Comments (Meaning / History Only)
Sedna (Inuktitut: ᓴᓐᓇ, Sanna) is the goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology, also known as the Mother of the Sea or Mistress of the Sea.
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One possible meaning of the name Sedna is "The one down there".
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She was seduced by a chaman, or an evil bird or a dog, according to different sources. He took her to an island far away, but Sedna's father once heard her screams, for she was ill-treated. He fetched her, but her husband set off a storm on the sea. The father and his daughter were on the point of drowning into the sea, so the father threw her daughter into the water. She tried to cling to the side of the boat, but her father chopped off her fingers. The latters became fishes and seals when sinking in the water with her.
She became the ruler of the underwater world, and is believed to become angry when her hair is tangled. She then holds back the creatures of the sea, preventing the people to feed on them. The Inuit chamans thus have to untangle her hair - since she doesn't have fingers to do it herself anymore.
There are of course other versions of the legend, where Sedna is not always seen as the innocent victim. (But still, I find this story - especially the chopping-fingers passage - kind of cruel. :/)
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She became the ruler of the underwater world, and is believed to become angry when her hair is tangled. She then holds back the creatures of the sea, preventing the people to feed on them. The Inuit chamans thus have to untangle her hair - since she doesn't have fingers to do it herself anymore.
There are of course other versions of the legend, where Sedna is not always seen as the innocent victim. (But still, I find this story - especially the chopping-fingers passage - kind of cruel. :/)
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Sanna is the Inuktitut spelling of the name Sedna. She is known under many other names including Nerrivik, Arnarquagssaq and Nuliajuk.
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