Sedna (Inuit Mythology)

Goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit religion — ruler of *Adlivun*, the Inuit underworld beneath the ocean. Known by many names across Inuit-speaking peoples: Sanna (Inuktitut), Arnakuagsak (Greenland), Sassuma Arnaa ("Mother of the Deep" in West Greenlandic), Nuliajuk, Nerrivik, Arnapkapfaaluk ("Big Bad Woman"). Astronomical counterpart: sedna-dwarf-planet. Crossing note: crossing-sedna.

The Myth — Multiple Versions, One Core

Every version shares the same core: Sedna is thrown into freezing water by her father, clings to the kayak, and her fingers are severed — each finger-joint becomes a different species of sea creature.

Version 1 (most common): Sedna is a giant, daughter of the creator-god Anguta, with a ravenous hunger that causes her to attack her parents. Anguta takes her to sea and throws her overboard. As she clings to the kayak sides, he chops off her fingers. Her fingers become ringed seals, walruses, and whales. She sinks to the underworld, becoming ruler of the deep.

Version 2: She refuses mortal suitors and marries a bird-spirit (raven, fulmar, or petrel) who deceives her. Her father attempts rescue but throws her overboard in desperation during a storm. Her fingers — severed joint by joint — each become a different seal species.

Version 3 (Baffin Island): Storm begins; parents believe she caused it; throw her in; cut fingers off in three stages — tips become one creature, second knuckle another, last knuckle another.

Ruler of the Deep

Sedna rules from the ocean floor, controlling which sea animals come to hunters' waters. When angered (by human transgression, broken taboos, disrespect), she withholds the animals, causing famine. Only a shaman (angakkuq) can travel to the ocean floor to visit her, wash and comb her tangled hair (which she cannot do herself — she has no fingers), and plead for the animals' release.

The imagery is precise: Sedna's matted, uncombable hair represents the state of the sea when animals are absent. The shaman's ritual grooming restores order. This is a creation myth that encodes a theory of ecological balance and spiritual obligation.

Sedna in Sculpture

In contemporary Inuit sculpture, Sedna is often depicted as a woman with the tail of a marine mammal — a mermaid-like figure — emphasising her transformation from human to sea spirit. Her image appears frequently on modern Inuit art produced for export, making her one of the most recognised Inuit mythological figures globally.

Connection to the Dwarf Planet

Discovered 2003, the dwarf planet was named Sedna by its discoverers (Brown, Trujillo, Rabinowitz) because it occupies the cold, dark, remote outer solar system — the environment of Sedna's domain. The naming is deliberate — a modern conscious pairing of myth to astronomical character. See crossing-sedna for this analysis.