today they were out early on a hunt for Caribou and other animals. While he usually enjoyed the company of others, on this morning, he was relieved to be alone. A feeling of unease had begun to creep into his mind soon after leaving his home.

Toklo walked along the stone-marked path until he reached the fishing hole in the ice. After setting down his pack and chewing on a piece of dried fish he dropped his fish shaped bone lure into the hole and waited while he jigged the line. His harpoon always at the ready to spear any fish which might be lured to the surface.

Some minutes passed idly by until Toklo began to see and sense a shadow rising up from below. He readied his harpoon but something told him to wait. If this was a fish, it was a big one, very big for what he usually caught here. To his surprise what now broke the surface was no fish.

Rising before him out from the freezing water was the woman from his dreams. Sedna the Mistress of the Sea. Toklo could see that she was truly a beauty to behold. Her deep dark eyes were set perfectly in an unblemished face, which in turn was framed by long, jet black hair. All types of fish swam in the water beneath and around her feet as if waiting in attendance.

Toklo dropped his harpoon, his eyes transfixed on the deity. Feeling fear and exhilaration he resisted the urge to run back to his tent.

Sedna looked straight into his eyes and spoke, “Hello Toklo.” She said in a silky voice. “You know me, don’t you?”

“Yes,” He replied. “I have dreamt of you.”

“I have been watching you Toklo.” She said. “I watch all of the Children. But lately I have been watching you more than any of the others.

“Why haven’t you taken a wife Toklo?” Sedna continued. “Is it because you were waiting for someone from your dreams?”

“I… I don’t know…” He stammered.

“Come closer.” She said with her arms outstretched, beckoning.

It was then that he noticed her hands. The hands that could not possibly hold onto anything because all of her fingers were missing. Toklo hesitated. His fear annoyed Sedna.

“I have chosen you Toklo and you have spent your life waiting for me.” Said Sedna. “Look at me, am I not beautiful?

Yes Mistress. Replied Toklo, “You are very beautiful.”

“You must comb my hair for me Toklo.” Said Sedna as she threw back her hair, “as you can see, I cannot do it myself.”

Toklo felt more afraid than before and gave Sedna the only excuse he could think of “but I have no comb, Mistress.” He whispered. “I cannot do this.”

Sedna’s eyes seemed to swirl with differing shades of black as she continued to speak to the terrified Toklo. Her tone had turned sharp and demanding, “Then you must get a comb Toklo. Promise me you will come back with a comb tomorrow, because if you don’t I will not send the animals to you and your village will not eat. There is the Balance to be kept. Do you promise to come back?”

Toklo promised, but he was not sure he meant it. He ran back to his tent and sat in the dark not knowing what to do but in great fear of doing nothing at all. Was the fate of the whole village really in his hands now? He asked himself this question over and over again until Malina the Sun Goddess left the sky and the Moon God Anningan rose above their humble gathering of tents.

After a while he fell into a fitful sleep. He did not dream of Sedna this time. He dreamt of his village and what he saw disturbed him. The hunters were coming back with empty litters. The fishing nets laid neglected and unused. The children cried because they had nothing to eat. Toklo awoke with a start, wet with sweat despite the cold.

He did not go to the fishing hole that morning, instead, he sat outside his tent pretending to repair his tools in an attempt to keep his mind off of the events of the prior morning. But he knew that he was breaking his promise to Sedna.

Sometime later that morning Toklo saw Ujarak coming back from a hunt but the great hunter was empty handed. Could this be a sign, a message from Sedna, he thought? In the past other hunts had not been successful but this time he could not help but think that the Mistress of the Sea was sending him a message.

Toklo decided to speak with Ujarak and seek his advice and wisdom. Toklo went to the older man and greeted him with a smile but Ujarak could see the tension on Toklo’s face and the fear in his eyes. “Come, Toklo.” The old man said, “Let’s sit inside. It’s been a while since we talked. Maybe it’s been too long.”

Ujarak was the oldest of all the people in the village and their leader and, like Toklo he had never taken a wife or had any children. The villagers did not understand why and if any asked he would just smile and say, “You are my family. I am like your father. This is the Way.”

Toklo followed Ujarak into his tent and the two shared some dried meat. When they finished the small meal Ujarak spoke. “Tell me Toklo, why are you not fishing today? What is it that bothers you so?”

Toklo sat nervously fidgeting but the calm manner and gentle smile of the village Leader set him at ease and he finally managed to speak. “I have been dreaming for some time now about the woman you used to tell us about when I was a child. The Sea Mistress.”

Ujarak’s warm expression grew serious. “You mean Sedna.” It was not a question but a statement of fact.

“Yes, said Toklo. “but there is more…”

Toklo told the old man all about what had happened the day before and of the promise he made to Sedna. He expected disbelief from Ujarak but what he got was something else entirely. Ujarak smiled and leaned in close to Toklo as he spoke. “You have heard of The One Toklo. Even when you were a child you would hear the elders whisper The One is above all living things and the eternal Balance is the way of The One.

“The Balance must be kept. This is the Way. The Children must keep that balance. That is why we are here. We are the Children, Toklo. We have not always been the Children and there have been many before us. But it is for us to keep the Balance now. This is the Way.”

“What we do now may have no effect that we can see and we don’t know where this all leads. What happens to us matters little. We are a small part of something that is beyond our comprehension. But we must always work to keep the Balance. This is the Way.

Toklo tried to understand what Ujarak was saying even as he asked the question, “But what can I do? I am one man. How much can I matter in all this?”

“We can’t see far enough to know and understand what our actions mean to the Balance.” Answered Ujarak. “But we must still do what we can to keep the Balance. This is the Way.

Ujarak’s face tightened and he spoke to Toklo as a father to his child. “You made a promise Toklo. And if this promise is not kept the Balance will not be kept. Sedna must be appeased so that we will have successful hunts and be able to fill up our food stores for the winter.”

Toklo’s eyes opened wide, “But how can I go with her? Surely I will die!” He cried.

Ujarak replied, “We must believe in the Way of the One and that there is a reason and purpose for all we do and all that happens. What does it matter if a man lives or not compared to everything that is around, above and below us?”

“Like myself, you never took a wife or had children Toklo.” Ujarak continued. “There is a reason for that. Come… We will walk together.”

As they reached the place where Sedna had first appeared to him Toklo began to understand and a calmness filled him. As they neared the break in the ice Toklo saw that Sedna, Mistress of the Sea was there waiting for him.

Toklo looked up at the old man, “But I do not have a comb Ujarak.”

Ujarak pulled something from inside his coat. It was an old and weathered comb carved from bone. “Here child, take this one,” Said Ujarak, “I think she will recognize it.”

Toklo understood now and as he took Sedna’s arm she began to slowly pull him into the cold sea. Before he was fully under water, he took a last look back to where Ujurak stood. Ujarak had been joined by all of the people of his village. They were all smiling and filled with gratitude for their savior. And as one they all chanted, “This is The Way…”

Story by Eric Goldstein.

Edited by Nelson Martinez.