Nanook

In Inuit mythology, Nanook (Inuktitut: ᓇᓄᖅ,[naˈnuq],lit. "Polar Bear") was the master of bears, meaning he decided if hunters deserved success in finding and hunting bears and punished violations of taboos. The word was popularized by Nanook of the North, the first feature-length documentary.

The Inuit believed that Nanuk, the Polar Bear, was powerful and mighty and that he was "almost man," and the Inuit hunters would worship this great bear because they believed that he decided if the Hunters would be successful or not that day. “In the past, the Inuit ate polar bear meat and used the fur to make warm trousers for men and kamiks (soft boots) for women”. Respect was given to Nanuk by the hunter hanging the bear’s hide in a special section of his igloo, where it would stay for several days. They would also offer the bear’s spirit weapons and other hunting tools if it was a male, and needle cases, scrapers (used to scrape the fat off hides) and knives if it was female. “Native people believed that polar bears allowed themselves to be killed in order to obtain the souls of the tools (tatkoit), which they would take with them into the hereafter.” “Legend says that if a dead polar bear was treated properly by the hunter, it would share the good news with other bears so they would be eager to be killed by him. Bears would stay away from hunters who failed to pay respect.”

Nanook (TV series)

La Grande Chasse de Nanook/Nanook's Great Hunt was a 1996 French/Canadian animated series of 26 episodes. It was co-produced by Elma Animation, Medver International Inc., and TF1, in association with Mediatoon. The series was created and produced by Serge Rosenzweig; the directors were Franck Bourgeron, Marc Perret, and Stéphane Roux; the executive producers were Paul Rozenberg, Dana Hastier, and Lyse Lafontaine; the writers were Françoise Charpiat, Sophie Decroisette and Serge Rosenzweig; music was by Xavier Cobo and Michaël Dune. The series first aired in France on Wednesday September 3, 1997, on TF1's TF! Jeunesse. It also aired in Canada in French on Mondays at 8PM on Télétoon, and in English on Teletoon on Thursdays at 4:55PM. A 70 minute special titled Nanook: le grand combat/Nanook - The Great Combat was produced in 1996 as well. The special was directed by Gérald Fleury.

In February 2000, APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) started airing Nanook on Saturday mornings in Inuktitut. It was the first animated series to be aired in Nunavik dialects.

Nanook (disambiguation)

Nanook, in Inuit mythology, is the master of bears. Nanook, Nanuk, or Nanuq may also refer to:

Bears

Art, entertainment, and media

Toys

Places

Military