Goddess of the Sea provides fish for Inuit. She is the goddess of fisherman and hunters. There is a story that goes with Nerrivik, and, although, like many of the Goddess stories, it is not a pretty story, but has great meaning.
One time, a long time ago, a bird (well, he was a magical bird as you will see) fell in love with a woman. He searched the icy areas for a seal skin coat because men look so handsome in seal skin coats. He had very bad eyes and could not see very well so the search took a long time. But his love for the woman urged him on.
He found a walrus tusk and made himself some goggles so he could see great and look great. The kind of glasses he made were called goggles against snow blindness.
Donning the coat and the goggles, he set off in the shape of a man. He hurried to her village and wooed her until she succumbed to this fine looking man in his fine coat and walrus rims. He took her to his home and began catching seal for her to eat. One day, not long after they arrived home, he was clumsy and knocked his goggles off.
Well, when the wife saw his bad eyes she wept because she felt he could not be a good provider with such weak eyes. Besides, he no longer looked as handsome to her. She wept and he laughed at her and put his goggles back on.
One day, right after this happened, her brothers came to visit the sister they missed. Her husband was out hunting. They found their sister weeping and so they took her home with them before he got back. They put her in their round seal-skinned umiak and paddled off.
When the bird man got home and found her gone, he thought she had been kidnapped. He set out to find her. The wind howled and the snow flew. He threw off his sealskin coat and decided to fly to find her. He was so terrified for her and so angry, that the flap of his wings were thunderous and caused such a winter storm that it was a frightening thing to anyone who might have been out on the sea. The bird man caused such a storm that the umiak almost tipped in the waves.
The brothers, who were quite a few, finally decided that their sister was the cause of the storm. They picked her up and threw her into the foaming sea. She sunk in all her warm skins and she cast them off and was able to reach up and catch the rim of the round boat with one hand. But, the brothers were ever afraid and the oldest brother, so sur she was the cause of the storm, used his curved knife and whack off the hand she was holding on to the boat with.
And, so, she was drowned but as she sunk to the bottom of the sea, she turned into Nerrivik. She was so pitiful, and beautiful and strange, that the sea people made her their goddess. She had only one hand so she could not comb her long beautiful hair. The sea people did that for her to honor her. We still think of ‘mermaids’ combing their long hair, right?) She helped everyone live in harmony and the people, to this day honor her. They believe it is her who sends the seals and other large sea people to them for food.
Another name we know Nerrivik by is “Sedna” and there are many many stories about her in the far North. This goddess teaches us about Providence, about nature, and about providing things of water, of things in water that were learned to be food. It is said she gave birth to fishes and seals and whales and polar bears. In Alaska, in the original cultures, the people feast when giving out whale meat and there are dances to celebrate those lost to the sea during the last year. It is their way of giving thanks.
We, too, must remember where our food comes from. We must honor those that give their lives to sustain us. Have fish today. (In fact, if you can get a small bowl for goldfish, etc., it is a good thing for every time you feed it, it is honoring the goddess.)
We do not know when we will go, or how, but we have to know, wherever it is will be awesome and we never know, maybe we will be remembered as a goddess. We should be.
©Carol Desjarlais 2.7.23
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