In the Iglulik area, this figure depicts "tuutannguaq", a mythical being who is said to challenge humans in/to a competition of string figure-making. Often described as a tuurngaq (spirit), Tuutannguaq is said to play ajaraaq with its intestines, especially when he challenges a child to such a competition (usually when the child is making string figures late at night, and is the only one awake). According to the Iglulingmiut oral tradition (or stories, unikkaaqtuat), Tuutannguaq starts challenging the child with the following words: "tuutannguaq ingiaqaqqaa!", asking thus to see who will be the fastest at making the figure "tuutannguaq". If the child loses the competition, he would be carried away (or eviscerated, or eaten) by Tuutannguaq. But the stories generally mention that the child manages to save his life, either by tricking/cheating (pretending only to undo the figure and make it again quickly) or because an adult wakes up and helps him, which leads to the disappearance of the malevolent spirit.
Iglulingmiut elders recall that, as children, they used to challenge one another with the same words -"tuutannguaq ingiaqaqqaa!"-, playing at making this figure the quickest in the evening.
This string figure is particularly widespread in the Inuit continuum: it was recorded in all the Inuit regions, generally under similar names, that originally refer to the (two) labrets or lip/chin ornaments (tuutak) which were worn by Inupiat and Inuit of the Canadian western Arctic in particular. This literal meaning was however not understood as such in most eastern regions (Canadian central and eastern Arctic, Greenland). In many Inuit groups, this figure was chiefly said to represent Tuutannguaq (or Tuutarjuk, Tuutannguarjuk, Tuutalirjuk...), the "spirit of the string figures" (ajarausiit inuat).