|
 The seal mask
demonstrates the Yup'ik belief that each animal has a dual
nature. Paul John tells a story of a hunter and a bearded
seal. (1994)
"Those bearded seals are the ones that turned into human
beings. In those days, people would see a human being
sitting on the ice without a kayak. It would be staying
(it's legs tucked in) with a seal-gut rain parka on. The
bearded seal that had turned into a human being is called a
qununiq. And (people) would recognize them in those
days because they didn't have a kayak--"It is a bearded
seal."
And then when that one suddenly became aware of the fact
that a human being had come upon it and speared it through
its seal-gut rain parka, it would fall into the water.
It is said that when it came up for the first time, it
would have a bearded seal face. The second time it came up.
. .more of it would have become a bearded seal. It would
become more of a bearded seal when it came up for the the
third time. When it went down underwater for the fourth
time, it would come up for the fifth time being totally a
bearded seal.
 Seals live in communities. Each male seal (bull)
has a group of wives--up to 40. Bull seals fight over female
seals. Young bachelor bulls live together away
from the breeding grounds.
An adult male seal weighs about 550 lbs
and usually grows to be 6 feet long. The female seal usually
weighs 115 lbs.
Seals eat fish, shellfish, and other
marine animals.
|