Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2005, Page 56

54 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER (GAVIA IMMER) IN CIRCUMPOLAR FOLK ORNITHOLOGY
Greenland postage stamp from 1967, with a picture
showing how the white raven painted the great
northern diver. The artist is Jens Rosing.
at Holstenborg in 1768 and thus belongs
to the West Greenlanders. One of the two
versions from the Iglulik Eskimos, first
published by Knud Rasmussen in 1929,
will be cited here though, because it also
explains why the loon walks as it does:
“Once a raven and a loon happened
to meet, and they agreed to tattoo
each other. First the raven tattooed the
loon, and when it was done, the loon
set about tattooing the raven. But the
raven was very ill pleased with its tat-
tooing, and would not keep still, and
again and again the loon said: “If you
won’t keep still, I will pour the soot
I am using all over you.” At last the
loon lost patience, and poured all the
soot over the raven, and then ran out
of the house. But just as the loon was
on the point of disappearing, the raven
picked up the fire stones that lay in
the house and threw them at the loon.
The fire stones struck the loon on the
thighs, and it sank down and could
hardly walk. From that day all ravens
are black and all loons awkward on
their feet” (Kleivan, 1971: 16).
Richard K. Nelson (1983: 85-87) tells
from the Koyukon Indians of Alaska that
according to stories of the so-called Distant
Time, the man who became dodzina, i.e.
the great northern diver, used his medicine
to restore another man’s sight. In return
he was given a cape with elaborate den-
talium-shell decorations, and its pattern
remains on the divers back and neck. The
Koyukon people still keep stuffed skins of
this bird as an object of beauty and often
it is hung inside the house where people
always can see it. This bird plays an im-
portant role in their folk ornithology.
Here we will deal with traditional
knowledge and the importance in the past.
Our purpose is to emphasize primarily on
its importance in north-western Europe.
However, it must be mentioned that the
great northern diver population in some
places of North America eats a lot of fish
and it has therefore been viewed as being
in direct competition with fishermen. It
might therefore still be of economic im-
portance, although negatively, for some
people. On the other hand, many loons