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- G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
NULIAJUK LIVES!
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Little Nuliajuk who had no one to take care of her jumped out on the raft as it left the shore wanting to go too, but the people threw her off into the water. The little girl tried to hold on to the edge of the raft but they cut her fingers off and as she went under the pieces of her fingers came alive in the water and turned into seals. That¹s where seals come from. And Nuliajuk floated to the bottom where she became Mother of the Sea and Ruler of all Beasts on sea and land. There she lives in her house under the waters and keeps track of everything we do, and when we break taboos she punishes us by hiding the animals. Then hunting is bad and people starve. That is why she is the most feared of all the gods. Nuliajuk
gave seals to humankind, it is true, but she is not friendly
to people for they had no pity on her when she lived on earth, throwing
her into the sea like that to drown. So naturally
she would like mankind to perish too. That is why we do our best
to be as good as we can and make Nuliajuk think kindly of us. A brand New Year is just around the corner -- 2002. Already there are signs and portends about what kind of a year it will be. Dubya grimly forecast that it would be a year of war. He predicted the economic disaster that followed his election, so perhaps he's as good at gloomy predictions as he is at trimming civil liberties.
One thing we are sure of and that is, it will NOT be a Year of the Woman. No chance, nohow. Too many women have given up their birthright, stuffed their courage into the garbage disposal and now meekly follow several unquestioning paces behind, since the events of 9/11 -- victims of their tradition and training. War always seems to place many difficult burdens on women. Whatever gains they have made in peacetime seem to slip back several notches for they are compelled to sacrifice both by tradition and by training. In the workplace, the rule is: "the last hired, the first fired." Still earning much less than their male counterparts, most women will cling to whatever low paying job they can get. Fear for her family demands no less of her. War is power and power is the only important thing. War power is controlled and run by men. War just accentuates women's powerlessness. It's worse this time because the present administration is so hostile to women:
There will come a time when the proverbial worm turns. Women who define themselves can look for help and inspiration to Nuliajuk, Mother of the Sea and Ruler of all Beasts on sea and land. For years western religions tried to bury HER as they have so successfully buried other Female Gods. Today, women do have the beginnings of their own culture, tradition and some power shared equally with men. But their hold on them is tenuous and we can see their fingers clutching desperately to maintain their human rights as the knives of "the war effort" seeks to cut them loose. Perhaps Nuliajuk has a lesson for us. The strictures of Western churches and their missionaries drove Nuliajuk underground and into hiding. To no avail She still lives in the hearts of the Inuit through the power of their shaman who could be either a woman or man. It was only required that a person have the ability to see spirits. Inuit tell Her story that is also the story of their lives. Nuliajuk exemplifies the wellsprings of a traditional Inuit sense of balance between human and nature; male and female. A far different tradition than the enforced male dominance and female submissiveness of our culture throughout the centuries. Santa Claus and his entourage are just one of the really strong cultural conditioners that reinforces this harmful gender stereotyping, generation after generation. Nuliajuk, ruler of beasts on sea and land must get a terrific kick out of our phalocentric culture's portrayal of Santa's reindeer. Big, strong and muscular, each beast sporting a huge rack of antlers, they soar over tall buildings, leap over continents at a single bound pulling a sleigh full of toys and a fat little man in a red suit. Testosterone power unleashed!
2001-053
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In
a time of famine once when the whole village was going off to new hunting
grounds a little orphan girl named Nuliajuk
was left behind. Nobody could bother about an extra mouth to feed.
They were in a hurry to get to a place where there was food. They made
a raft of the kayak to cross the river on
and the parents put their children on board. 
Yet
we are told on good authority that male reindeer drop their antlers in
November and early December. Female reindeer keep their antlers until after
they give birth in the spring. "Therefore, Santa's reindeer are all
pregnant females." HO, HO, HO!