RCG-I Seasonal Salon

Lesser-Known Goddesses and Heroines: Tayune

Tayune Among the Canadian Inuit, this folkloric heroine escaped from a brutal husband by walking away across the tundra, determined to die in the snow rather than endure his physical abuse. But she was saved by a strange circumstance. Finding some caribou meat stashed by hunters, she ate enough to continue her journey and found herself walking onto a foot-shaped hill with five toe-mounds. Unknown to her, this was the body of the giant Kinak who, when he awoke and found her sleeping on him, took pity on Tayune and invited her to live in his huge nose, in a little hut built from hairs plucked from his beard. There she was kept warm by his breath and recovered her strength. Homesick at last for human company, she decided to return to her village, strengthened by the giant’s promise of continued protection and made wealthy by the furs that he gave her.

Upon her return, Tayune’s husband was respectful for a time, but soon he fell into his old violence. As he beat Tayune, she screamed for help. Immediately it began to snow; then a whirlwind came down and swept the abusive husband away. Kinak, who had caused the storm, did not intend to kill the husband. He gave him shelter in his nose, as he had with Tayune, and only asked that the husband not enter his giant mouth. But the man refused to respect the giant, so Kinak spit him all the way to the stars. Then the giant disappeared from view, although he can sometimes be sensed when his warm breath melts the snow in the middle of winter.

For more information consult Riordan, James. The Songs My Paddle Sings: Native American Legends. London: Pavilion Books, 1997, p. 79-86.