(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-eskimo-folk-tales.html)
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| Depiction of the beast spirit |
The story begins with two men, Papik and the brother of his wife, Ailaq, who both are fisherman by trade and would always go out to hunt seal together. Every time the two went out for a hunt, Papik would not catch anything, while Ailaq managed to always catch a seal. Each time this happened, Papik grew more jealous of Ailaq until one day only Papik returned in absolute silence. Later that night, Ailaq's mother came and confronted Papik claiming that he had been the one who had killed her son. Papik denied it vehemently, but the old woman became almost delirious as shes began to threaten Papik that one day she will eat him alive as she believed that he had killed him. She went out to the nearby shore and covered herself in a large blanket before letting the tide come up over her so that she may pass away to become a ghost for the purpose of exacting revenge on Papik. Because of this Papik had decided to stop hunting as he was terrified of this threat until one day he went out on the ice to hunt only to be attacked by a large spirit like a bear. The spirit tears Papik to shreds then makes its way through the village for everyone to notice its the old mother based on the bear pelt nd human bones. This legend was passed down by those who wanted to tell a tale of forewarning of killing someone else without just cause.
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