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Inuit Legend: The Power of Words

In an Inuit legend told by Nalungiaq, in the earliest times humans and animals could change forms at will, all spoke the same language, and words had magic powers - a word spoken casually could come to life and make what was said happen, as the human mind had mysterious abilities. This strange poem describes a mystical time and was part of an ancient oral tradition passed down through countless generations of Inuit people living in the Canadian Arctic.

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103 views1 page

Inuit Legend: The Power of Words

In an Inuit legend told by Nalungiaq, in the earliest times humans and animals could change forms at will, all spoke the same language, and words had magic powers - a word spoken casually could come to life and make what was said happen, as the human mind had mysterious abilities. This strange poem describes a mystical time and was part of an ancient oral tradition passed down through countless generations of Inuit people living in the Canadian Arctic.

Uploaded by

eanicolas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Magic Words

(an Inuit legend after Nalungiaq)

In the very earliest time,


when both people and animals lived on earth,
a person could become an animal if he or she wanted to
and an animal could become a human being.
Sometimes they were people
and sometimes animals
and there was no difference.
All spoke the same language.
That was the time when words were like magic.
The human mind had mysterious powers.
A word spoken by chance
might have strange consequences.
It would suddenly come alive
and what people wanted to happen could happen
all you had to do was say it.
Nobody could explain this:
Thats the way it was.

This strange and mystical poem was told to a reporter by an Inuit woman called
Nalungiaq in the early 1900s. The Inuit people live in the Canadian Arctic and this poem
is part of an oral tradition that stretches back for innumerable generations.

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