Women Who Run with the Wolves

“Sealskin, Soulskin” explores the experience of a woman robbed of her essential self, her fight to reclaim it, and the power she gains by undertaking the struggle. A lonely fisherman lives in the northern lands of snow and ice, longing for human companionship. One night, in his kayak, he sees lovely women dancing naked on a rock in the moonlight. Entranced by the display, he draws nearer and is astonished to see them all slipping on sealskins that transform them into animals before they dive back into the ocean. Unseen by the women, the fisherman steals one of the skins.

A lone seal woman remains on the rock, searching for her skin. The fisherman promises to return it after seven years if she will consent to be his wife. Seeing no other option, the woman agrees. After some time, she gives birth to a son named Ooruk. At the end of seven years, the woman asks her husband to return the seal pelt as promised because her skin is cracking, her hair falling out, and her eyesight failing. Fearing abandonment, the fisherman refuses and storms out of their home.

Later that night, Ooruk hears a voice on the wind calling him.