Ijiraq

In Inuit mythology the ijiraq is a sort of boogeyman who kidnaps children and hides them away and abandons them. The inuksugaq (or inukshuk) of stone allow these children to find their way back if they can convince the ijiraq to let them go.

Ijiraq, a moon of Saturn, is named for this creature.

In North Baffin dialects Ijiraq (pron. eeyeeroc) means Shadow People. When you are hunting somewhere that Ijirait (plural) inhabit, you will see them in the corner of your eye for a fleeting moment. If you try to observe them directly however, they are completely elusive. One of the most noted places in the arctic for these shadow people sightings is the Freeman's Cove area of Tuktusirvik (place to hunt caribou), Bathurst Island. This rich oasis surrounded in a horseshoe pattern by inactive volcanic mountains. Freeman's Cove is most noted in history as a stopover for the ship the Intrepid, and also for the failed attempts by the infamous modern-day explorer and eccentric Cory K. Buott's failed attempts to settle the area.

The Ijirait are said to inhabit somewhere between two worlds; not quiet inside this one, nor that one. Inuit further south than the North Baffin group used to hold to a belief that some Inuit went too far north in the chase for game, and became trapped between the world of the dead and the world of the living thus became the Shadow People, or Ijirait. To a small handful of surviving elders in the South Baffin Region that are old enough to still have knowledge of these beliefs, Inuit that are settled in Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord are these shadow people, because they went to far north. Some elders will avoid being in presence of extreme-northern inuit, fearing they are evil Ijirait.

The home of the Ijirait is said to be cursed, and one will lose their way, even if they have good sense on the land. Buott and his wife Enoogoo were said to be out hunting once on the small peninsula across the bay from Freeman's Cove; and while Buott was known locally as someone who never lost his way even in the most adverse conditions, it was said he became completely turned around. While he and his wife had been there before, and they could clearly see the ocean on both side of where they were camped, Buott had to closely follow the trail of disturbed shale and rock to get back to their main camp -where their four children were alone, a mere 5 miles away, and clearly visible on the horizon. When Enoogoo and Buott finally returned to their children, they discovered an enormous 11 foot Polar Bear was circling the camp, sizing their children up for a meal!

Another famously skilled Inuit hunter Mark Amarualik, also of Resolute Bay, was said to have experienced this disorientation in the same place on a hunting trip a year before.

The Inuit believe the Ijirait do this to confuse Inuit (people), and to keep them from moving into their areas. It is believed locally that is why Buott experienced this disorientation.

The plausible explanation to this unusual phenomena in the home of the Ijirait is likely related to large deposits of sour-gas, of which can be disturbed by simply walking over top of the pockets, causing them to expel the toxic gas hydrogen sulphide. Buott and Enoogoo made reference in their journals of in-explicable gatherings of a variety of animal remains in seemingly random and mysterious piles. This collaborates with the thought that the gas is responsible for these occurrences. Gas and sulphur smoke have been reported in the area as well as hot water springs discovered by the Amarualik (meaning wolf-like) family; all of which could cause a "mirage" causing to the traveller to see things such as Ijirait. The gas vapour or pockets low in oxygen could also account for hallucinations/sensations of being watched.

Ijiraq is also an electro-industrial music/soundscape project native to Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island, Nunavut; 50 miles from the home of the Ijirait. With sounds that strongly hint influences of another canadian industrial project, and also the godfather of this genre of electro-synth soundscaping, Skinny Puppy, Ijiraq in nonetheless of unique flavour. While relying heavily on sampling from pop-culture film and other media, Ijiraq fuses a unique mixture of traditional Inuit beliefs, life in modern Inuit society, and are (superficially) the antipathy of Skinny Puppy. This is because Ijiraq publicly supports and endorses traditional hunting and sustenance hunting of native arctic animals such as Nanuq (Polar Bear), Qililugak (White Whale), Nattiq (Ringed Seal), Tuktuk (Peary Caribou), and others, with the exception of the Arctic Hare (Ijiaq makes repeated referrals and suggestions in their music regarding the rabbit as the childish creator of reality and the universe we know)