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Overview

Kiviung reaches a house occupied by a mother and daughter after escaping Arnaitiang. The daughter's husband is a log of driftwood with four branches. The women carry it to shore near low tide, and it swims away as the tide rises. In the evening it returns with two seals attached to each branch, providing ample food for both women and the visiting traveller. The branches function as the carriers of its catch; Boas does not describe a hidden human shape or a transformation into an ordinary man.

One day the launched log never returns. After an interval Kiviung marries the daughter and assumes the hunting role himself. The following conflict concerns her jealous mother, who kills her and adopts her skin to impersonate her; it is not an action by the vanished wooden husband. This profile retains the limited supernatural-provider episode within the larger journey and leaves the cause and destination of its disappearance unknown.

Log with four branchesReturns eight seals on a daily tide cycleDisappears without explanation
01

Origins & earliest records

Boas published this witness in The Central Eskimo (1888), a work based chiefly on his Cumberland Sound and Davis Strait travels and supplemented by other travellers' reports. The selected passage does not supply a named speaker or a specific interview date. Its historical spellings and editorial framework remain attributed rather than generalized to every Inuit region.

02

Records & interpretation

Kiviung, complete tale read; four-branched driftwood son-in-law episode. The complete selected narrative was read, with the introduction defining the collection's mixed evidentiary scope. Publication is not claimed as the first oral origin.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    The Central Eskimo

    Franz Boas · 1888

    Kiviung, complete tale read; four-branched driftwood son-in-law episode.

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 textBoas1888: Kiviung, complete tale read; four-branched driftwood son-in-law episode.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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