WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Ikuutayuuq, The One Who Drills

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in time. In this episode, I'd like to turn to

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<v Speaker 2>the traditions of the Inuit, specifically the Inuit of the

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<v Speaker 2>eastern Hudson Bay region of what is now Canada. In

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<v Speaker 2>the Dictionary of Native American Mythology, Sam D. Gill and

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<v Speaker 2>Irene F. Sullivan relate the story of a pair of killers.

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<v Speaker 2>In other tellings, monsters who terrorized the people. Ikutayuk, whose

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<v Speaker 2>name means one who drills and his brother would capture people,

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<v Speaker 2>pin them down on their backs, and then murder them

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<v Speaker 2>by drilling holes in their bodies. Afterwards, they would cover

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<v Speaker 2>a corpse with piles of rocks kirns, or to the

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<v Speaker 2>Inuit inuksuk inusuk, were largely used to aid navigation, but

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<v Speaker 2>were sometimes used as warnings of dangerous grounds. According to

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<v Speaker 2>the myth, the brothers continued their horrible crimes until a

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<v Speaker 2>twu Nit set out to stop them. The Tunit were

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<v Speaker 2>a legendary people said to live long ago, possibly connected

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<v Speaker 2>to an actual Paleo Esquima culture. They were tall giants even,

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<v Speaker 2>and possessed of fierce energy and competition. Gill and Sullivan's

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<v Speaker 2>share that tunit were said to die of exhaustion from

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<v Speaker 2>fierce competitions and feats of hunting and archery. And so

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<v Speaker 2>one brave Tunit took it on himself to rid the

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<v Speaker 2>people of the Kutuyuk and his brother. He challenged Akutuyuk

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<v Speaker 2>to a fight, and they battled while tied together with

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<v Speaker 2>a rope. The Canadian Museum of History features a nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty carving by Inuit artist Issa Kupirowala a la Usa

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<v Speaker 2>depicting the back, which you can view on their website.

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<v Speaker 2>In the end, the two knit hero succeeded in killing

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<v Speaker 2>a Kutayuk, and the remaining brother fled into the wilderness.

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<v Speaker 2>The story of a Kuduyuk was also related by Inuit

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<v Speaker 2>author Jonasi Kuinurayak, who lived eighteen ninety five through nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty four. Now you might wonder what manner of drill

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<v Speaker 2>this monstrous killer would have used. The Inuit traditionally made

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<v Speaker 2>use of the pump drill, an ancient hand powered tool

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<v Speaker 2>used in fire making as well as for drilling small

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<v Speaker 2>holes and objects for jewelry and the like. It's a

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<v Speaker 2>simple hand powered flywheel tool. The craftsperson revolves the drill

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<v Speaker 2>shaft by vertically working a bow or bar carrying a

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<v Speaker 2>cord attached at the center to the upper end of

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<v Speaker 2>the shaft. I realize this is hard to picture, so

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<v Speaker 2>I recommend looking up an image or video. Materially, the

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<v Speaker 2>pump typically involves some combination of wood, ivory, rawhide, metal, stone,

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes jadeite. According to the Pin Museum, there's also the

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<v Speaker 2>Inuit mouth drill. This was essentially a small bow drill

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<v Speaker 2>used for fire making, and the user would brace the

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<v Speaker 2>tool and provide downward pressure with the head via a

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<v Speaker 2>mouth or chin block. Now, to be clear, neither of

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<v Speaker 2>these tools was a weapon, but according to Robert Fortune

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<v Speaker 2>in his nineteen eighty five article Lancets of Stone Traditional

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<v Speaker 2>Methods of surgery among the Alaska Natives, there is reason

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<v Speaker 2>to believe that dental drilling may have been practiced to

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<v Speaker 2>alleviate toothpain, and that cranial drilling may also have been

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<v Speaker 2>practiced in some cases for either medical or magico religious purposes,

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<v Speaker 2>known as trepanation. This practice is found in cultures around

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<v Speaker 2>the world dating back to prehistoric times, with some rare

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<v Speaker 2>modern proponents of the procedure as well, so one can

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<v Speaker 2>imagine how the idea of murderous drillers might have emerged

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<v Speaker 2>in Inuit mythology and storytelling based on everyday technology and

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<v Speaker 2>or painful surgical procedures that had been experienced or witnessed.

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<v Speaker 2>The possibility of actual isolated drill based torture is, I

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<v Speaker 2>suppose not impossible. I ran across one reference to isolated

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<v Speaker 2>drill marks on Inuit remains a nineteen ninety three article

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<v Speaker 2>by Melby in Fairgrief titled a Massacre and Possible Cannibalism

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<v Speaker 2>in the Canadian Artic, But the consensus would seem to

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<v Speaker 2>be that the evidence in question suggested a mortuary practice,

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<v Speaker 2>with drill holes being just one of the classifications of

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<v Speaker 2>cuts found to the bone. Ikudu Yuk and his brother

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<v Speaker 2>are haunting figures to consider, and yet another fascinating aspect

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<v Speaker 2>of Inuit culture. Tune in to additional episodes of The

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact or The Artifact, or a new upcoming short

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<v Speaker 2>form series each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 2>at contact at Stuff to Blow Your Mind dot.

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