Adrift Sedna

I first heard the myth of Sedna from a song by Heather Dale. The song describes Sedna making the seals, otters, and whales to keep her company as she roams the cold oceans. I love the song and decided to research the myth. There are a lot of versions of Sedna’s myth. All are a lot darker than the song.

Sculpture of Sedna, Goddess of the Sea, by Inuk artist Qaqaq Ashoona

Sedna was a goddess of the sea in Intuit mythology. One day a wealthy hunter from another tribe asked for her hand in marriage. Her new husband turned out to be a bird spirit. The bird spirit kept her in miserable conditions, and Sedna sent messages to her father pleading for rescue. Eventually, her father came for her, but during her escape, her husband was killed. When they sailed away the spirits pursued them. In all versions of the myth, her father becomes so afraid he throws Sedna overboard. When Sedna clings to the side of the canoe, her father chops her fingers off to make her let go.

Like I said, darker than the song. Sedna doesn’t create the sea creatures as companions. Instead, they are formed from her bloody finger bones after her father chops them off.

Sedna gets the last laugh in this myth. When she sinks to the bottom of the ocean, she ends up in the Intuit underworld. When Sedna is angered she catches all the walruses, whales, otters, and the other creatures created from her fingers in her hair. She then refuses to release them for the Intuit people to hunt, leading to famine. A shaman must go down to the bottom of the sea and plead with Sedna to return the sea mammals and then comb them out of her hair.

The myth caught my imagination and I created my sculpture, Adrift Sedna, based around imagery from the legend.