Category: Inuit

The strong man

Yukhpuk, a legendary strongman, lived in the Askinuk Mountains near the Yukon River. He carried part of these mountains to a plain, creating the Kuslevak Mountains. The effort left two deep pits, now small lakes, at their base. As he traveled up the Yukon River, Yukhpuk named the places he passed, leaving a lasting mark on the region’s geography and lore.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Cultural Heroes: Yukhpuk is a foundational figure whose extraordinary feats, such as relocating mountains and naming geographical locations, have significantly shaped the cultural landscape and heritage of the Inuit people.

Supernatural Beings: Yukhpuk’s immense strength and abilities surpass ordinary human capabilities, aligning him with otherworldly or supernatural entities within mythological narratives.

Creation: The story explains the origin of specific natural formations, such as the Kuslevak Mountains and the lakes at their base, contributing to the broader understanding of how the world and its features came into existence according to Inuit mythology.

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from the Lower Yukon

In ancient times a very strong man (Yukhpuk) lived in the Askinuk mountains, near the Yukon river. One day he picked up a part of these mountains and, placing them on his shoulders, carried them out upon the level country, where he threw them down. In this way he made the Kuslevak mountains.

When the mountain was thrown from the man’s shoulders, the effort caused his feet to sink into the ground so that two deep pits were left, which filled with water, making two small lakes, which now lie at the base of this mountain.

From there he traveled up the Yukon, giving names to all the places he passed.

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Origin of winds

A childless couple in a Lower Yukon village creates a doll from a tree trunk found on a path of light. The doll comes to life, eats, and departs, traveling to the sky’s edge. It uncovers wind portals influencing weather, regulating their effects. Returning to the village, the doll fosters community ties, living for generations. After its death, it inspires mask-wearing traditions and the creation of dolls for children.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Creation: The tale explains the origin of the winds, detailing how a doll brought them into existence by unsealing a portal at the sky’s edge.

Supernatural Beings: The doll, animated from a carved tree trunk, exhibits life and agency beyond natural human capabilities, engaging with elements of the supernatural.

Sacred Objects: The doll itself serves as a sacred object, its creation and actions leading to significant changes in the world, such as the introduction of winds and the inspiration for cultural traditions like mask-wearing and doll-making.

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The path of light mentioned in this tale from the Lower Yukon is the galaxy, which figures in numerous Eskimo myths.

In a village on the Lower Yukon lived a man and his wife who had no children. After a long time the woman spoke to her husband one day and said, “I can not understand why we have no children; can you!” To which the husband replied that he could not. She then told her husband to go on the tundra to a solitary tree that grew there and bring back a part of its trunk and make a doll from it.

The man went out of the house and saw a long track of bright light, like that made by the moon shining on the snow, leading oft across the tundra in the direction he must take. Along this path of light he traveled far away until he saw before him a beautiful object shining in the bright light. Going up to it, he found that it was the tree for which he came in search. The tree was small, so he took his hunting knife, cut oft a part of its trunk and carried the fragment home.

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When he returned he sat down and carved from the wood an image of a small boy, for which his wife made a couple of suits of fur clothing in which she dressed it. Directed by his wife, the man then carved a set of toy dishes from the wood, but said he could see no use for all this trouble, as it would make them no better oft than they were before. To this his wife replied that before they had nothing but themselves to talk about, but the doll would give them amusement and a subject of conversation. She then deposited the doll in the place of honor on the bench opposite the entrance, with the toy dishes full of food and water before it.

When the couple had gone to bed that night and the room was very dark they heard several low whistling sounds. The woman shook her husband, saying, “Do you hear that? It was the doll,” to which he agreed. They got up at once, and, making a light, saw that the doll had eaten the food and drank the water, and they could see its eyes move. The woman caught it up with delight and fondled and played with it for a long time. When she became tired it was put back on the bench and they went to bed again.

In the morning, when the couple got up, they found the doll was gone. They looked for it about the house, but could find no trace of it, and, going outside, found its tracks leading away from the door. These tracks passed from the door along the bank of a small creek until a little outside the village, where they ended, as the doll had walked from this place on the path of light upon which the man had gone to find the tree.

The man and his wife followed no farther, but went home. Doll had traveled on along the bright path until he came to the edge of day, where the sky comes down to the earth and walls in the light. Close to where he was, in the east, he saw a gut-skin cover fastened over the hole in the sky Avail, which was bulging inward apparently owing to some, strong force on the other side. The doll stopped and said, “It is very quiet in here. I think a little wind will make it better.” So he drew his knife and cut the cover loose about the edge of the hole, and a strong wind blew through, every now and then bringing with it a live reindeer. Looking through the hole, Doll saw beyond the wall another world like the earth. He drew the cover over the hole again and bade the wind not to blow too hard, but he said “Sometimes blow hard, sometimes light, and sometimes do not blow at all.”

Then he walked along the sky wall until he came to another opening at the southeast, which was covered, and the covering pressed inward like the first. When he cut this cover loose the force of the gale swept in, bringing reindeer, trees, and bushes. Closing the hole again, he bade it do as he had told the first one, and passed on. In a short time he came to a hole in the south, and when the cover was cut a hot wind came rushing in, accompanied by rain and the spray from the great sea lying beyond the sky hole on that side.

Doll closed this opening and instructed it as before, and passed on to the west. There he saw another opening, and as soon as the cover was cut the wind brought in a heavy rainstorm, with sleet and spray, from the ocean. This opening was also closed, with the same instructions, and he passed on to the northwest, where he found another opening. When the cover to this was cut away a blast of cold wind came rushing in, bringing in snow and ice, so that he was chilled to the bone and half frozen, and he hastened to close it, as he had the others. Again he went along the sky wall to the north, the cold becoming so great that he was obliged to leave it and make a circuit, going back to it where he saw the opening. There the cold was so intense that he hesitated for some time, but finally cut the cover away. At once a fearful blast rushed in, carrying great masses of snow and ice, strewing it all over the earth plain. He closed the hole very quickly, and having admonished it as usual, traveled on until he came to the middle of the earth plain.

When he reached there he looked up and saw the sky arching over head, supported by long, slender poles, arranged like those of a conical lodge, but made of some beautiful material unknown to him. Turning again, he traveled far away, until he reached the village whence he had started. There he circled once completely around the place, and then entered one after the other of the houses, going to his own home last of all. This he did that the people should become his friends, and care for him in case his parents should die.

After this Doll lived in the village for a very long time. When his foster parents died he was taken by other people, and so lived for many generations, until finally he died. From him people learned the custom of wearing masks, and since his death parents have been accustomed to make dolls for their children in imitation of the people who made the one of which I have told.

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Origin of the Yu-gi-yhik’ or I-ti-ka-tah’ Festival

In ancient times near Paimut, two shamanic friends lived in a large Eskimo village. One secretly used his grandchild’s mummified body as a powerful amulet, sparking mystical encounters. One shaman dreamed of a celestial village where spirits controlled earthly abundance. After this vision, they established an annual February festival to honor these spirits, ensuring plentiful game and food through rituals, songs, and offerings inspired by the dream.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Creation: How traditions or significant events began, reflecting the festival’s origins.

Sacred Spaces: The festival’s setting as a place of spiritual importance tied to celestial spirits.

Ritual and Initiation: The structured ceremonies that mark community involvement and transformation through the festival.

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from Ikogmut, on the Lower Yukon

At the foot of the mountains below Paimut, near where a small summer village now stands, there was in ancient days a very large village of Eskimo, which was so large that the houses extended from the river bank some distance up the hillside.

In this village lived two young men who were relatives and were also noted shamans and fast friends. For a long time they remained unmarried, but at last one of them took a wife, and in the course of time had a daughter who grew to womanhood, was married, and to her was born a son. As soon as this child was born its grandfather killed it and carried the body out into the spruce forest and hung it to a tree, where it remained until it was dried or mummified.

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Then the old man took it down, placed it in a small bag, which he hung about his neck by a cord, and wore it secretly under his clothing as an amulet, thus having the services of its inua to assist him in his ceremonies. His wife and daughter, however, knew what he had done with the child.

The unmarried shaman never took a wife, and after his friend began to wear the child about his neck, he frequently saw among the shades that came to do his bidding that of a small, new-born child. What it was or why it came he could not understand, as it did not come at his bidding. This was observed very often, and still he did not know that his friend had the body.

When one of these men was practicing his rites and found it difficult to obtain help from the shades, his friend would assist him to accomplish his object. One fine, warm day the unmarried shaman went up on the hillside back of the village and sat down. As night came on he fell asleep, and as he slept he saw the air filled with falling stars, and then that the sky was sinking toward him until finally it rested upon the hilltop so close that he had barely enough room to move about below it. Looking around, he saw that every star was in reality a round hole in the sky through which the light from above was shining, liaising himself up, he put his head through the nearest star hole and saw another sky with many stars shining above the first one. As he looked, this sky sank slowly down until he could put his head through one of the star holes in it, and above this were shining the stars in still another sky. This, too, sank slowly down, and standing up he found himself breast high above the third sky, and close by was a kashim surrounded by a village like the one in which he lived.

From familiar signs he saw that the men had just taken a sweat bath. A woman was at work covering the air hole in the roof of the kashim with the gut-skin covering, while other women were carrying in food. After looking about for a short time he decided to go into the kashim and see the people. Then raising himself through the star holes he walked to the kashim and entered it through the under ground passageway. When he reached the inside he found the room full of people sitting around on the floor and benches. He started to cross the room to take a seat in the place of honor opposite the door, but a man sitting over the main entrance called to him to sit beside him, which he did.

The women were still bringing in food, and the man who had spoken first to the shaman, said, in a low voice, “If you are offered food do not eat it, for you will see that it is not fit to eat.” The shaman then looked about the room and saw lying at the side of each man a small wooden image, all of which represented different kinds of mammals, birds, and fishes. Over the lamps beside the entrance door were two slender sticks of wood more than a fathom in length, joined at the lower end and spread apart above like two outspread arms, along the sides of which were fastened swan quills, and the upper end of each stick bore a tuft of wolf hair. These sticks were designed to represent the outspread wings of the Raven father who made the world. Over the entrance to the room hung another pair of these sticks similarly ornamented.

From the roof hung two great hoops extending entirely around the room, one of which was a little below the other, and both were about midway between the roof and the floor. Extending from the roof hole down to the upper hoop were many slender rods, the lower ends of which were fastened to the hoop at regular intervals. Fastened to the hoops and rods in many places were tufts of feathers and down. These hoops and rods represented the heavens arching over the earth, and the tufts of feathers were the stars mingled with snowflakes. The cord suspending the rings passed through a loop fastened to the roof, and the end passed down and was held by a man sitting near the lamp. This man raised and lowered the rings slowly by drawing in and letting out the cord in time to the beating of a drum by another man sitting on the opposite side of the lamp. [This movement of the rings was symbolical of the apparent approach and retreat of the heavens according to the condition of the atmosphere.]

The shaman had just time to notice this much when he saw a woman come in with a dish of food which seemed like freshly-boiled meat. Looking about, she asked, “Where is the guest?” to which he replied, “Here I am,” and she handed him the dish. As soon as the steam cleared away a little the shaman saw lying in the dish a new-born boy who was wriggling about. The shaman was so startled by the sight that he did not know what to do and let the dish turn toward the floor so that the child slipped out and fell. At this moment the shaman felt himself driven head foremost from his seat down through the exit hole in the floor. Starting up, he looked about and found himself reclining upon the mountain top near his village, and day was just breaking in the east, Itising, he hastened down to the village and told his friend, the other shaman, what had occurred to him, and the latter advised that they should unite in working their strongest charms to learn the meaning of this vision. Then they called the shaman’s wife and went with her into the kashim where they worked their spells, and it was revealed to them that during the February moon in each year the people of the earth should hold a great festival. They were directed to decorate the kashim just as the shaman had seen it in the sky house, and by the two shamans the people were taught all the necessary observances and ceremonies, during which food and drink offerings were made to the inuas of the sky house and songs were sung in their honor. If these instructions were properly followed, game and food would be plentiful on the earth, for the people in the sky house were the shades or inuas controlling all kinds of birds and fish and other game animals off the earth, and from the small images of the various kinds which the shaman had seen lying beside the sky people was the supply of each kind replenished on earth. When the sky people or shades were satisfied by the offerings and ceremonies of the earth people, they would cause an image of the kind of animal that was needed to grow to the proper size, endow it with life and send it down to the earth, where it caused its kind to become again very numerous.

This festival is observed by the Eskimo of the Lower Yukon from about Ikogmut (Mission) up to the limit of their range on the river. Beyond that the festival is observed by the Tinne at least as far as Anvik, they having borrowed it from the Eskimo. The festival is characterized by the placing of a wooden doll or image of a human being in the kashim and making it the center of various ceremonies, after which it is wrapped in birch-bark and hung in a tree in some retired spot until the following year. During the year the shamans sometimes pretend to consult this image to ascertain what success will attend the season’s hunting or fishing. If the year is to be a good one for deer hunting, the shamans pretend to find a deer hair within the wrappings of the image. In case they wish to predict success in fishing, they claim to find fish scales in the same place. At times small offerings of food in the shape of fragments of deer fat or of dried fish are placed within the wrappings. The place where the image is concealed is not generally known by the people of the village, but is a secret to all except the shamans and, perhaps, some of the oldest men who take prominent parts in the festival. An old headman among the Mission Eskimo informed me that the legend and festival originated among the people of a place that has long been deserted, near the present village of Paimut, and that thence it was introduced both up and down the Yukon and across the tundra to the people living on lower Koskokwim river. The names of this festival are derived, first, Yu-gi-yhik from yu-guk, a doll or manikin, and I-ti-ka-tah from i-tukhtok, “he comes in,” thus meaning the doll festival or the coming in festival, the latter referring to the bringing in of the doll from the tree where it is kept during the year.

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The strange boy

A unique boy, distant and contemplative, embarks on a journey to the mysterious north despite his mother’s warnings. Along the way, he encounters supernatural challenges and receives mystical gifts from wise elders. Conquering deadly foes, including a shaman and a giant eagle, he marries a woman of his dreams but uncovers betrayal. After punishing her, he returns home, ultimately finding lasting happiness with a new wife.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Quest: The protagonist embarks on a journey to the mysterious north, facing various challenges and adversaries along the way.

Supernatural Beings: Throughout his journey, he encounters mystical gifts from wise elders and confronts supernatural challenges, including a shaman and a giant eagle.

Love and Betrayal: He marries the woman of his dreams but later uncovers her betrayal, leading to her punishment and his eventual return home.

► From the same Region or People

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from Andreivsky, on the Lower Yukon

At a village far away in the north once lived a man with his wife and one child, a son. This boy was very different from others, and while the village children ran about and shouted and took part in sports with one another, he would sit silent and thoughtful on the roof of the kashim. He would never eat any food or take any drink but that given him by his mother.

The years passed by until he grew to manhood, but his manner was always the same. Then his mother began to make him a pair of skin boots with soles of many thicknesses; also, a waterproof coat of double thickness and a fine coat of yearling reindeer skins. Every day he sat on the roof of the kashim, going home at twilight for food and to sleep until early the next morning; then he would go back to his place on the roof and wait for daybreak.

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One morning he went home just after sunrise and found his new clothing ready. He took some food and put on the clothing, after which he told his mother that he was going on a journey to the north, His mother cried bitterly and begged him not to go, for no one ever went to the far northland and returned again. He did not mind this, but taking his bear spear and saying farewell, he started out, leaving his parents weeping and without hope of ever seeing him again, for they loved him very much, and his mother had told him truly that no one ever came back who had gone away from their village to the north.

The young man traveled far away, and as evening came on he reached a hut with the smoke rolling up through the hole in the roof. Taking off his waterproof coat, he laid it down near the door and crept carefully upon the roof and looked through the smoke hole. In the middle of the room burned a fire, and an old woman was sitting on the farther side, while just under him was sitting an old man making arrows. As the young man lay on the roof, the man on the inside cried out, without even raising his head, “Why do you lie there on the outside? Come in.” Surprised at being noticed by the old man with out the latter even looking up, he arose and went in. When he entered the house the man greeted him and asked why he was going to the north in search of a wife. Continued the old man, “There are many dangers there and you had better turn back. I am your father’s brother and mean well by you. Beyond here people are very bad, and if you go on you may never return.”

The young man was very much surprised to be told the object of his journey, when he had not revealed it even to his parents. After taking some food he slept until morning, then he prepared to go on his way. The old man gave him a small black object, filled with a yellow sub stance like the yolk of an egg, saying, as he did so, “Perhaps you will have little to eat on your way, and this will give you strength.” The traveler swallowed it at once and found it very strong to the taste, so that it made him draw a deep breath, saying, as he did so, “Ah, I feel strong.” Then he took up his spear and went on. Just before night he came to another solitary hut, and, as before, looked in, seeing a fire burning and an old woman sitting on one side and an old man making arrows just below him. Again the old man called out without raising his head, and asked him why he did not come in and not stay outside. He again was surprised by being told the object of his journey, and was warned against going farther. The young man gave no attention to this, but ate and slept as before. When he was ready to set out in the morning the old man saw he could not stay him, so gave him a small, clear, white object, telling the traveler that he would not get much to eat on the road, and it would help him. The young man at once swallowed this, but did not find it as strong as the object he had swallowed the day before. He was then told by the old man that if he heard anything on the way that frightened, him he must do the first thing that came into his mind.

“I will have no one to weep for me if anything should happen,” said the traveler, and he journeyed on, spear in hand. Toward the middle of the day he came to a large pond lying near the seashore, so he turned off to go around it on the inland side. When he had passed part of the way around the lake he heard a frightful roar like a clap of thunder, but so loud that it made him dizzy, and for a moment he lost all sense of his surroundings. He hurried forward, but every few moments the terrible noise was repeated, each time making him reel and feel giddy and even on the point of fainting, but he kept on. The noise increased in loudness and seemed to come nearer at every roar, until it sounded on one side close to him. Looking in the direction whence it came, he saw a large basket made of woven willow roots floating toward him in the air, and from it came the fearful noise.

Seeing a hole in the ground close by, the traveler sprang into it just as a terrible crash shook the earth and rendered him unconscious. He lay as if dead for some time, while the basket kept moving about as if searching for him and continuously giving out the fearful sounds. When the young man’s senses returned, he listened for a short time, and, everything having become quiet, went outside of his shelter and looked about. Close by was the basket resting on the ground with a man’s head and shoulders sticking out of its top. The moment he saw it the young man cried out, “Why are you waiting? Go on; don’t stop and give me a good loud noise, you.” Then he sprang back into the hole again and was instantly struck senseless by the fearful noise made by the basket. When he had recovered sufficiently he went out again, but could not see the basket. Then he raised both of his hands and called upon the thunder and lightning to come to his aid. Just then the basket came near again, with only the man’s head projecting from the top. He at once told the thunder and lightning to roar and flash about the basket, and they obeyed and crashed with such force that the basket shaman began to tremble with fear and fell to the ground.

As soon as the thunder stopped the basket began to retreat, the shaman being almost dead from fear. Then the young man cried out, “Thunder, pursue him; go before and behind him and terrify him.” The thunder did so, and the basket floated away slowly, falling to the ground now and then. Then the traveler went on, arriving at a village just at twilight. As he drew near a boy came out from the village to meet him, saying, “How do you come here from that direction? No one ever came here from that side before, for the basket shaman allows no living thing to pass the lake; no, not even a mouse. He always knows when anything comes that way and goes out to meet and destroy it.”

“I did not see anything,” said the traveler. “Well, you have not escaped yet,” said the boy, “for there is the basket man now, and he will kill you unless you go back.” When the young man looked he saw a great eagle rise and fly toward him, and the boy ran away. As the eagle came nearer it rose a short distance and then darted down to seize him in its claws. As it came down the young man struck himself on the breast with one hand and a gerfalcon darted forth from his mouth straight toward the eagle, flying directly into its abdomen and passing out of its mouth and away.

This gerfalcon was from the strong substance the young man had been given by the first old man on the road. When the gerfalcon darted from him the eagle closed his eyes, gasping for breath, which gave the young man a chance to spring to one side so that the eagle’s claws caught into the ground where he had stood. Again the eagle arose and darted down, and again the young man struck his breast with his hand, and an ermine sprang from his mouth and darted like a flash of light at the eagle and lodged under its wings, and in a moment had eaten its way twice back and forth through the bird’s side, and it fell dead, whereupon the ermine vanished. This ermine came from the gift of the second man with whom the traveler had stopped.

When the eagle fell the young man started toward the shaman’s house, and the boy cried to him, “Don’t go there, for you will be killed.” To this the traveler replied, “I don’t care, I wish to see the women there. I will go now, for I am angry, and if I wait till morning my anger will be gone and I will not be so strong as I am at present.” “You had better wait till morning,” said the boy, “for there are two bears guarding the door and they will surely kill you. But if you will go, go then, and be destroyed. I have tried to save you and will have nothing more to do with you.” And the boy went angrily back to the kashim. The young man then went on to the house, and looking into the entrance passage, saw a very large white bear lying there asleep. He called out, “Ah, White-bear,” at which the bear sprang up and ran at him. The young man leaped upon the top of the passageway and, as the bear ran out at him, drove the point of his spear into its brain, so that it fell dead. Then he drew the body to one side, looked in again, and saw a red bear lying there. Again he called out, “Ah, Redbear.” The red bear ran out at him and he sprang up to his former place. The red bear struck at him with one of its forepaws as it passed, and the young man caught the paw in his hand and, swinging the bear about his head, beat it upon the ground until there was nothing but the paw left, and this he threw away and went into the house with out further trouble. Sitting at the side of the room were an old man and woman, and on the other side was a beautiful young woman whose image he had seen in his dreams, which had caused him to make his long journey. She was crying when he went in, and he went and sat beside her, saying, “What are you crying for; what do you love enough to cry for?” To which she replied, “You have killed my husband, but I am not sorry for that, for he was a bad man; but you killed the two bears. They were my brothers, and I feel badly and cry for them.” “Do not cry,” said he, “for I will be your husband.” Here he remained for a time, taking this woman for his wife and living in the house with her parents. He slept in the kashim every fourth night and at home the rest of the time.

After he had lived there for a while, he saw that his wife and her parents became more and more gloomy, and they cried very often. Then he saw things done that made him think they intended to do him evil. Becoming sure of this, he went home one day and, putting his hand on his wife’s forehead, turned her face to him, and said: “You are planning to kill me, you unfaithful woman, and as a punishment you shall die.” Then taking his knife, he cut his wife’s throat, and went gloomily back to his village, where he lived with his parents as before. When the memory of his unfaithful wife had become faint, he took a wife from among the maidens of the village and lived happily with her the rest of his days.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Land of the Dead

A young woman from a Yukon village dies and journeys to the land of shades, guided by her deceased grandfather. She witnesses surreal scenes, including punishments for earthly actions, a river of tears, and a village of shades. After attending a ceremonial feast for the dead, she mysteriously returns to life but frail. Her namesake sacrifices herself, allowing the young woman to recover and live on.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Underworld Journey: The protagonist’s journey to the land of shades, guided by her deceased grandfather, exemplifies a venture into a realm of the dead.

Transformation: The young woman’s experience of death, her journey through the afterlife, and subsequent return to life highlight themes of physical and spiritual transformation.

Sacrifice: The self-sacrifice of the young woman’s namesake, who gives her life to allow the protagonist to recover and live on, underscores the theme of giving up something valuable for a greater cause.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from Andreivsky, on the Lower Yukon

The following tale is known all along the Lower Yukon, and was related by an old shaman who said that it occurred several generations ago. It is believed by the Eskimo to have been an actual occurrence, and it gives a fair idea of their belief of the condition of the shade after death.

A young woman living at a village on the Lower Yukon became ill and died. When death came to her she lost consciousness for a time; then she was awakened by some one shaking her, saying, “Get up, do not sleep; you are dead.” When she opened her eyes she saw that she was lying in her grave box, and her dead grandfather’s shade was standing beside her. He put out his hand to help her rise from the box and told her to look about.

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She did so, and saw many people whom she knew moving about in the village. The old man then turned her with her back to the village and she saw that the country she knew so well had disappeared and in its place was a strange village, extending as far as the eye could reach. They went to the village, and the old man told her to go into one of the houses. So soon as she entered the house a woman sitting there picked up a piece of wood and raised it to strike her, saying, angrily, “What do you want here?” She ran out crying and told the old man about the woman. He said, “This is the village of the dog shades, and from that you can see how the living dogs feel when beaten by people.”

From this they passed on and came to another village, in which stood a large kashim. Close to this village she saw a man lying on the ground with grass growing up through all his joints, and, though he could move, he could not arise. Her grandfather told her that this shade was punished thus for pulling up and chewing grass stems when he was on the earth. Looking curiously at his shade for a time, she turned to speak to her grandfather, but he had disappeared. Extending onward before her was a path leading to a distant village, so she followed it. She soon came to a swift river, which seemed to bar her way. This river was made up of the tears of the people who weep on earth for the dead. When the girl saw that she could not cross, she sat on the bank and began to weep. When she wiped her eyes she saw a mass of straw and other stuff like refuse thrown from houses, floating down the stream, and it stopped in front of her. Upon this she crossed the river as over a bridge. When she reached the farther side the refuse vanished and she went on her way. Before she reached the village the shades had smelled her and cried out, “Someone is coming.” When she reached them they crowded about her, saying, “Who is she? Whence does she come?” They examined her clothing, finding the totem marks, which showed where she belonged, for in ancient days people always had their totem marks on their clothing and other articles, so that members of every village and family were thus known.

Just then someone said, “Where is she? Where is she?” and she saw her grandfather’s shade coming toward her. Taking her by the hand, he led her into a house near by. On the farther side of the room she saw an old woman, who gave several grunts and then said, “Come and sit by me.” This old woman was her grandmother, and she asked the girl if she wanted a drink, at the same time beginning to weep. When the. girl became thirsty she looked about and saw some strange looking tubs of water, among which only one, nearly empty, was made like those in her own village.

Her grandmother told her to drink water from this tub only, as that was their own Yukon water, while the other tubs were all full of water from the village of the shades. When she became hungry her grand mother gave her a piece of deer fat, telling her that it had been given them by her son, the girl’s father, at one of the festivals of the dead, and at the same time he had given them the tub of water from which she had just drunk.

The old woman told the girl that the reason her grandfather had become her guide was because when she was dying she had thought of him. When a dying person thinks of his relatives who are dead the thought is heard in the land of shades, and the person thought of by the dying one hurries off to show the new shade the road. When the season came for the feast of the dead to be given at the dead girl’s village, two messengers were sent out, as usual, to invite the neighboring villagers to the festival. The messengers traveled a long time toward one of the villages, and it became dark before they reached it, but at last they heard the drums beat and the sound of the dancers feet in the kashim. Going in, they delivered to the people their invitation to the feast of the dead.

Sitting invisible on a bench among these people, with the girl between them, were the shades of the grandfather and grandmother, and when the messengers went back to their own village the next day the three shades followed them, but were still invisible. When the festival had nearly been completed, the mother of the dead girl was given water, which she drank. Then the shades went outside of the kashim to wait for their names to be called for the ceremony of the putting of clothing upon namesakes of the dead.

As the shades of the girl and her grandparents went out of the kashim the old man gave the girl a push, which caused her to fall and lose her senses in the passageway. When she recovered she looked about and found herself alone. She arose and stood in the corner of the entrance way under a lamp burning there, and waited for the other shades to come out that she might join her companions. There she waited until all of the living people came out dressed in fine new clothing, but she saw none of her companion shades.

Soon after this an old man with a stick came hobbling into the entrance, and as he looked up he saw the shade standing in the corner with her feet raised more than a span above the floor. He asked her if she was a live person or a shade, but she did not reply, and he went hurriedly into the kashim. There he told the men to hasten out and look at the strange being standing in the passageway, whose feet did not rest on the earth and who did not belong to their village. All the men hurried out, and, seeing her, some of them took down the lamp and by its light she was recognized and hurried into the house of her parents.

When the men first saw her she appeared in form and color exactly as when alive, but the moment she sat down in her father’s house her color faded and she shrank away until she became nothing but skin and bone, and was too weak to speak. Early the next morning her namesake, a woman in the same village, died, and her shade went away to the land of the dead in the girl’s place, and the latter gradually became strong again and lived for many years.

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The last of the thunderbirds

Long ago, giant eagles, or thunderbirds, inhabited the Yukon mountains. A pair survived atop a rounded mountain near Sabotnisky, preying on reindeer and fishermen. When a thunderbird took his wife, a brave hunter climbed the mountain, killing their young. He ambushed the enraged parent birds, wounding them fatally. The hunter recovered his wife’s remains, performed rituals, and ended the terror of the thunderbirds forever.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Quest: The hunter embarks on a perilous journey to the mountain lair of the thunderbirds to rescue his wife and protect his community.

Good vs. Evil: The narrative depicts the struggle between the hunter (good) and the predatory thunderbirds (evil) that threaten the safety of the villagers.

Sac08. Sacrificerifice: The hunter risks his life, confronting formidable creatures, to avenge his wife’s death and end the terror inflicted upon his people.

► From the same Region or People

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from the Lower Yukon

Very long ago there were many giant eagles or thunderbirds living in the mountains, but they all disappeared except a single pair which made their home on the mountain top overlooking the Yukon river near Sabotnisky. The top of this mountain was round, and the eagles had hollowed out a great basin on the summit which they used for their nest, around the edges of which was a rocky rim from which they could look down upon the large village near the water’s edge. From their perch on this rocky wall these great birds would soar away on their broad wings, looking like a cloud in the sky, sometimes to seize a reindeer from some passing herd to bring back to their young; again they would circle out, with a noise like thunder from their shaking wings, and descend upon a fisherman in his canoe on the surface of the river, carrying man and canoe to the top of the mountain.

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There the man would be eaten by the young thunderbirds and the canoe would lie bleaching among the bones and other refuse scattered along the border of the nest.

Every fall the young birds would fly away into the northland, while the old ones would remain. Then came a time, after many hunters had been carried away by the birds, that only the most daring would go upon the great river. One summer day a brave young hunter started out to look at his fish traps on the river, but before he went he told his wife to be careful and not leave the house for fear of the birds. After her husband had gone the young wife saw that the water tub was empty, so she took a bucket and went to the river for water. As she turned to go back, a roaring noise like thunder filled the air, and one of the birds darted down and seized her in its talons. The villagers cried out in sorrow and despair when they saw her carried to the mountain top.

When the hunter came home the people hastened to tell him of his wife’s death, but he said nothing. Going to his empty house he took down his bow and a quiver full of war arrows, and after examining them carefully he started out toward the eagle mountain. Vainly did his friends try to stop him by telling him that the birds would surely destroy him. He would not listen to them, but hurried on. With firm steps at last he gained the rim of the great nest and looked in. The old birds were away, but the fierce young eagles met him with shrill cries and fiery, shining eyes. The hunter’s heart was full of anger, and he quickly bent his bow, loosing the war arrows one after another until the last one of the hateful birds lay dead in the nest.

With heart still burning for revenge, the hunter sheltered himself by a great rock near the nest and waited for the parent birds. The old birds came. They saw their young lying dead and bloody in the nest, and uttered such cries of rage that the sound echoed from the farther side of the great river as they soared up into the air looking for the one who had killed their young. Very quickly they saw the brave hunter by the great stone, and the mother bird swooped down upon him, her wings sounding like a gale in the spruce forest. Quickly fitting an arrow to his string, as the eagle came down the hunter sent it deep into her throat. With a hoarse cry she turned and flew away to the north, far beyond the hills. Then the father bird circled overhead and came roaring down upon the hunter, who, at the right moment, crouched close to the ground behind the stone and the eagle’s sharp claws struck only the hard rock. As the bird arose, eager to swoop down again, the hunter sprang from his shelter and, with all his strength, drove two heavy war arrows deep under its great wing. Uttering a cry of rage and spreading abroad his wings, the thunderbird floated away like a cloud in the sky far into the northland and was never seen again.

Having taken blood vengeance, the hunter’s heart felt lighter, and he went down into the nest where he found some fragments of his wife, which he carried to the water’s edge and, building a fire, made food offerings and libations of water pleasing to the shade.

The truth of this tale is implicitly believed by the Eskimo of the Lower Yukon. They point out the crater of an old volcano as the nest of the giant eagles, and say that the ribs of old canoes and curiously colored stones carried there by the birds may still be seen about the rim of the nest. This is one of the various legends of the giant eagles or thunderbirds that are familiar to the Eskimo of the Yukon and to those of Bering strait and Kotzebue sound.

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The Red Bear

An orphan boy, abused by villagers, returns home to his aunt, who crafts a magical red bear from a carved image to avenge his suffering. The bear wreaks havoc on the cruel villagers and others in its path until summoned back by the aunt. She tames the bear, commanding it to harm only in self-defense, thus birthing the lineage of red bears.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Revenge and Justice: The aunt creates the red bear to avenge her nephew’s mistreatment, seeking retribution against those who harmed him.

Supernatural Beings: The transformation of a carved image into a living, destructive red bear introduces a supernatural element central to the tale.

Cunning and Deception: The aunt’s clever use of magic to craft the bear demonstrates cunning in addressing the injustice faced by her nephew.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from Andreivsky, on the Lower Yukon

On the tundra, south of the Yukon mouth, there once lived an orphan boy with his aunt. They were quite alone, and one summer day the boy took his kaiak and traveled away to see where people lived on the Yukon, of whom he had heard. When he came to the river, he traveled up its course until he reached a large village. There he landed and the people ran down to the shore, seized him, broke his kaiak to pieces, tore his clothing from him, and beat him badly.

The boy was kept there until the end of summer, the subject of continual beating and ill treatment from the villagers. In the fall one of the men took pity on him, made him a kaiak, and started him home ward, where he arrived after a long absence.

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When he reached home he saw that a large village had grown up by his aunt’s house. As soon as he landed, he went to his aunt’s house and entered, frightening her very much, for he had been starved and beaten so long that he looked almost like a skeleton.

When his aunt recognized him, she received his story with words of pity, then words of auger at the cruel villagers. When he had finished telling her of his sufferings, she told him to bring her a piece of wood, which he did; this they worked into a small image of an animal with long teeth and long, sharp claws, painting it red upon the sides and white on the throat. Then they took the image to the edge of the creek and placed it in the water, the aunt telling it to go and destroy every one it could find at the village where her boy had been. The image did not move, and the old woman took it out of the water and cried over it, letting her tears fall upon it, and then put it back in the water, saying, “Now, go and kill the bad people who beat my boy.” At this the image floated across the creek and crawled up the other bank, where it began to grow, soon reaching a large size, when it became a red bear. It turned and looked at the old woman until she called out to it to go and spare none.

The bear then went away until he came to the village on the great river. It met a man just going for water and it quickly tore him to pieces; then the bear stayed near this village until he had killed more than half of the people, and the others were preparing to leave it in order to escape destruction. He then swam across the Yukon and went over the tundra to the farther side of Kuskokwim river, killing every one he saw, for the least sign of life seemed to fill him with fury until it was destroyed. From the Kuskokwim the bear turned back, and one day it stood on the creek bank where it had become endowed with life. Seeing the people on the other bank he became filled with fury, tearing the ground with his claws and growling, and began to cross the creek. When the villagers saw this they were much frightened and ran about, saying, “Here is the old woman’s dog; we shall all be killed. Tell the old woman to stop her dog.” And they sent her to meet the bear. The bear did not try to hurt her, but was passing by to get at the other people when she caught it by the hair on its neck, saying, “Do not hurt these people who have been kind to me and have given me food when I was hungry.”

After this she led the bear into her house and, sitting down, told him that he had done her bidding well and had pleased her, but that he must not injure people any more unless they tried to hurt or abuse him. When she had finished telling him this she led him to the door and sent him away over the tundra. Since this time there have always been red bears.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The bringing of the light by Raven

In a time of darkness, an orphan boy mocked shamans who failed to restore light. Secretly a raven in disguise, he journeyed south, stealing a ball of light from a mysterious man. Fleeing as a raven, he broke the light into pieces, creating day and night. He later founded a family across the sea, and his descendants became ravens, preserving his legacy of alternating light and dark.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Creation: The tale describes the origin of light in the world, detailing how the raven’s actions led to the establishment of day and night.

Transformation: The protagonist’s ability to change into a raven highlights themes of physical transformation and the use of this ability to achieve a greater good.

Quest: The orphan boy’s journey to the south to retrieve the sun and moon represents a classic quest, undertaken to restore balance and light to his community.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from Paimut, on the Lower Yukon

In the first days there was light from the sun and the moon as we now have it. Then the sun and the moon were taken away, and people were left on the earth for a long time with no light but the shining of the stars. The shamans made their strongest charms to no purpose, for the darkness of night continued.

In a village of the Lower Yukon there lived an orphan boy who always sat upon the bench with the humble people over the entrance way in the kashim. The other people thought he was foolish, and he was despised and ill-treated by everyone. After the shamans had tried very hard to bring back the sun and the moon but failed, the boy began to mock them, saying, “What fine shamans you must be, not to be able to bring back the light, when even I can do it.”

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At this the shamans became very angry and beat him and drove him out of the kashim. This poor orphan was like any other boy until he put on a black coat which he had, when he changed into a raven, pre serving this form until he took off the coat again.

When the shamans drove the boy out of the kashim, he went to the house of his aunt in the village and told her what he had said to them and how they had beaten him and driven him out of the kashim. Then he said he wished her to tell him where the sun and the moon had gone, for he wished to go after them.

She denied that she knew where they were hidden, but the boy said, “I am sure you know where they are, for look at what a finely sewed coat you wear, and you could not see to sew it in that way if you did not know where the light is.” After a long time he prevailed upon his aunt, and she said to him, “Well, if you wish to find the light you must take your snowshoes and go far to the south, to the place you will know when you get there.”

The Raven boy at once took his snowshoes and set off for the south. For many days he traveled, and the darkness was always the same. When he had gone a very long way he saw far in front of him a ray of light, and then he felt encouraged. As he hurried on the light showed again, plainer than before, and then vanished and appeared at intervals. At last he came to a large hill, one side of which was in a bright light while the other appeared in the blackness of night. In front of him and close to the hill the boy saw a hut with a man near by who was shoveling snow from the front of it.

The man was tossing the snow high in the air, and each time that he did this the light became obscured, thus causing the alternations of light and darkness which the boy had seen as he approached. Close beside the house he saw the light he had come in search of, looking like a large ball of fire. Then the boy stopped and began to plan how to secure the light and the shovel from the man.

After a time he walked up to the man and said, “Why are you throwing up the snow and hiding the light from our village?” The man stopped, looked up, and said, “I am only cleaning away the snow from my door; I am not hiding the light. But who are yon, and whence did you come?” “It is so dark at our village that I did not like to live there, so I came here to live with you,” said the boy. “What, all the time?” asked the man. “Yes,” replied the boy. The man then said, “It is well; come into the house with me,” and he dropped his shovel on the ground, and, stooping down, led the way through the underground passage into the house, letting the curtain fall in front of the door as he passed, thinking the boy was close behind him.

The moment the door flap fell behind the man as he entered, the boy caught up the ball of light and pat it in the turned up flap of his fur coat in front; then, catching up the shovel in one hand, he fled away to the north, running until his feet became tired; then by means of his magic coat he changed into a raven and flew as fast as his wings would carry him. Behind he heard the frightful shrieks and cries of the old man, following fast in pursuit. When the old man saw that he could not overtake the Raven he cried out, “Nevermind; you may keep the light, but give me my shovel.”

To this the boy answered, “No; you made our village dark and you can not have your shovel,” and Raven flew off, leaving him. As Raven traveled to his home he broke off a piece of the light and threw it away, thus making day. Then he went on for a long time in dark ness and then threw out another piece of light, making it day again. This he continued to do at intervals until he reached the outside of the kashim in his own village, when he threw away the last piece. Then he went into the kashim and said, “Now, you good-for-nothing shamans, you see I have brought back the light, and it will be light and then dark so as to make day and night,” and the shamans could not answer him.

After this the Raven boy went out upon the ice, for his home was on the seacoast, and a great wind arose, drifting him with the ice across the sea to the land on the other shore. There he found a village of people and took a wife from among them, living with her people until he had three daughters and four sons. In time he became very old and told his children how he had come to their country, and after telling them that they must go to the land whence he came, he died.

Raven’s children then went away as he had directed them, and finally they came to their father’s land. There they became ravens, and their descendants afterward forgot how to change themselves into people and so have continued to be ravens to this day.

At Raven’s village day and night follow each other as he told them it would, and the length of each was unequal, as sometimes Raven traveled a long time without throwing out any light and again he threw out the light at frequent intervals, so that the nights were very short, and thus they have continued.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

Origin of land and people

In the beginning, the earth was covered by icy waters, devoid of life. A man arrived, married a she-wolf, and their children, born in boy-girl pairs, spoke unique languages. Each pair dispersed across the land, populating the earth and creating its diverse languages. As the ice melted, rivers and valleys formed, shaping the world we know today.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Creation: The narrative explains how the earth transformed from being covered in icy waters to a habitable land with rivers, valleys, and diverse peoples.

Origin of Things: It provides an explanation for the existence of different languages and the distribution of people across the earth.

Transformation: The story depicts the physical changes of the earth’s landscape as the ice melted, leading to the formation of rivers and valleys, and the emergence of human societies.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from the Lower Yukon

In the beginning there was water over all the earth, and it was very cold; the water was covered with ice, and there were no people. Then the ice ground together, making long ridges and hummocks.

At this time came a man from the far side of the great water and stopped on the ice hills near where Pikmiktalik now is, taking for his wife a she-wolf.

By and by he had many children, which were always born in pairs a boy and a girl. Each pair spoke a tongue of their own, differing from that of their parents and different from any spoken by their brothers and sisters.

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As soon as they were large enough each pair was sent out in a different direction from the others, and thus the family spread far and near from the ice hills, which now became snow-covered mountains. As the snow melted it ran down the hillsides, scooping out ravines and river beds, and so making the earth with its streams.

The twins peopled the earth with their children, and as each pair with their children spoke a language different from the others, the various tongues found on the earth were established and continue until this day.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Sun and the Moon

In a riverside village, a sister and her lazy young companion had a falling out over his behavior, leading her to leave via a celestial ladder. She became the sun, and he, pursuing her in vain, became the moon. Their eternal chase explains the waxing and waning of the moon, symbolizing its starvation and renewal as the sun feeds it in cycles.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Creation: It offers an explanation for the origins of celestial bodies and their movements.

Origin of Things: The tale provides a narrative for natural phenomena, specifically the moon’s phases.

Transformation: Both characters undergo a metamorphosis into celestial entities, highlighting themes of change and adaptation.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from the Lower Yukon

In a village on the great river once lived four brothers and a sister. The sister had for a companion a small boy of whom she was very fond. This boy was lazy and could never be made to work. The other brothers were great hunters and in the fall hunted at sea, for they lived near the shore. As soon as the Bladder feast was over they went to the mountains and hunted reindeer. The boy never went with them, but stayed at home with the sister, and they amused each other. One night the sister awoke and found the boy lying in bed close to her, at which she became very angry and made him go to sleep in the kashim with the men. The next evening, when she carried food to her brothers in the kashim she gave none to the boy; instead, she went home, and after mixing some berries and deer fat, cut off one of her breasts, placed it in the dish, and carried it to the boy.

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Putting the dish before him she said, “You wanted me last night, so I have given you my breast. If you desire me, eat it.” The boy refused the dish, so she took it up and went outside. As she went out she saw a ladder leading up into the sky, with a line hanging down by the side of it. Taking hold of the line, she ascended the ladder, going up into the sky. As she was going up her younger brother came out and saw her and at once ran back into the kashim, telling his brothers. They began at once to scold the boy and ran out to see for themselves.

The boy caught up his sealskin breeches and, being in such a hurry, thrust one leg into them and then drew a deerskin sock upon the other foot as he ran outside. There he saw the girl far away up in the sky and began at once to go up the ladder toward her, but she floated away, he following in turn.

The girl then became the sun and the boy became the moon, and ever since that time he pursues but never overtakes her. At night the sun sinks in the west and the moon is seen coming up in the east to go circling after, but always too late. The moon, being without food, wanes slowly away from starvation until it is quite lost from sight; then the sun reaches out and feeds it from the dish in which the girl had placed her breast. After the moon is fed and gradually brought to the full, it is then permitted to starve again, so producing the waxing and waning every month.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page