At Eekakhlee, a shaman feigned death to escape his wife and live with two young women far away. Guided by a bird, the wife found him and, in vengeance, killed the women. Transforming into a bear, she confronted her husband and devoured him and his belongings, exacting retribution for his betrayal. Thus ended the shaman’s deceitful life.
Source
Two Aleut Tales
recorded by Rev. T. I. Lavrischeff
American Anthropologist
Vol. 30, Issue 1, January-March 1928
► Themes of the story
Revenge and Justice: The wife’s actions in seeking out her husband and punishing him for his betrayal highlight themes of retribution.
Transformation: The wife’s metamorphosis into a bear signifies a physical change driven by emotional turmoil.
Love and Betrayal: The narrative is rooted in the husband’s betrayal of his marital bond and the ensuing consequences.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Aleut people
Eekakhlee was the name given in the old days to present Johnstone Point on Hinchinbrook island, and the mountains between there and Nutchek were called Keeliagat.
At Eekakhlee lived an old man with his wife. They existed comfortably, but the old man did not love his spouse and hoped to desert her. As he was a shaman, or sorcerer, it was easy for him to go into a trance and appear as dead.
His wife buried him, according to custom, in a cave on a mountain, and his bows, arrows, clothing and bidarkas were laid beside him in a cavern.
For three days the disconsolate widow came to the cave to weep and wail. When she came on the fourth day she did not find the body nor the bidarkas and clothing. Stupefied, she stood there puzzled by the disappearance of the corpse. Search for traces of it were fruitless and her grief increased.
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But a little bird on a tree sang to her:
“Cheer up, thee! up.
“Far beyond the Kiliagat the old man lives.
“Cheer up, cheer up.”
“Far more than before, he enjoys his life.”
At first the woman paid no attention to the bird and went to her house. On the next day she renewed her search, but the bird again sang the same song. The old woman asked it, “Where is my husband?” At this the feathered creature chirped:
“On the top of the mount,
Near the peaceful bay,
The old man lives quietly there.
He does not love thee,
He will not come back;
Two nice girls entertain him there.”
Still skeptical the old woman replied, “If you tell me the truth, take flight to the place where he lives.” Thereupon the bird set out, with the Woman following silently.
It was a long journey across the forest, through brush and over mountains, but from time to time the bird rested, permitting the old woman to catch up with it. Finally they came to the top of a hill near the bay at Nutchek. From this spot the wife saw her husband in a bidarka far out to sea. Just below her on a sandy beach she espied two attractive girls. Quietly descending, the old woman stopped behind a tree to observe them. The girls were cooking soup and when it was ready she stepped out.
“Hello, girls,” the wife exclaimed, “I see you have prepared your soup in the right way. Now I will show you best how to drink it.” With this she seized the pan and turned it over the heads of the girls.
“That is the way the old man used to eat his soup in our birthplace,” she gloated.
When both girls were dead the old woman made the feature of one appear as though she were scolding and the other seem to be laughing. Then she set their bodies on the beach and again hid herself behind a tree.
The old man came back and saw the maidens, one apparently angry and the other laughing.
“Why do you quarrel?” he asked. “Live in peace. I love you both. I have brought two otters as a present for you. Do not fight.”
Upon hearing these words the old woman turned herself into a bear, an easy thing for her to do, as she was also a shaman. Then she sprang upon her husband, exclaiming, “Here am I – your wife. You left me without your care and food. I have suffered very much. Now that I have found you here you shall die. Akcheenkoo.”
And with that she ate up the old man, together with his bidarkas.
Such was the end of the unfaithful husband of old Eekakhlee.
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Dreamtime Whispers 