THE QALLUPILLUIT
There are warning signs that a Qallupilluk is near: a knock or shadow under the ice, a strange humming coming from the ocean, the smell of rotten eggs. But even without those warnings, children should stay away from the ocean. Especially if they’re alone. And especially if they’re small. That’s because if you’re small or if you’re alone, you become easy prey for a Qallupilluk. The Qallupilluit are expert snatchers of children. They wait for their potential victims to get closer to the water. Closer. Closer. Closer. And leap! Snatch! The Qallupilluk stashes her newest victim into her amati, and dives under the ice, deep into the water, never to return.
The Qallupilluit are especially active when the ice breaks in the spring, and, of course, when children go to the beach by themselves. A Qallupilluk’s appearance is just as terrifying as her behavior: she looks human, but with scales. She has green skin, long hair, and long claw-like fingernails. Her clothes, with the large pouch to carry children in, are made of duck skin. Some say a Qallupilluk will eat the children she finds. Others say she cannot have children, so she will raise the children as her own.
If you want to learn about more Inuit legends, you can visit this site: www.inuitmyths.com
In this video, Lucy, tells us about the Qallupilluit.
Inuktitut
English
Designed by Taqqut Productions Inc. Artwork by Germaine Arnaktauyok.
Copyright Sivumu Northern Productions, Arnait Video Productions 2019
