In Inuit folklore, the kăk-whăn’-û-ghăt kǐg-û-lu’-nǐk or akh’lut is an

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

-like composite animal that takes the form of a

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

when on land, and is sometimes depicted as a wolf-orca hybrid.

Inuit folklore

In 1900, the American naturalist

Edward William Nelson Edward William Nelson (May 8, 1855 – May 19, 1934) was an American naturalist and ethnologist. A collector of specimens and field naturalist of repute, he became a member of several expeditions to survey the fauna and flora. He was part o ...

described the ''kăk-whăn’-û-ghăt kǐg-û-lu’-nǐk'' among a number of other mythical and composite animals: Nelson attributed stories of the creature to the orca (''akh’lut''), and explained wolf tracks appearing to lead into the sea as the result of ice breaking away from the edge. He identifies other composite animals among Inuit folklore, including a white whale that can transform into a reindeer, and says that belief in the kăk-whăn’-û-ghăt kǐg-û-lu’-nǐk is prevalent among Inuit along the shore of the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Amer ...

. More recent collections of myths and folklore have used the term Nelson gives for the orca, ''akh’lut'', to describe the composite animal.

References

Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology Inuit legendary creatures Sea monsters {{NorthAm-myth-stub

Inuit folklore

See also

References