A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

At Kugkat, Patussorssuaq kills his uncle Alataq as the older man prepares to leave on a hunting journey with his wife. Patussorssuaq wants her for himself and also intends to kill his own wife, but she escapes to her family. The woman he has taken later dies, leaving him little benefit from the murder.

During a later gathering at Natsivilik, a fox snaps at his coat fringe while he hunts. He fails to strike it. The narration identifies it afterwards as Alataq’s soul, linking the form to the dead man’s fox amulet. A subsequent bear manifestation tears Patussorssuaq apart. His daughter hears the attack but magically forgets her message when she tries to summon help. By the time she remembers, rescuers find the victim dead beside the pieces of ice with which he tried to defend himself. The fox and bear are successive forms of this named avenger, not evidence that every bear encountered in the region is a human ghost.

Fox manifestation linked to an amuletLater bear manifestationInduces a witness’s forgetfulnessAvenges a particular killing
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Origins & earliest records

The volume’s final source list assigns this narrative to Polar Inuit of Smith Sound. Knud Rasmussen collected the material; W. Worster edited and translated the 1921 English selection. No individual storyteller is named here. Worster states that he selected and edited versions, including omissions; this is not an unabridged performance transcript.

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Records & interpretation

The complete Patussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle narrative and final regional source list were inspected. The story begins on printed p. 107.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Eskimo Folk-Tales

    Knud Rasmussen, collector; W. Worster, editor and English translator · 1921

    Patussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle, begins printed p. 107.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textRasmussen/Worster 1921: Patussorssuaq, Who Killed His UncleResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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