Q is for... Qanekelak

I suspect I'm not the only one who struggled with my 'Q' post – it's the first of a few upcoming tricky letters! Anyway I think I've chosen a fairly obscure character for the subject of this post, which is why it's a little shorter than the others, and also why there is no picture. So here we go – Q is for Qanekelak...

Qanekelak was a character in Native American mythology and was an orca (or killer whale) who turned into a human. Initially he had the upper body of a man while his lower body was the tale of a whale. However he was able to turn himself into a complete human by running his hands over his body.

Qanekelak was acknowledged as the creator of the dog, an animal that was vitally important to earlier Native American tribes who didn't yet have horses. They were very effective as pack animals and were able to pull a travois (a kind of sled made from two poles that attached around the dog's shoulders and dragged along the ground behind it) which contained as much as 75 pounds of food and belongings. Qanekelak also had the task of naming all the animals and people.