Ghosts

Qivittoq

A Qivittoq is a frightening, often evil creature – a ghost man living in the mountains. Like all good scary stories, the story of Qivittoq is rooted in truth. In days gone by, if a Greenlandic man was guilty of some crime, he could be banished. If that happened, it was a death sentence. No one …

Tupilak

*Photograph taken at Nuuk Art Museum, www.nuukkunstmuseum.gl If you visit a gift shop in Greenland you are likely to find tupilaks – small bone or soapstone carvings of strange other-worldly creatures. As my son pointed out to me, these aren’t really tupilaks, they are only carvings of tupilaks. Tupilaks are something much more disturbing and …