TUQ&UGJUK, oesophagus, gullet or trachea
Geolocation
Relations
Item Relations
| This Item | (Often) part of the same series as | Item: QAVVIATTIAQ, the wolverine |
Graphical representation of this item’s relations
Citation
Céline Petit, “TUQ&UGJUK, oesophagus, gullet or trachea,” String figures, accessed February 24, 2026, https://stringfigures.huma-num.fr/items/show/332.
- Overall presentation
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Name : TUQ&UGJUK, oesophagus, gullet or trachea
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Creator : Céline Petit
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Contributor(s) : Herve PANIAQ, Iglulik, Nunavut, Canada
(and Celina IRNGAUT, interpreter, Iglulik) -
Date : 2011-2021
- Information on the string figure
In the Iglulik area, this tridimensional figure represents a gullet or trachea (tuq&uk, tuqsuk), possibly one of a caribou or a man.
The same figure was recorded under a similar name in other Inuit groups: among the Inupiat (Utqiagvik region and northern inland Alaska), and in some Inuit societies of the Canadian western, central and eastern Arctic.
Among the Iglulingmiut, this figure is known to be transformable into the (walrus) head, NIAQUATTIAQ (which can itself be then transformed into the figure of the wolverine, QAVVIATTIAQ). In other Inuit regions, the figure of the gullet, TUQSUGJUK, was transformed in a close way into the figure of the two shoulder blades/scapulae (KIASIATTIAK), also known as "the head of a caribou or musk-ox" (among the Inuinnait, cf. Jenness 1924: 56, XLVI). The transformation of TUQ&UGJUK into KIASIATTIAK (scapulae) follows the same path as the transformation into NIAQUATTIAQ (walrus head), except for a variation at the last step (see Jenness 1924: 56, and Wirt & al. 2009: 67-68, step 5).
The same figure was recorded under a similar name in other Inuit groups: among the Inupiat (Utqiagvik region and northern inland Alaska), and in some Inuit societies of the Canadian western, central and eastern Arctic.
Among the Iglulingmiut, this figure is known to be transformable into the (walrus) head, NIAQUATTIAQ (which can itself be then transformed into the figure of the wolverine, QAVVIATTIAQ). In other Inuit regions, the figure of the gullet, TUQSUGJUK, was transformed in a close way into the figure of the two shoulder blades/scapulae (KIASIATTIAK), also known as "the head of a caribou or musk-ox" (among the Inuinnait, cf. Jenness 1924: 56, XLVI). The transformation of TUQ&UGJUK into KIASIATTIAK (scapulae) follows the same path as the transformation into NIAQUATTIAQ (walrus head), except for a variation at the last step (see Jenness 1924: 56, and Wirt & al. 2009: 67-68, step 5).
1. Opening A.
2. 1 enters distally 2 loop, and moves away from the body under all remaining strings. 1 picks up 5f on its back and returns until it is between 5n and 2f. 1 hooks up 5n by rotating down and back to position, through the existing 1 loops.
3. Share 2 loops as follows: proximally and from the far side, transfer L2 loop to R2 (= R2 proximally hooks/picks up with its palm L2f and returns, remaining bent. Remove L2). Proximally and from the far side insert L2 into both R2 loops and return to position.
4. 2 proximally enter 1 loop and picks up 1f, drawing that string through the existing double 2 loops. (2 are now pointing away from the body).
The figure of the gullet appears.
2. 1 enters distally 2 loop, and moves away from the body under all remaining strings. 1 picks up 5f on its back and returns until it is between 5n and 2f. 1 hooks up 5n by rotating down and back to position, through the existing 1 loops.
3. Share 2 loops as follows: proximally and from the far side, transfer L2 loop to R2 (= R2 proximally hooks/picks up with its palm L2f and returns, remaining bent. Remove L2). Proximally and from the far side insert L2 into both R2 loops and return to position.
4. 2 proximally enter 1 loop and picks up 1f, drawing that string through the existing double 2 loops. (2 are now pointing away from the body).
The figure of the gullet appears.
"Tↄxλuəγuk - the gullet" (Barrow and Inland, northern Alaska), "tↄxλↄγyuk - the gullet [of a caribou]" (Mackenzie delta and Coronation gulf), Jenness 1924: 55, XLV, fig. 58.
Similar method. See Wirt & al. 2009: 66-67 for a step by step illustration of this method.
"Tᴐkluk(sh)uk - like a man's gullet" (Craig Harbour), Paterson 1949: 34, fig. 53, the gullet.
"Tursujuk - gullet, oesophagus" (Kangirsujuamiut), Saladin d'Anglure 2003: 110, fig. 42.
Similar method. See Wirt & al. 2009: 66-67 for a step by step illustration of this method.
"Tᴐkluk(sh)uk - like a man's gullet" (Craig Harbour), Paterson 1949: 34, fig. 53, the gullet.
"Tursujuk - gullet, oesophagus" (Kangirsujuamiut), Saladin d'Anglure 2003: 110, fig. 42.
- Item references
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Key words : String figure; String game; Inuit; Iglulik; Eastern Canada; Arctic
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Publisher : Laboratory SPHERE (UMR 7219, University of Paris & CNRS)
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Rights : Creative Commons / Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA
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Language : Inuktitut ; English
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Location : Iglulik (Igloolik), Nunavut, Canada
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Description : Iglulingmiut (Amitturmiut) Inuit string figure (Nunavut, Canada): symbolism, method of construction, references to the same figure as documented among different Inuit groups (Alaska, Canada, Greenland)