Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi

Uumarnituq, the man who becomes a woman and mother, has spelling variants in English sources, including Uumarniittuq. In one Cumberland Sound variant, they are named Owmirneto. In a Cumberland Sound variant, he is named Akkalookjo. ==Versions==

The creation story is composed from several overlapping short stories from Igloolik, Netsilik groups, and other Inuit living in the central Arctic. In one variant, there was no death or war at the time of Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi. Eventually their descendants grew so rapidly that the deities feared the earth would be destroyed again. Uumarnituq, now an elder, chanted a new in response, saying "Now we shall have death! Now we shall have war!" Aakulujjuusi disagreed with this change and cried out, but was too late to stop the change. However, Aakulujjuusi was able to preserve dying human souls by enabling an afterlife or reincarnation. == Documented tales ==

Stories about Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi were told by Tuulliq and Unaliq, two Netsilik immigrants from Repulse Bay who had moved to Igloolik. Their stories were written down by Knud Rasmussen in 1929. These versions included the earth's pre-historical destruction by the pillar's instability, and Uumarnituq's transformation from a man into a woman. Rasmussen also said that these tales were well-known to the Iglulingmiut. Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi's emergence from the earth was also told by Ulluriaq, a shaman from Igloolik, and documented by Agiaq. The Cumberland Sound variant stories were told by Inuit living on Baffin Island. They shared these with Captain J. Mutch, and the stories were later published by Franz Boas. Iglulingmiut tales of Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi are also mentioned in published work from Guy Mary-Rousselière. The Aivilingmiut living on Southampton Island also told of Uumarnituq and Aakulujjuusi, and this is mentioned in Edmund Snow Carpenter's documents. ==References==