Sedna

Hello frens! Today we are going to talk about Sedna. That's how this blog works basically I log on to talk about something random that I'm obsessed with and then you don't hear from me for months. Anyway, Sedna is a goddess in Inuit mythology. She rules over the sea and is usually depicted as a mermaid or selkie.

Sedna sculpture by Bart Kappianaq at the Canadian parliament complex. This shows Sedna with a walrus, narwhal and whale.

There are many different versions of the story about how Sedna came to be a goddess and rule over the sea. But what each version has in common is that Sedna was thrown overboard by someone from a boat (in most versions, her father). When she tried to hold on to the side of the boat, her father cut her fingers off and she drowned. Her fingers became the creatures of the sea, and when she sank to the bottom she grew a fish tail and became the ruler of the sea. The rationale for why Sedna's father decided to drown her is different in various retellings of the myth. He could have been angered by her bad behavior or her refusal to marry someone.

Sedna has had a lot of influence on my art. As you may know if you're familiar with my art, my preferred subject matter is usually girls in traditional clothing accompanied by an animal. The titles of my masterpieces include "Maya woman with jaguar cub" and "Tlingit girl with raven." But I also love drawing nagin (half-snake half-woman goddesses from Hindu mythology) and mermaids. A reoccurring character in my drawings is the Candy Corn Mermaid (basically a mermaid whose hair and scales are white, orange and yellow). Given this interest in mermaids, it is only natural that I decided to draw Sedna.

This was my very first attempt to draw Sedna, with the traditional face-marking of Inuit women. I gave her fins instead of hands. She is accompanied by a narwhal.

Recently, I tried to draw Sedna again. This time, she's just by herself with no creatures.

By the way, Sedna is a character in the Quebecois movie "La Legend de Sarila," which I watched recently to practice my French. She is very beautiful in the movie. Here is a picture of her:

The music in the movie is by an Inuk singer called Elisapie. Since Instagram now lets you put songs over pictures that you post, I added the song "Far Away" from the movie over my Sedna drawing when I posted it.

Well fam, that's all for today. I'll be back next time I get obsessed with something.