Tirie´tiang

Overview

In The Flight to the Moon, the visiting angakoq sees Tirie´tiang in the entrance passage of the lunar house. The dog is dappled white and red and is explicitly the moon man’s only dog. It is distinct from the enormous walrus bodies flanking the outer entrance: the text does not make the dog itself a monstrous gatekeeper.

In the separate Qaudjaqdjuq narrative, the moon man harnesses Tirie´tiang and descends to help a maltreated orphan. The boy receives extraordinary size and strength, defeats three bears and takes violent revenge on his abusers while sparing those who had helped him. The dog transports the helper; it is not credited with performing the boy’s transformation. Boas’s illustration shows four dogs, but a footnote preserves the Indigenous artist’s correction that only the dappled dog belongs there. The preceding drawing caption names Qeqertuqdjuaq, an Oqomio; this artistic attribution is not automatically an attribution of the entire oral story to him.

Origins & earliest records

Boas’s The Central Eskimo (1888) expressly attributes The Flight to the Moon to Oqomiut and Akudnirmiut transmission. No individual narrator is named for that episode.

Records & interpretation

The Flight to the Moon, pp.598–600, and Qaudjaqdjuq, pp.630–633; complete narratives, figure captions and footnotes11–12.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   The Central Eskimo

   Franz Boas, collector · 1888

   The Flight to the Moon, pp.598–600, and Qaudjaqdjuq, pp.630–633; complete narratives, figure captions and footnotes11–12.

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 textBoas 1888: The Flight to the Moon, pp.598–600, and Qaudjaqdjuq, pp.630–633; complete narratives, figure captions and footnotes11–12.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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