How Turned Into
Stone
Hello. I am from Tuktoyaktuk. My Inuvialuit name is Nasogaluak, my English name is Joe. Let me tell you a story, a true story, that I heard from my father Anikina, Niulummaaluk and my friends Akkaaluk and Sagvayuaq.
How Turned Into
Stone Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Center
A long time ago, yet not so very long ago, there was a woman named Qiuraaq. She was the wife of a very clever man, a very good hunter. They had a baby, a boy that she packed around in the hood of her parka.
It was summertime. Qiuraaq’s family was spending summer at a big lake near Anderson River. They were by themselves. There were no other families nearby.
Qiuraaq’s husband went out in his kayak to hunt caribou.
In the summertime, many caribou would swim across the mouth of the river as they migrate. Inuvialuit hunters would hunt them. These summertime caribou skins made good clothing.
Qiuraaq’s husband saw a caribou and went after it in his kayak. Suddenly, his kayak tipped over.
There was a big fish beneath his kayak. It opened its mouth, grabbed his paddle and disappeared. Qiuraaq’s husband had no chance of survival. Today they call this lake Ningauyivik.
When Qiuraaq found herself all alone, she knew she had to go find other people. Packing her baby boy, she followed the river inland.
There was nobody to be found. As she traveled and became tired, she took little stops. Each time she stopped, the land and rocks beneath her turned red.
This is why the area of Qatchik is still red today. The rocks all looked like they were dyed red, I have seen them.
Some people say the red is from Qiuraaq’s blood, and you can follow where she traveled by her blood trail. The trail goes right to the edge of the treeline and up to Nunaqpiat, the highland of Anderson River.
The Nunaqpiat is vast and high. It took Qiuraaq a long time to reach the peak. When she arrived, she was overcome with grief and weariness.
She sat down and immediately turned into stone. Qiuraaq, the stone woman at the top of Anderson Peak is still there today.
I have seen her. My father, Niulummaaluk, Akkaaluk, and Sagvayuaq brought me there. Qiuraaq’s stone looks exactly like a woman sitting, with a dog by her side, and a baby in her hood.
Today the dog’s head has fallen off, but you can still tell where its harness was. On her face, there is water slowly trickling out of her eyes. It looks like she is crying.
Before there was church, Inuvialuit people would pray to Qiuraaq’s stone and place gifts before her. They would offer her needles, mukluks and ask her to bless them with good harvests and health. I was very young and timid so I did not touch her, but I have seen others do so.
It has been a very long time since I have been there. I wonder what Qiuraaq the stone woman at the top of Anderson Peak looks like today.
If you ever travel by Nunaqpiat, the highland of Anderson River, take a look at the peak and see if Qiuraaq is still there.
Produced by
Funding provided by Aboriginal Languages Initiative (Department of Canadian Heritage),
Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Center Bag Service #21, Inuvik, NT, X0E 0T0, Canada. icrc@irc.inuvialuit.com Š2011 ICRC ISBN: 978-0-9810993-3-0 Cover and book design by Zoe Ho.
Education, Culture and Employment, Beaufort Delta Education Council, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and NWT Literacy Council.
Qiuraaq finds herself all alone when her husband disappears while hunting. Packing her baby boy in her parka, she sets off on a journey along Anderson River and to its highlands. Each step she takes, the ground beneath her turns red...
Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Center