Bluejay and the storm-bound people

In a Tlingit village, a boy mocked a sacred sea plant, leading to unending storms and famine. The villagers were trapped in wintry weather, unable to hunt or fish, and began to starve. One day, a bluejay flew over the village carrying a branch with fresh berries, signaling that fine weather and food were available elsewhere. Encouraged, some villagers braved the storm, found abundant resources, and survived. Since then, the Tlingit revere the bluejay as a deliverer.

Source:
Tahltan Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.32, No.124, pp.198-250
April-June, 1917
Vol.34, No.133, pp.223-253
July-September, 1921
Vol.34, No.134, pp.335-356
October-December, 1921

► Themes of the story

Divine Punishment: The community faces relentless storms and famine as retribution for the boy’s disrespect toward the sacred sea plant.

Sacred Spaces: The sea plant’s location is considered holy, and interacting with it requires reverence, highlighting the significance of sacred places in nature.

Harmony with Nature: The tale underscores the importance of respecting natural elements and living in balance with the environment to ensure communal well-being.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

In the Tlingit country a large number of people were living together at one place near the seashore, A sea-plant which the Tlingit venerate grew abundantly near this place. People were forbidden to speak to it except in the most respectful manner; for it was considered a harbinger of spring, and, if it did not renew its growth, spring might not come. Children were forbidden to name it or to talk to it, especially in the spring-time. One day, when spring-time was near, the son of one of the wealthiest men in the village talked to this plant, and made fun of it, saying, “Don’t grow out! My father has plenty of food yet. We don’t care when spring comes.” After this it was continual stormy, wintry weather at this place. The people could not go hunting or fishing; and no one ventured very far away, because of the storms. They thought that the whole coast was suffering in the same way; for they could not see far, their village being enveloped in a cloud.

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The people ran out of food, and were starving. The boy who had mocked the plant died; and all the people became very weak, so that they were unable to procure fire-wood. The people of other places saw a black cloud hanging over the village. They tried to go there, but were always beaten back by the storms. One day Bluejay flew over the village, carrying a branch with fresh berries. The people said, “Oh, what is it that Bluejay has in his beak? Berries must be ripe in some place.” Now, with great difficulty a few of the strongest people pushed through the storm zone. They found fine weather over the rest of the country, the salmon fishing was nearly over, and the berries were ripe. Thus Bluejay saved the lives of the people, who ever since have been grateful to him. The Tlingit reverence this bird because he acted as a deliverer.

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The deserted orphan and the goat chief

An orphaned boy, abandoned with his grandmother by their tribe, dreams of a wealthy chief who offers assistance. Following the chief’s guidance, the boy fasts for eight days, gaining supernatural powers. He then moves mountains closer, restores his grandmother’s health, and constructs a house in a canyon. Using his newfound abilities, he calls game into their home, ensuring they have ample food.

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The boy receives guidance from a supernatural chief in a vision, which significantly influences his actions and fate.

Transformation: The boy gains extraordinary powers, allowing him to manipulate the environment and provide for his grandmother, marking a significant change in his abilities and circumstances.

Sacred Spaces: The boy and his grandmother move to a canyon in the mountains, a location that becomes central to their survival and the unfolding of the boy’s newfound powers.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

This story is said to belong to the Raven phratry and to be of Tlingit origin; at least, the Tlingit tell a similar story, and the families that tell it use goat-horns and goat-masks as crests. Probably they claim the deserted boy as one of their ancestors. The Tahltan refer to this story as an example of the good results that will accrue from strict observance of taboos.

An orphan boy lived with his grandmother. [Some people say that she was his only relative, but in the story an uncle is mentioned.] It was good weather; but the people were short of food, and therefore moved their camp. As the old woman was unable to walk, they deserted her, leaving her a little food, but no fire. They wanted to take the boy with them, but he would not leave his grandmother. The boy went outside of the village a little distance. Here he heard a sound, and, becoming afraid, he returned. That night he dreamed that some one talked to him, saying, “Why did you run away from the sound you heard? I want to help you. Leave your grandmother when she is asleep, and go to where you heard the sound.” He awoke, and went to the place designated. When he reached there, he saw a house, which he entered. Within were many people. A well-dressed wealthy chief spoke to him, and asked why he staid with his grandmother. He said, “Because she is my relative. I cannot desert her.” The chief asked if they had any food; and he answered, “No.” The chief said, “Well, you will starve, then.” The boy answered, “I am willing to starve with my grandmother.” The chief then told him, that, if he would do as he directed him, he would obtain plenty of food. He said, “Near your camp there is a deep canyon. Make your house there between two steep rocks. Make it with sharp goat-horns [not clear; maybe they used sharp goat-horns for cutting rocks or digging], but first abstain from food and drink for eight days.

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Then you will receive great power from me.” He saw and heard all this as in a vision. When he awoke, he found himself lying on the ground, and neither house nor people were in sight. He thought he had been away a short time, but he had been absent several days. When he reached home, his grandmother asked him where he had been. She said, “I have been weeping for you many days. I thought you were dead.” Now he fasted as directed; and when the eight days had passed, he caused wind and rain-storms to visit that part of the coast to which his uncle and the people had gone. They could neither fish nor hunt, and soon were short of food. Now he said to his grandmother, “We will move up the mountains, and make a house in a canyon there.” She answered, “The mountains are far away, and I cannot walk.” The country in the vicinity of where they were was flat. The boy said, “I will make the mountains come nearer.” He stretched out his fingers and then contracted them; and the earth was contracted, so that the mountains stood close by. He said to his grandmother, “Now look out!” She looked, and saw that the mountains were now quite near by. Then he struck his grandmother’s legs and body with brush, and she became able to walk like a young woman. They went to the canyon in the mountains near by. He told his grandmother what to do, and she built a house. Perhaps it was of stone, but it had a door which opened and shut. He said to her, “I am going to call the game into the house, but you must not kill the first animal that enters. Wait until all are in.” He began to sing a song by means of which he called the game. Soon he said to his grandmother, “The game is coming. Open the door!” Then goats came in, and nearly filled the house. When all were in, he told her to shut the door and to kill them. She clubbed and butchered the game. The boy made his grandmother strong, so that she could skin and cut up the game quickly. He also made her able to carry all the meat and skins down and fill one of the houses of the deserted village. He asked his grandmother what kind of food she wished next; and she said, “Sheep.” He sang; and sheep came, and filled the house in the same way. When all the sheep-meat had been stored, he asked his grandmother what she desired next; and she said, “Halibut.” He said to her, “Go to the beach, and you will find them.” She went, and found many halibut on the beach. Then he caused many olachen to come ashore. His grandmother dried the halibut. She put the olachen into a pit, where she let them rot until they were ready to be boiled for trying out the oil. The boy put the fish and oil in his uncle’s house in the village. Now the people were starving. The boy’s uncle, who was chief, sent a male and a female slave back to the village to see if the old woman and boy were still alive, and to find out if there was any game. Meanwhile the boy and his grandmother had moved back to the village. The house which they had made in the canyon had vanished. The slaves arrived, and, seeing smoke, knew that the old woman and the boy must be alive. They looked into a house, and saw that it was full of meat. They found their master’s house full of olachen and olachen-oil. They ate their fill, and took some along when they returned. The boy said to them, “Don’t tell my uncle. Say I am dead.” The slaves returned, and told the people that the old woman and boy were dead. They were asked if they had found their bodies; and they said, “Yes, they were lying in the house.” After a while one of the slave-children cried for olachen. The chief heard him, and asked, “How does he know about olachen?” Then he said to the parents, “You are hiding something. If you do not tell me, I shall kill you.” Then they told him all, and said that the boy had charged them not to tell. The people at once broke camp, and went aboard their canoes to return to the village. The younger wife of the boy’s uncle dressed herself nicely and painted her face. When wiping her face with a towel, she scratched it with a shell that happened to be in the towel. When the people arrived at the village, the uncle said to his nephew, “Which one of my wives do you wish for your wife?” and he answered, “I don’t want the younger one, because she always ill-treated me. I will take the elder one, for she was always good to me.” The boy’s uncle gave him his elder wife, and appointed him to the inheritance of his family, name, and rank.

Story of Tenqalati’ya

A hunter and his dog pursue a young goat down a steep cliff. After scolding the goat, it leaps onto a rock, which then rises into a tall pillar, trapping all three atop. The hunter warns his people to respect animals, predicting his transformation into stone. Over generations, his figure, along with the dog and goat, gradually petrifies, serving as a lasting reminder.

► Themes of the story

Divine Punishment: The hunter is punished for his mistreatment of the goat, leading to his entrapment and eventual petrification.

Transformation: The transformation of the hunter, his dog, and the goat into stone figures atop the pillar.

Sacred Spaces: The rock pillar becomes a sacred landmark, embodying the tale’s moral and serving as a warning to others.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

A long time ago a man went hunting goats on Spatsi’z River [a stream forming one of the southern head waters of the Stikine River. The name is said to mean “goats painted,” because the goats get their hair stained by the rocks in this vicinity]. He carried a spear, and was accompanied by his dog. The dog ran down the goats; and when he brought them to bay, the hunter speared them. The man saw a young goat, and chased it. The goat ran down a steep and dangerous cliff; and the man and dog followed it, but they could not overtake it. When they reached the bottom of the cliff, the man was angry. He scolded the goat, and told him to go back to his father’s house. The goat then jumped up on a little rock and stood there. The man and dog jumped up also to attack him. Immediately the rock grew up into the air in the shape of a tall pillar, steep and smooth on all sides. As neither the man, nor the dog, nor the goat, could descend, they all stood there together on the summit.

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As the man did not return, the people looked for him, and found him standing on the top of the tall rock. He called to them and told them his story. He said, “I am punished for abusing the goats. Never do as I have done. The animals will take revenge. Now I am here. I cannot get down, and you are powerless to aid me. I must stay here with my dog and the goat. I shall die and be turned into stone. When I see people approaching, I shall shout at them. They will look at me and remember my fate, and it will be a warning for them to treat the goats properly. After a while, when I become older and more feeble, I shall whistle; and still later, when I am almost completely petrified, I shall no longer be able to utter a sound, and you will know I am really dead.” The figures of the man, dog, and goat may still be seen on the top of this rock-pillar. Formerly the man held a spear, but this has now disappeared. Formerly both his legs were visible, as if he stood with legs apart; but now they are the same as if one. Formerly he shouted at people. This was about six generations ago. Later, in our grandparents’ days, he only whistled. Now people say he is really dead, and makes no sound. The name of the man or rock is Tenqalati’ya [said to mean “walked on arrow” (as if one met or walked against an arrow-point which pierced the body)].

The shaman who went into the fire, and the heron’s son

A young boy, mistreated by his uncle’s wife, retreats into the wilderness, guided by a spirit. He creates nests along a creek and undergoes a transformation, gaining shamanic powers. His concerned uncle searches for him and eventually finds him in a cave. The boy instructs his uncle on how to handle his spiritual journeys, emphasizing the importance of rescuing him from the fire during rituals.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes a significant change, becoming a shaman with spiritual powers.

Trials and Tribulations: The boy faces challenges, including mistreatment by his uncle’s wife and the hardships of his spiritual journey.

Sacred Spaces: The cave and the nests he creates serve as significant spiritual locations in his transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

A little boy’s friends were all gone. His uncle was a great hunter, and the little boy was always going around far up in the woods with bow and arrows. He was growing bigger. He also went out with his uncle. His uncle went about everywhere to kill things. He always brought plenty of game down from the mountains.

One time he again went hunting. At that time the inside of the house was full of the sides of mountain sheep, on racks. His uncle’s wife bated her husband’s little nephew very much. When she went outside for a moment, he broke off a little piece of fat from the sides of mountain sheep hanging on the rack, to put inside of his cheek. Although there was so much he broke off only so much. Then his uncle’s wife looked all around. The end piece was not there.

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“Is it you that has done this?” she said to her husband’s little nephew. He cried and said, “No.” Then she put her hand inside of his cheek. “Why don’t you go up on the mountain?” [she said.] She scratched the inside of his cheek. Blood ran out of his mouth. While crying he pulled his uncle’s box toward him. He took his uncle’s whetstone out of it. Meanwhile his uncle was far away.

Then he started off into the woods, carrying the whetstone, and came out to a creek. He came out on a sandy bank, pounded (or scooped) it out like a salmon, and made a nest beside the water. He stayed upon it overnight. His dream was like this. He was told, “Let it swim down into the water.” It was his spirit that told him to do this.

When his uncle came down he missed him. He asked his wife, “Where is my nephew?” She answered. “He went up that way with his bow and arrows.”

When [the boy] got up farther he made another nest. This man was named “For-little-slave.” He made eight nests. Now his spirit helper began to come to him on the last. At that time he took his whetstone down into the creek, and it swam up in it. Then he lost his senses and went right up against the cliff. He stayed up there against the cliff. Everything came to bear him there-sea gulls, eagles, etc. When his spirits left him they would always be destroyed — the eagles, sea gulls, all of them.

Now, his uncle hunted for him. After he had been out for eight days he discovered the nest his nephew had made by the creek. He saw all the nests his nephew had camped in. His uncle looked into the creek. The salmon was swimming there, and be camped under the nest. Afterward he listened. In the morning he heard the beating made by shamans’ sticks. He heard it just in the middle of the cliff. Then he came up underneath it. Before he thought that [his nephew] had seen him, his nephew spoke to him: “You came under me, the wrong way, uncle.” The uncle pitied his nephew very much. “Come up by this corner,” said his nephew. Ever afterward he was named, “For-little-slave.” then his uncle asked him, “What caused you to do this?” He did not say that his uncle’s wife had scratched the inside of his cheek. Instead be said to his Uncle: “Cave spirits told me to come here.” This was a big cave, bigger than a house.

Then his spirits came to him while his uncle was with him. They went inside, and his uncle beat time for him. Then be told his uncle to remember this: “When the spirit Nixa’ runs into the fire with me, do not let me burn up. While I am getting small throw me into a basket.” That was the way he did with him. It ran into the fire with him, and he threw him into the basket. Then he always came to life inside of the basket. He became a big man again.

That same evening he sent out his uncle to call, “This way those that can sing.” Then the cliff could hardly be seen for the mountain sheep that came down to look into the cave. When they were seated there, he whirled about his bow and arrows and all the mountain sheep were destroyed. The inside of the cave was full of them. Now, he said to his uncle: “Take off the hides.” He was singing for great Nixa’. When the spirit came out of him he reminded his uncle, “When it runs into the fire with me, don’t forget to take me out and put me into the basket.”

After all of the sheeps’ sides were covered up be sent him for his wife. He came up with his wife into the cave. Then he said to his uncle: Take the half-basket in which we cook. “Mash up the inside fat for your wife.” His spirits took out the woman’s bottom part from her. For this reason the woman never got full eating the mountain-sheep fat. She could not taste the fat. He put her in this condition because she had scratched the inside of his cheek.

By and by be said to his uncle: “Make your mind courageous when Nixa’ comes in.” In the evening he told his uncle to go out and call. The cliffs could hardly be seen. Grizzly bears came in front of the house to the door of the cave. They extended far up in lines. Then his uncle started the song for the spirit. They kept coming inside. Suddenly a grizzly bear came in. It was as if eagle down were tied around its ears. At that [the uncle’s] wife became scared and broke in two. He did this to her because she had scratched on the inside of his cheek on account of the fat. His spirit also ran into the fire with him. While his uncle stood in fear of the grizzly bear, For-little-slave burned up in the fire.

At that the cave creaked, and every animal ran into its skin. The things they were drying did so. They did so because the shaman had burned up. So the shaman and his uncle also were finally burned up.

Origin of Iceberg House

A man and his wife, mourning the loss of loved ones to disease, hosted symbolic feasts to honor the dead, treating ice and bears as guests. His offerings to ice led to traditions in the Tcukane’di clan, while his fearless invitation to the bear tribe brought mutual respect and comfort. Observers, witnessing this, marveled at his connection with the spiritual and animal realms.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Loss and Renewal: The protagonist and his wife, grieving the deaths of their loved ones due to disease, seek to honor the deceased through symbolic feasts, demonstrating a cycle of mourning and the pursuit of renewal.

Sacred Spaces: By inviting ice and bears into their home and treating them as honored guests, the couple transforms their dwelling into a sacred space, bridging the human, spiritual, and animal realms.

Supernatural Beings: The interactions with the bear tribe, who respond to the man’s invitations and offer comfort, highlight the connection between humans and supernatural entities within the narrative.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

A man and his wife were living at a certain fort. At that time some disease came into the world and destroyed all of their uncles, fathers, and friends. Then the man thought within himself, “I ought to give some sort of feast to my dead friends,” and he began to gather berries.

One day some ice floated up on the beach below him. He took it piece by piece and put it into the house, treating the pieces as his guests. He poured a great deal of oil into the fire to make it blaze. Then he took dishes, put berries into them, and placed these in front of the pieces of ice to show that he was sorry for the dead people, and desired to give someone a feast. After he had given to them, the ice gave forth a kind of squeak as if the pieces were talking to him, though he could not make out what was said.

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It is from this squeak that the people now know that he invited them, and it is from this circumstance also that, when ice drifts down upon a person in a canoe, he talks to it and gives it tobacco, calling it “My son’s daughter” or “My son’s wife.” This is ahead of the Tcukane’di (i.e., the beginning of the Tcukane’di clan). Therefore they own Iceberg House. [This man can not have belonged to the Tcukane’di himself, because the ice he invited must be of the opposite clan, but his wife may have been. He perhaps belonged to the Ta’qdentan.]

Afterwards this man went out again. He said to himself, “I will invite anyone out on the sea that hears me.” After he had gotten well out in his canoe he shouted, “Everybody this way. Everybody this way,” just as though he were calling guests, and immediately crowds of the bear tribe, thinking they were the ones invited, began coming down between the mountains.

When he saw those animals coming, the man told his wife to be courageous, but for himself he said he did not care whether he lived or died, because all of his friends were dead. When the bear people began to come in, he told them to go up to the rear end of the house, saying, “It is your brother-in-law’s seat you are going to sit down in” (i.e., that was where he formerly sat). His wife was somewhat frightened, but he talked to them as if they were his own people. As he called out the names of the dead men who had held those seats they would say in turn, “Hade’ (present),” and he would pass a dish up to the speaker.

After they were through eating the chief of the bear tribe said to his friends very plainly, “Do not leave this man friendless, but go to him every one of you and show your respect.” So they told the man to lie down in front of them, and before they left they licked him, meaning that thereby they licked his sorrow away. They said, “This is because you feel lonely.” Then the bears started off.

At that time men from some other town came near, watched the big animals come out and heard the man speak to them as if they were his own friends, but they were afraid to go near.

The woman who was killed by a clam

During a famine, a chief’s daughter became trapped by a bivalve while gathering clams at low tide. As the tide rose, she sang a lament until it submerged her completely. Mourning her loss, the people held a feast, offering food, blankets, and other items to the water as a tribute to her memory.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Sacrifice: The woman’s tragic death highlights the sacrifices individuals make during times of hardship, especially in the context of a famine where gathering food is perilous.

Loss and Renewal: The community’s mourning and the subsequent feast symbolize the cycle of loss and the attempts at renewal through communal rituals and offerings.

Sacred Spaces: The sea serves as a sacred space in this narrative, with the community offering tributes to the water, acknowledging its power and significance in their lives.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There was a famine at a certain town and many people had to depend on shellfish, so the women went down to the beach at low tide every day to gather them.

One time a chief’s daughter went down and reached far under a rock to find some clams. Then a large bivalve called xit closed upon her hand, holding her prisoner.

Presently the tide began to rise, and, when it had almost reached her, she began singing a song about herself. She kept on singing until the tide passed right over her.

Then all felt sad and held a feast for her at which they put food, blankets, and other things into the water.

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The Shaman in the Moon

A Malemut shaman shared a fascinating cosmology where a moon-dwelling chief governs earthly animal abundance, granting animals to shamans who visit him in pairs with offerings. The sky is imagined as an inverted land, its grass releasing snow during storms. Stars are seen as shining lakes in this sky-land, while the winds are attributed to a northern giant and a southern woman shaping their environments.

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

Divine Intervention: The moon-dwelling chief, a divine figure, influences earthly animal abundance by granting animals to shamans who visit him with offerings.

Supernatural Beings: The narrative involves interactions with supernatural entities, such as the chief in the moon and the personifications of the north and south winds.

Sacred Spaces: The sky and the moon are depicted as sacred realms that shamans can access, with the sky imagined as an inverted land and the moon as the dwelling place of a powerful chief.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from Kotzebue Sound

A Malemut shaman from Kotzebue sound near Selawik lake told me that a great chief lives in the moon who is visited now and then by shamans, who always go to him two at a time, as one man is ashamed to go alone. In the moon live all kinds of animals that are on the earth, and when any animal becomes scarce here the shamans go up to the chief in the moon and, if he is pleased with the offerings that have been made to him, he gives them one of the animals that they wish for, and they bring it down to the earth and turn it loose, after which its kind becomes numerous again.

The shaman who told me the foregoing said he had never been to the moon himself, but he knew a shaman who had been there.

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He had been up only as high as the sky, and went up that high by flying like a bird and found that the sky was a land like the earth, only that the grass grew hanging downward and was filled with snow. When the wind blows up there it rustles the grass stems, loosening particles of snow which fall down to the earth as a snowstorm.

When he was up near the sky he saw a great many small, round lakes in the grass, and these shine at night to make the stars. The Malemut of Kotzebue sound also say that the north wind is the breath of a giant, and when the snow falls it is because he is building himself a snow house and the particles are flying from his snow shovel. The south wind is the breath of a woman living in the warm southland.

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.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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.

The Aglirtoq woman and the bear

A woman fleeing from men found refuge in a snow-house owned by a bear who had transformed into a man. Unseen by her, the bear donned his skin, became a bear again, and hunted a seal. He skinned it and shared the catch with the woman, who later recounted the encounter, marveling at the bear’s generosity and unique snow-house.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The bear’s ability to change into a human form highlights themes of physical transformation and the fluid boundaries between human and animal realms.

Supernatural Beings: The bear’s shapeshifting nature introduces a supernatural element, emphasizing the presence of extraordinary creatures within Inuit folklore.

Sacred Spaces: The snow-house serves as a sanctuary for the woman, symbolizing a sacred space where she finds refuge and encounters the bear’s generosity.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A woman ran away from men. She came to a snow-house, owned by a bear. The bear was inside, but he had changed himself to look like a man.

This woman, who was aglirtoq (under restrictions), went into the house. After a while the bear, who was also in the snow-house (but whom she had not seen, as the house was a double one), got up and went into the entrance passage, where he put on his big skin and thus became a bear.

Then he went down to the water and dived. He stayed under a long time, but finally reappeared, carrying a seal in his mouth.

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This bear then skinned it, and brought the seal into the house. Then he cut up the seal he had caught, and gave that aglirtoq woman some of the skin [fat?] to eat. She gave her children some of the skin and then went away, going home. When she arrived, she told her story: “There is a bear who has a snow-house. I went in. He caught a seal and I ate of his catch. He gave me its skin to eat.”

The woman who married a Tuneq

A tuneq marries an old woman and provides for them by hunting a ground-seal. Once the food is gone, they travel to a house with many people, where the tuneq departs. Sea-gulls then enter the house, are caught and cooked by the people. This echoes Greenlandic folklore of Avarunguak and a giant catching auks in a similar way.

Source:
Tales of the Smith Sound Eskimo
by Alfred L. Kroeber
[The American Folklore Society]
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.12, No.46, pp.166-182
July-September, 1899

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The tale involves a ‘tuneq,’ a supernatural entity from Inuit folklore, who marries a human woman.

Transformation: The narrative depicts a shift in the woman’s life as she transitions from her previous existence to living with the tuneq, adapting to new circumstances and experiences.

Sacred Spaces: The couple’s journey to different dwellings, including the tuneq’s house and another inhabited by multiple people, signifies transitions into spaces that hold particular significance within the story.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

A tuneq married an old woman. After he had married her, they walked away and entered his house. The tuneq then went away to the sea, and soon returned, carrying a ground-seal on his back. This they cut up and lived upon, until they had eaten it all.

Then they went away until they came to a house where there were a number of people. They entered this, went to bed, and slept. Next day the tuneq went away. Thereupon a number of sea-gulls came to the house and went in. [In Greenland, Avarunguak visits a giant who catches auks in the same manner.] The people caught them, picked their feathers, cut them in pieces, put them in a pot over the fire, and ate them.

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