因紐特族人大海女神塞德娜的傳說
Sedna was a beautiful young Inuit woman who lived alone offshore with her father. There were many hunters who wished to marry her but she refused them all. As Sedna's father was getting old and would soon need someone to look after Sedna, he became very angry and yelled at her, "You must accept the next man who asks for your hand in marriage!"
塞德娜是壹位美麗年輕的因紐特姑娘，與父親離岸相依為命。有很多獵人想娶她為妻，但都被她拒絕。塞德娜的父親漸漸老邁，覺得快要交托別人來照顧塞德娜了，就非常生氣，對女兒喊道：“妳必須接受下壹個向妳求婚的男人！”
The following day, a stranger approached in his canoe and Sedna's father dragged his daughter down to the shore. Once there he urged the hunter to marry her, saying that his daughter would make a good wife. The hunter replied that he had in fact come to ask Sedna to marry him. He promised to provide her with plenty of food, furs for clothes and blankets. Sedna looked at the man and, although his face was partly hidden in his furs, he appeared handsome enough. She agreed to marry him and he took her away in his canoe across the waters to his island.
第二天，壹個陌生人劃著自己的獨木舟來了。塞德娜的父親把女兒拖到岸邊，壹到那裏就請求那獵人娶她，說她會是個好妻子。獵人回答說他其實本來就是來向塞德娜求婚的。他答應會給塞德娜很多食物，做衣服的毛皮，還有毯子。塞德娜看著那男人，雖然臉被毛皮半掩，看起來還相當英俊，就答應了嫁給他。那男人就用獨木舟把她帶走了，越過海洋去自己的島嶼。
When they arrived at the island, Sedna looked around and could see nothing except bare rock with a kind of nest made from seaweed, animal hair and feathers. She looked at her husband, shocked. Then she discovered, as he pulled the furs away from his face, that he was not a man, but a sea bird. No matter how angry she felt, she had no choice but to stay with him.
他們到達那島嶼的時候，塞德娜到處看，能看到的僅僅是光禿的巖石和壹個用海草、動物毛發和羽毛造成的鳥巢。她看看丈夫，大吃壹驚。她丈夫把擋著臉的毛皮拉開，她才發現丈夫不是人，而是海鳥。無論她覺得多氣憤，也別無選擇，只能和丈夫在壹起。
Time went by, but Sedna never became used to the bird man. She felt very unhappy in the relationship and spent her days crying and calling her father's name. In the meantime her father began to feel guilty about forcing his daughter to marry against her will. So as soon as her cries reached her father, he decided to go in search of her. He packed his canoe and paddled for days, ignoring strong tides and freezing water till he came to the island. When he arrived, the bird man was away hunting and Sedna was standing on the shore. He asked his daughter for forgiveness and helped her into the canoe. They set off for home.
時光消逝，塞德娜卻壹直無法適應這鳥人。她感到這段關系很不幸福，終日痛哭，呼喊他父親的名字。這時候，她父親也開始因強迫女兒違背意願結婚而感到內疚，因此女兒的哭聲壹傳到他的耳中，便決定要去找女兒。他裝備好了自己的獨木舟，劃了好幾天，不管浪濤洶湧，海水冰冷，壹直劃到島嶼。他到的時候，鳥人正外出打獵，塞德娜正站在岸邊。他請求女兒原諒，扶女兒上了獨木舟，就起程回家了。
Later that day, the bird man returned from fishing. Finding his wife was no longer there, he let out cries of anger and flew off in the direction of the canoe. He soon caught up with it and ordered the old man to give his wife back. When Sedna's father refused, he flapped his wings so hard that the calm water suddenly turned into huge waves.
當天晚些時候，鳥人捕完魚回來，發現妻子不在了，就發出憤怒的呼喊，往獨木舟的方向飛去。他很快就追上了，就命令老人把妻子還給他。塞德娜的父親拒絕了，他就用力拍打翅膀，使平靜的水面掀起驚濤巨浪。
Sedna's father was so scared that he grabbed Sedna and threw her into the sea, screaming, "Here she is, take her." Sedna, terrified, tried to hang on to the side of the canoe. But her father would not let her get back in. Grabbing his sharp knife, he cut off Sedna's fingers. As her fingers were sinking to the bottom of the ocean, they turned into seals, whales and other large sea mammals. And Sedna, when she could no longer fight to keep herself alive, sank to the bottom too, where she became the goddess of the sea.
塞德娜的父親害怕得抓住了塞德娜，把她扔到海裏，大聲喊著說：“她在這裏，拿走吧。” 塞德娜很害怕，試圖緊抓獨木舟的邊緣，可是她父親不讓她回到船裏。他拿起尖刀，切斷了塞德娜的手指。手指壹沈到海底，就變成了海豹、鯨魚等大型哺乳類海洋動物。而塞德娜再也無法掙紮求存了，也沈到海底，成為了大海的女神。
It is said that Sedna has power over all the animals in the sea and that when she is angry, she keeps them away from the hunters. Because the Inuit depend on the sea for their survival, they believe they must show the sea goddess great respect. One of the ways a hunter does this is to drop fresh water into a seal's mouth after he catches it. He believes that this is showing respect for the animal and is also thanking Sedna for her kindness in allowing him to feed his family.
據說塞德娜有能力控制海裏所有的動物，而她生氣的時候，會不讓獵人找到它們。因為紐特族人依賴海洋為生，所以相信必須對大海女神表示崇高的敬意。其中壹個方法，就是獵人抓到海豹之後，就要往海豹嘴裏滴淡水。獵人認為這是對動物表示尊重，也是感謝塞德娜的慈悲，允許他們養活自己的家人。