I

Five Sisters

Once there was a young man named Picneeak. He was traveling between two villages. He had been walking all day until he came to a creek where he could use the water. He was tired and hungry so he looked for a suitable place to spend his night. He found a good place. There were many trees around. He made a fire and roasted some meat from his pack. He cut a water willow for the meat. He put it upright to hold the meat near enough to the fire to cook it. Later, after he ate the meat and drank the water, he lay down to sleep. He woke up before the sun came out in the east.

After he had some meat and water for breakfast, he was on his way once more to the other village. Afterwhile he stopped and sat down for a rest. He knew he would be in the village before the sun went down. By now he was walking along the sea shore. He looked around. The place was sandy and dry. He lay on his back.

Pretty soon he heard someone talking and laughing. He heard happy hollering and more laughing. He stood up and listened. It came from in back of him.

Picneeak put his pack sack on his back and went toward the laughing place. Soon he came to a lake. He went down on his hands and knees. There were lots of trees around the lake. while he moved along he did not see a piece of dry stick laying on the ground. He broke it while he was trying to investigate who or what was laughing and making all that noise. The laughing stopped. One of the voices said “A stick was just broken.” Another one said, “There might be an animal walking in the willows.” There was not as much laughing as before, Picneeak stopped until the noise got loud again. Then he kept on getting closer to the lake. As the man moved, all the birds were quiet. The laughing stopped again. One voice said, “There might be something around close to us.” Another one said, “I cannot see anything and I cannot hear anything.” Pretty soon the noise and laughing started again, but not so much as before.

It sounded like women or girls laughing. Picneeak moved from one place to another and slowly moved up to the edge of the lake. He looked from behind the willows. He could see them plain now from where he was hiding.

There were five young, growing girls. He looked around. He was not far from their clothes. He made up his mind to pick up their clothes. The girls were in water up to their waists. Picneeak jumped up, ran and picked up all their clothes and held them.

The girls were real scared. They were so surprised by his sudden appearance. Picneeak could see them now. Four of the girls looked exactly the same. The youngest looked like her sisters but just a little different. Picneeak could not pull his eyes off from her. He was sure he loved her best. He decided to test all of them to find out which one had the most temper. He would have to hold the youngest girl’s clothes the longest, just to find out.

Picneeak smiled at those girls. He spoke at once and said, “You girls are sure surprised to see a man here. If it was not for your laughing, I would not know about you girls. I heard you and I thought I had better investigate to find out what was the noise I heard. I will give the clothes to each one of you, if you promise not to tell anyone about me. You must promise that you will never tell anyone that I approached near to you girls in this lake.”

They all promised they would never tell.

“Now, I want you to come get your clothes.” He pointed to one of them. “You should wait there for the rest to put their clothes on so they can all go to the village together.” The one he pointed to stayed in the lake. One by one the other girls came to get their clothes except the last one.

She did not make any complaining, either. All she did was just to stand looking at Picneeak. She knew he was a real man. He was the first one she had seen in her life. She kept looking at him. He seemed close to her because he was so very nice-looking. Even though they did not see each other the first time at the same time, love had overtaken them. This happened even though Picneeak knew he liked them all.

Finally Picneeak told the last girl she should come and get her clothes. He took her in his arms and held her. He talked to her before he gave her the clothes, and while he helped her put them on. Why he did that, the other girls did not know. The man had a reason. He asked the last girl, “Are you still alone, or do you have a husband?” She answered, “I am single.”

Picneeak was a very good-looking young man. Any woman could like him very much. He was well built, very strong, and always ready to smile.

After all the girls were ready to go, he said, “Now, as I see all of you it seems you girls are sisters.” They smiled to each other. The last one to receive her clothes stepped forward to him.

“Yes, we are sisters. Every five days we always come here to have a good time and to wash. We enjoy this lake. We wash our bodies with it. Those four are my sisters. I am the youngest. What surprised me is that when you gave us our clothes you let our oldest sister get her clothes, the same thing for the next sister, to the next and the next, and then me. It seems like you know us before. I am a youngest girl. I would like to know why you let me wait for my clothes.”

Picneeak answered her. “Because I tested you. I wanted to find something out. Now I know you are all sisters. If anyone asks you girls where you found me, just answer them ‘We found him. He will be our brother because we have no brother.’”

The oldest sister said, “How do you know we have no brother? How do you know that you will be our brother?”

The man smiled. “I want you all not to tell about our meeting place. I will help your father and your mom. You have to tell your parents you found me by the shore.”

They all went to the village together. When they arrived the people in the village saw those girls bringing a young man with them. It took no time for the news to spread all over the village. The girl’s parents were surprised, too. They sure liked that young man, too, because he acted just like their girls’ brother. Those parents had no boy to call a son. Now there was a young man with him. They called him son.

Picneeak had a fine home. He went hunting and fishing. He was a lucky hunter and he brought caribou, seal, fish, and lots of other meats. One day he asked the old man, “Why have people told me there is a big lake over there but no one goes near that lake?”

The old man told him, “Son, you better not go near that lake. Stay away from it. There is a big animal there with many colors all over him from head to the other end. He also has many feet to walk on. There are no birds swimming in that lake. Only ducks’ heads are seen floating on it. People have seen caribou being pulled out into the lake like a long string of some kind catch hold of them and haul them in the lake. That is why those people tell you not to go to that lake. That animal is dangerous. If someone sees it all at once, his whole body, they cannot move their eyes away from it. Their body cannot move. That is why I warn you. You have been our good hunter. We need you.”

Every day Picneeak was thinking about that creature. He would like to see it, but he kept thinking about the old man. He did not like to go against his warning, so he put off going to the lake.

One day the youngest sister asked him when they would become man and wife. Picneeak told her, “I will wait until your ma be alone. Then I can ask her. Then she can agree.”

One evening the old lady was alone with Picneeak. She said, “If you want or need something to have, all you have to do is ask it. Father and I will give it to you, no matter what, so long as we have it.” So, Picneeak said, “I would like to have the youngest girl for my wife. If I cannot get her, how about the other girls?” The old lady answered, “Tomorrow I will give you an answer. I have to talk to the old man about it. I will be glad to help you. I have to tell my husband first about your wishes.”

The next morning Picneeak told the girls to go with him to get fresh meat for home. They all started out with him. As soon as they saw a caribou, the man killed it. They all packed it home. After supper the old man said, “You girls and you, son, listen to me. All of you are my daughters and son. Your mother told me Picneeak was asking her about you girls. We have lived and stayed together long enough to know each other. You, daughters, and you, son, your mother and myself have lived through the year without any troubles among us. We were not hungry, without suffering, and living clean. So our answer is made, ‘yes.’ For that matter, Picneeak, you can have all five girls as your wives. I will let you have all five of them to be a wife to you.

“There is our answer. Today we have prepared a bed for each of the girls. They will not sleep together anymore. There will be five beds in here. There will not be a bed for Picneeak. You will sleep wherever you want to, as you please. Your mother and I have chosen caribou skins to lay on and each has a skin blanket with it.”

The old man asked each of his daughters if they would agree. They all agreed. Now Picneeak had five wives. They all lived happy because he became a real hunter. He was always lucky. He became a chief of the village. Picneeak’s family had many children and they became grandparents.

One day Picneeak said to the five sisters, “I will go for a while to visit my people. I will be back again. I want you to make me new clothes to wear. Make them real good clothes because when I come back, I will become a young man again. I will be away, but in five days I will be with you again. You sisters must not worry about me.”

Picneeak went away. He came home five days after. He looked young again. His wives were happy to have him home once more. Those five sisters had grey hair, but their husband still looked young. The youngest wife asked him, “How come you look young after you were gone and came back? Can you do the same thing to me as you did to you?”

Picneeak smiled. “I maybe could do it to all of you if you follow my orders. I am going to let you all come with me. Where I come from is the bottom of the ocean. Before I came here to this village I had been all over looking for girls like all of you.”

One day the old man and old lady, the girls’ parents, were at the kazghi. They asked Picneeak to tell them about where he came from and about his people. Picneeak told them about his village. “I came along the shore of your lands to look for girls like your five daughters. I have lived with you for a long time. Now I have to go back to my own people to wash away my looks of old age into becoming younger again. My people never get old. My home is on the bottom of the sea. There, no one gets old like your people. Now my wives have asked me about this. They ask if I can make young women out of them. If they still want to go, they will be the first ones to try. I will see if they all do as I tell them to do because it is a dangerous task. It may be easier for all of them to go at the same time when the time comes. They must do all that I tell them as I tell them to do it. They must never neglect what I ever say. As we go on our journey, we will meet lots of dangers on our way to my people. They must obey all my orders every time whenever any danger comes before us.”

Picneeak turned to the sisters. “You will all go with me at the same time. You must obey me always. Once we arrive to my people, we will have no trouble to get back to our children and Grandpa and Grandma.”

In the early morning, they all started off on a journey to Picneeak’s home. They were going to change old age into younger looks. They traveled far to where they were going to leave the sisters’ land. Picneeak said to his five wives, “Now we must take all of our clothes off and put them in this skin container and hang it to one of these trees. When we come back, we can use them again. Remember, always do as I command to you all when the dangers have a sight on us. When I dive, do as I do. You all must not open your eyes until you touch the bottom. Not one of you should open your eyes until you can touch the bottom floor of the ocean. Do not be afraid that you will lose each other. Follow what I say and we will have no trouble. As soon as you touch the bottom, open your eyes. You will see just as clear as you see me right now. Whenever danger comes to us, do not try to run off from me. Stay. Just obey my orders. That way we will all be safe. Now, follow me!”

Picneeak dived in the ocean. All of his five wives did the same thing. They touched bottom one after another. There was a wonderful world. They saw all kinds of plants and very beautiful country. All colors were in living plants.

The man said, “Follow every step I make. Follow in a single line one after the other.” They started walking. They saw every kind of sea animals.

Picneeak stopped all at once. “Lie flat, all of you!” The sisters looked up ahead. There were two big, killer whales wandering around looking for their food. They passed right close. They were so close, they almost touched them as they went by. Then Picneeak told the sisters to stand up and follow him. Before they could start Picneeak dropped down again. His wives did the same thing. They looked where he looked. There was the biggest clam they had ever seen. It was ready to grab anything that went by.

On their hands and knees, Picneeak and his wives went around the clam and passed it. They traveled around some cliffs with big cracks in them. Before they passed one big crack, Picneeak made a motion to stop and the sisters came to him. He lay down and looked around the edge of the pass in those cliffs. He pointed. The sisters looked around the edge. There was a big bullhead fish. He was the biggest they had ever seen. The fish glanced at them and swam around a little while. Pretty soon he left.

Once more they were on their way. They met batches of all different kinds of fish. They saw sea fish, whales, and a killer whale. Once they came to a school of fish so thick they had to stop to let them pass. There were crabs all over the bottom. They had to watch them close because some of them were very large. Picneeak had a stick to move them from their path.

Here, on the sea bottom, they traveled without clothes. Everytime when the sisters stopped, Picneeak looked back. He looked so young, even his face looked younger than when they started. Those wives of his, they always feel like making love to him. When he looked back at them, his smile was unforgettable.

Finally, Picneeak stopped and said, “We are very close now. I want to put something to cover your bodies as well as mine on all of us, just so we are not so completely naked. He pulled up a big leaf. He put a leaf on each one of them. Everyone had a green cover on. They all looked very old. When Picneeak came to the youngest she asked him, “Why do we look so old now?” Her husband answered her. “I want you all to look like old age before my people. Tomorrow I will take you all to a place to become young once more.”

They continued on their way to a village. The village came on sight before their eyes. It was a big village. There was a man and a woman and children coming to meet them. The woman looked something like Picneeak. He said, “My mother and father,” and he went fast to meet them. They put their arms around each other. They sure were glad to meet each other again. The mother looked at Picneeak’s wives. She found her voice, “Those are my daughters?”

Picneeak told her, “Yes, these are my wives that I have told you about. Today they are looking old. Tomorrow they will be looking young. You will see how they look tomorrow.”

Now there were lots of people around them. They looked at them with big smiles. They welcomed the sisters to see their village. They had a big feast and every one said they were glad to see each other.

The next day Picneeak took his five wives on a short journey to a place to wash away old age. They arrived at a hillside. There was water coming out from the side. Water poured out from a hole. He took the green cover from the older sister. Then he told her to put herself into this water, head and all. She did what Picneeak wanted her to do. He held her in the water until her breath was almost out. Then she stood up before him. She sure had changed and was much younger. Her husband kissed her and rubbed her nose. Then he took each one and did the same thing until the last woman was done.

He pointed to a place where there was still water and clear. He told them, “Now, look at yourselves in that pond and see what you are now.” They all did what he told them to do. They all looked young and they all looked just like each other. The husband put the green leaves back on their bodies. They all went back to the village.

When they got back, all the people looked at them. They looked so young, and the people said they must all be twins because they looked as one. They said, “Picneeak sure is a lucky man to have five wives, all sisters.”

They had a feast that night. The five sisters learned that their husband’s people lived in a ghost village. On the land, no one can find their village. It is a lost place. When the summer is over, the ghost people move to a whole village at the bottom of the sea. They never grow old. They are always young and strong.

When Picneeak and his five wives went back to their children and Grandma and Grandpa, the sisters told about their journey. Next time they got old, they went to live forever at the village of their husband at the bottom of the ocean.

II

Eleapuk

Once there was a poor boy who stayed with his grandma. They lived at the end of the village. They were very poor. Grandma used a cane to walk with, and her back was bent up with old age. The poor boy’s name was Eleapuk.

There was a chief in this village. He had everything. He had a big home, two big caches always full with dry meat and fish, one skin boat, one kayak, some dogs and a sled. He also had a daughter. She was a real good-looking girl. There were no others that looked like her near or far away in other places. Lots of young men all over wished to have her for a wife. She always sent them away.

When Eleapuk heard there was a visitor that came to the village to try for the chief’s daughter, it made him sick in his heart. The next morning he would always try to find her outside. When he saw her, he would ask her if she was going with that man. She just made a funny face at him, or her tongue would come out to him. Then she would say, “Go away! Get lost! I do not like you near to me.”

One day Eleapuk was standing outside the door of their poor house. He saw the chief’s daughter going to play a foot-ball game. He thought to himself, “I wish to have her as my wife. She is so good-looking and she can outrun the others, too.” His wishes were getting troublesome to him.

Grandma went over to the chief to get something to eat. The chief told his wife, “Give her whatever she wants to eat.” He also sent some clothes that were useful to wear because Eleapuk did not have any mittens to wear. He had holes in his mukluk heels. His elbows showed on the old parka with hardly any hair left and it was too small for his body.

Even though he was poor, Eleapuk wanted to have the chief’s daughter. One evening he said to his grandma, “Will you do something for me?” His grandma told him to ask. He said, “I want you to go to the chief and tell him I want to have his daughter to be my wife.”

Grandma was so surprised she said, “How can you take care of her? You, Eleapuk, have nothing to show. I am sure if I ask her parents they will just laugh. How can I do it? The chief always gives us food. He gives you clothes to wear.”

Eleapuk just told his grandma, “You must tell the chief. Tell him I can return everything to him when I get rich.” Grandma said. “All right, I will go over there and ask him.”

So, the old lady went over to the chief. When she came in to the chief’s house, he was sitting on the floor. The old chief smiled at her. “You have not been in here for a long time. What is it you want? If you need something, you tell my wife and she will give it to you.”

The old lady did not say a word until the chief asked her again. She did not answer for a long time. Finally, the old lady said, “Eleapuk ee suma toueyaktook. (Eleapuk is a miserable man.) He sent me here to tell…” She stopped again. The old chief said, “Old lady, what do you want, just tell me.”

So the old lady told him. “Eleapuk says he wants your daughter to be his wife.” The chief just bowed his head. He did not say anything for a long time. Finally he answered. “I cannot say an answer just now. Come back in the evening.”

The old lady came back to hear the chief’s answer. “He can come to stay with us. He can take care of our honey bucket. He can empty it. That is all he is good for.”

The old lady went out with a sad heart. While she walked home she thought, “Ahree, now Eleapuk pa rug ro aruht. He just left us with no more help from the chief. He never will give us any food any more.” She went to their poor home. Eleapuk was laying down on top of his old caribou mattress. His arm was behind his head. He was waiting for the answer.

Grandma sat down. She did not say anything because she was so sad. Finally, Eleapuk asked her what the chief said. Grandma said, “He told me you should go over there to stay with them. You are not good for anything except to take their honey bucket and empty it. That is all! You have just made us go into hardship now. The chief will never give us food and clothes for you to wear. You and I are helpless now.”

It was late in the evening. Eleapuk stood up and said, “Grandma, let’s go outdoors and look out there.” The old lady looked at him. “What for? There is nothing out there.”

Eleapuk smiled at her. “You must come out with me at once and see.” Grandma went out with him at once. When she came out from the shed over the door, she looked around. There was a great big house, four big caches, 2 skin boats, a kayak, dogs, and a sled. It was all there, standing out in the dark. Grandma was amazed. She went to look at everything, one after another.

Eleapuk turned to his grandma. “You see now what I mean. Now you must move into this new big house. I am going to tell you what I never told you before.

“One day I walked along the shore. I saw my grandpa that was dead long ago. He told me it will be easy for me to get the chief’s daughter to be a wife to me. He said that he will help me and put everything back he used to have for me to use. All he said was ‘Just ask me when you think it is time. I will put it all before you.’ Now you see it all.

“I will go over to the chief’s daughter and sleep with her tonight. I will not change my clothes, but you must change your clothes before me and my wife come here early in the morning. There are five big seal skin pokes filled with new clothes in the house. You must bring them down and put those clothes out to be ready for us.”

Eleapuk went into the chief’s home and sat down on the bed beside his wife-to-be. She was crying. Soon as her parents went to bed, Eleapuk took her to lay in bed with him. She turned over away from him. It seemed she was crying almost all night. Whenever Eleapuk tried to comfort her, she would shake away from him.

Eleapuk was not worried any because he wanted to surprise everyone in the morning. It seemed they slept a short time. When the girl woke up she was ashamed of her husband. People had heard about it already and they were laughing at her. They asked her why she took Eleapuk for a husband. They said, “Your life is ruined and broken because he is so poor. He has nothing to go by. How can you live?”

Eleapuk asked her to come with him to his home for breakfast. The girl was thinking. She made up her mind. “If I am not satisfied I will run home again. I will never be outside with him again. I wonder what kind of food we will eat? I am sure the old lady will give us some kind of poor dish.”

So they went over to Eleapuk’s house. It was dark yet. When they got close, the girl saw four big caches and a big house. She could not see well in the dark, but she could see the outline. It was so big. She was surprised when they passed the poor little house and went into the big house.

Eleapuk told her, “You have to go in first. I will be right behind.” So, she went into the house. What a place it was. It was clean and the light was shining bright. A big fire was in the corner for cooking. She saw the old lady was by the side of the fire cooking breakfast.

The old lady saw them coming in. She smiled at them. “Daughter and son, sit down and change your clothes, both of you. I will be ready with the breakfast real soon.” Eleapuk gave his wife real pretty clothes that had never been used. He took new clothes, too. They took off their old ones and put the new clothes on. The girl combed her hair and put wolverine trimming in her hair. She put three sets of beads around her neck and three bead bracelets on each arm. She hung beads on a string from ear to ear hanging down under her chin. They were very costly beads. There were none like them in the village. Only very rich people could have those beads. They came from Siberian people.

The girl looked at Eleapuk. He was clean and a good-looking strong man. She did not believe her eyes. She looked at him again, real close this time. She seemed to not recognize him. Then she saw a scar. It was the one she clawed once when he tried to kiss her. That was a year ago. She stood up and put her arms around him. She kissed him nose to nose. She looked up at him. She still was holding him. She asked him, “You are Eleapuk?” He answered, “Eeeee, I am him.”

They heard grandma coming with a big wooden plate filled with food. There was all kinds — black whale muktuk, dry meat, leaves, boiled meat, dry fish — everything!

Eleapuk’s wife could not take her eyes off him. Her husband said, “We must eat. Then we go to visit your parents and you have to stay with them.” She said, “Why do I have to be away from you?” Eleapuk smiled. “Because I did not make love with you yet.”

The girl’s eyes filled with tears, so he kissed her and said, “You did not give me a chance last night. All you did was be ashamed of me.” She looked back at him. “We will make up tonight. What do you say, Eleapuk?” He said, “It is all right with me. Now, let us eat. Then we will go over to your parents and I will take the honey bucket out for them. Your father told my grandma that I am only fit to take their honey bucket out for them, just because I am poor — nothing but Eleapuk which means a very poor boy. Now I will help them, too. Whatever I kill, I will always let them have some, too. I will return everything your father ever gave to help my grandma and me. Whatever I kill, they will have it, too. Now, let us go over.”

The girl said, “I will not let you take their honey bucket out, Eleapuk. I will do my father’s order for you.” Eleapuk said, “Just keep away from it. I am supposed to do it. I will do it.”

They went over to the chief’s house. It was morning daylight now. When the people came out, they could see the four big caches and the biggest house ever built in their village. There were two big skin boats laying on top of two racks of four poles, a kayak, a sled, and some dogs. They saw a man and a woman go in the chief’s house. In the village they talked about how this Eleapuk had changed over night. Everybody sure was surprised to see what had happened.

As soon as Eleapuk went in the chief’s house, before he sat down, he took the honey bucket out and then brought it back in. The old chief did not recognize Eleapuk and his wife. They were wearing very costly clothes. The woman was wearing lots of beads like most people never have. The man had a clean, good looking face and the chief could not recognize him. Eleapuk and his wife were like strangers until Eleapuk put the honey bucket out and came back inside. Then the chief knew the man was Eleapuk, but he still could not believe his eyes.

Then the old chief said, “It was my mistake to say what I spoke last night to your grandma. I sure am surprised to see you with all those new clothes. I am surprised to see my daughter has all those beads around her neck and those bracelets on her arms, with three sets of beads from ear to ear. She is good to look at with her long hair bound with wolverine trimming. You are good-looking and clean. Now I know why you want my daughter. You two were raised together.”

Eleapuk was a real good hunter. He always killed three black whales every spring. He got lots of seal and caribou. He brought the meat to the village. There was happiness for everyone. The people in the village liked him. He kept them from being hungry. They gave him great honor. He lived up to be a very old man.

III

Two Cousins

Before the Third Disaster, our ancestors used to make little offerings when somebody died. Either before or after they put them in their grave, they used to build a little fire. They would put little things to burn in the fire. Then they would ask the spirits to send them back in a new baby because they need another man or woman like that. All those Eskimos were not bad people like we used to hear from other people. There were many good Eskimos in those early days. They helped a lot of people when they needed it.

People all feel sorry when those good people die. That is why they made little offerings to the spirits. Then they say, “We need another man or woman like this one, so please send another one by some woman. Even though they do not know what the spirits look like or what they are or who it is that can do it, they ask for this thing, anyway. There is a story about this.

There were two cousins from Kauwerak. When they got old, they usually talked together. “When we die we will become a child again. But, before we do this, we will look in the women’s wombs. We will look for strong healthy women. When we find one who can make beautiful laughing babies, we will put ourselves in the little growing thing inside her. We will be born again.”

One day the older man died. The next day after, the other one died. They found each other as spirits between the earth and the sky. They usually still talked about how they would be reborn again. They were cruising around all over the place. They knew people wanted them to come back because they saw the offerings to the spirits. Finally one of them came right back to Kauwerak. He found a woman clean enough to be a mother. His cousin found a woman in the village at the mouth of Sinruk.

Pretty soon that cousin reborn at Kauwerak was growing up. There was a creek near Kauwerak where they used to put a net across on a little slough (mao nick i puk). The mouth is a little wider now. It runs into a little lake. Lots of creeks run into that place. The second dad took that little boy out with him to show him how to set the net. When they got to that place, they found they forgot the sinkers.

There were some little, red-leafed willows along the slough. The boy noticed his father had forgotten the sinkers for the net. He told his dad, “My first dad used to put the sinkers underneath that willow over there.” Without thinking about it, the second dad told the boy, “Well, go find them. If they are still there, bring them over here. We will put string on them or whatever they need.”

So, the little boy went over there to the willow and he dug around. Pretty soon, he took out five rock sinkers. The rawhide rope was all rotten and breaking off. The second dad was sure surprised. Then he remembered the boy saying about his first dad putting them there.

Then the boy said, “My first dad used to go up on that hill when he thought there was some caribou. The horns are up there yet.” His second dad went up and looked. There was a big pile of bleached-out horns lying down in the grass.

When they got back, the second dad told everybody about what happened. Then they believed that the boy was reborn again. After that they believed everything he said.

Later the cousin from Sinruk came back to Kauwerak and stayed there, too. They recognized each other and were good friends as long as they lived.

IV

Two Brothers

Once there were two brothers. They were the only children in the family. They lived by a river and fished in it. They caught salmon in the summer when the fish ran up the river. In the winter, their father put a wood trap in the river under the ice to catch fish. When they caught salmon, they hung them on fish racks to dry for winter season use. When the mother cut fish and cleaned them, the two brothers used to take the fish eggs and throw them in the river so the sea gulls could eat them. They did not like to see them go hungry. There were so many sea gulls, they would fight with each other to try to get some eggs. Those boys liked to watch the sea gulls fight to eat. They thought it was lots of fun to see. It seemed the only fun they got out of feeding the sea gulls was to watch them fight each other.

Later came the fall season. Whenever their father looked into the traps, the brothers went with him. There were always some sea gulls left behind. They looked hungry because the river was frozen over. Whenever they saw the sea gulls fly around near the traps, the father took out fish from the trap. They would pick out small fish and throw them toward the gulls to let the birds eat them.

In the spring season, the brothers enjoyed life. They wandered all around the countryside. They came to a tree and all at once, a cache robber flew away from a nest. The boys saw the nest. The older one climbed up the tree to the nest and looked in. There were four eggs in it. One of them was hatched into a young cache robber. The boy said to his younger brother, “One of them is hatched, all right. Let us come back a few days later. They all will be hatched then.”

The brothers came back in a few days. Sure enough, all of the eggs were hatched. The younger brother said, “When they grow up they will rob whatever they lay their eyes on. Why not destroy them? I have a good idea to kill them.”

His older brother asked him what idea he had. The boy said, “I will cut off one of those twigs and sharpen it on one end. I will spear them when they open their mouths. I will kill them with a stick.”

The mother bird was flying around very close to those boys. She had no way to protect the young birds from the two mean boys. After sharpening the stick, the younger brother climbed up to the nest. He touched one of the little birds. When he opened his mouth, the boy speared him right down the throat and blood came out from the mouth. The boy laughed, “There is one robber dead. He will never rob anything now. I will kill all of them.”

The older brother said, “No, no! Leave one for the mother bird. Leave that smallest one for her sake. Even though they steal, they do not do too much damage.” The younger brother killed two more birds in the same way as the first one. He left the smallest one. Then they went home. They did not dare to tell their parents what they had done. They knew they both had done something against the rules by killing little young birds, just hatched, too. They knew they had broken a rule their ancestors made — not to do any harm to birds or animals or make fun of them or abuse them.

The summer season passed into fall. The snow fell fresh and light and so white. Once more the winter began to come. Then those boys walked out away from their home. They saw rabbits’ and ptarmigans’ tracks. They saw lots of rabbits’ tracks around. The young brother said, “We better go to catch rabbits with our nets.” So they took their rabbit nets with them.

Fresh snow began to fall as soon as they were out in the tree country. They were following a rabbit track. It seemed that rabbit was leading them somewhere. Finally the boys did not know where they were. They had lost their way home because the snow was very heavy falling. They were sure lost. There was not a breath of wind to go by.

They traveled and traveled until they were exhausted. They lay down under a fir tree branch. In the morning, it was the same kind of weather. It kept snowing. They traveled all that day, but they could not find their home. They soon traveled for many days. While they were going, they saw a bird. It was a cache robber. They followed the bird. One of them said, “Sometimes that kind of bird is near a camp. Let us follow it.” They followed it into the distance. They came to a creek. It was not frozen yet. They decided to follow it. They were exhausted, hungry, sleepy, and wet. It was still snowing.

After some time, they came to a tiny cabin. A little man came out. He saw them coming down the creek. He waited until they came right close, and then he asked where they were from. The older brother told him what happened. He asked him which way that creek ran. The man told them, “This creek runs into a wide river to a land of no men. I stay here.”

The boys asked him if he could let them stay until the weather broke. The little man said it was all right. They all went in the cabin. It was almost empty. There was some grass to lie on and there was water running through the cabin. There were lots of willows in the water, but there was nothing to eat. The little man said, “Are you boys lost? Are you hungry? There are lots of fish in this creek. I will get some for you and your brother. Let your brother lie on the grass to rest. He sure looks tired. I will be with you in a little while. Just wait for me. I will bring something to eat.”

The little man went out. Pretty soon he came in with real fresh fishes. He said, “Now you must cook them for yourself because I do not eat those raw fish or any kind of meat. I live off that only.” He pointed to the willows!

The older boy told his brother, “You lie there. I can go out and build a fire and roast those fish. I will bring them in here and we will eat them.”

When the fish were done, he brought them in. They ate them all because they were so hungry. After they ate, they lay together to sleep. The older one woke up after a while, but he just opened his eyes to see what that little man was doing. He sure was busy. He would pull willows out and eat them. The boy could not make out what kind of human he was to live off willows. Come to find out later, the little man was a beaver.

When it was daylight outside the door, the boy woke his brother to eat a little roast fish. They thanked the little man and told him they would try to find their folks. All the little man said was, “The weather will be nice for many days to come.”

When the boys came out, the sun was shining and there were no clouds. Also, there was not a breath of wind. They started out once more. They tried to see landmarks, but they were in different country altogether. There was no way to go by.

The older brother said, “Perhaps we will see some country we know or a mountain or some hills.” They kept traveling. Later they came out of the timber into a clear place without trees. It was a new place to them. Later in the afternoon they were getting hungry. They saw a place on a hillside where there was a red or orange color on top of the snow. They decided to go to that place. Pretty soon they got there. It sure surprised them. There were salmon berries growing on top of the snow. The younger brother was so hungry he ate lots of them. They sure looked good and they tasted sweet to eat. The older one said to his brother, “You better not have any more. You might have a stomach ache. If you do not stop eating them, you can get sick. Something is funny here. Salmonberries do not grow on top of the snow.” All at once the berries disappeared. They could not see them anywhere.

They started out again. While they were walking, the younger brother said, “My stomach has started hurting.” His big brother said, “I told you not to eat so much of them. Now we have another trouble. We will stop and rest. Maybe that will help your stomach ache.” In no time, his brother got very sick. His belly was growing bigger and bigger. The older boy took his brother’s parka off and looked at his brother’s belly. It sure was getting big. His belly was spread all around with red and also orange color. Pretty soon his whole body was red — his face, too. The young brother said, “I do not think I will pull through from the sickness I have.” At that time they saw a cache robber fly by going in the same way they were trying to go. Then the younger brother said, “You should go. I know I will die. There is only moments to go with my life. You must go and leave me. I am going to die anyway. When you find our parents, just tell them what happened to me. Also tell them what I have done wrong and about breaking the rules of our ancestors. You remember, I killed those young birds.’

The older boy said, “I will do as you say. I will tell them all about what happened to us.”

The younger boy was getting sicker. “Go, now! Leave here. I cannot do anything and death has sighted me. Go, please.”

The older boy could see this brother of his would soon be dying. But he hated to leave him, the way his condition was. Finally he started off. He was thinking of their parents. “I may find them before he dies. We maybe can bring him home in time to save him from dying.” He was going around the hill. He stopped. “Perhaps he is better now. I better go back to find out. I miss him already.” When he got back, his brother was already dead. The boy tried to wake him up and shook him to make him say something. Nothing came out from his brother, not one word. He cried beside him, “Oh, brother, how come you left? Now I have to face the world without you, my brother.” He was heartbroken. He was alone now. He even did not know where he was at.

Finally, he stood up. “I have this time now. I must find my parents.” He looked around about to see the hills and landmarks so he could find his brother when he returned for his body. If he found his parents, he would show them where their youngest son was.

He started off again to try to find his home. No sooner did he start than that cache robber flew in the same direction he was heading. “That bird might lead me to my home.” Now there was a river in sight. He could see it. Then he saw something ahead of him.

It was a little igloo (Eskimo house) made of sod. When he went there, he saw a doorway in it. Someone came out to him and said, “You must come in.” It was a little girl with two box-like earrings in her ears.

He was cleaning his mukluks. “They want you to come in.” He thought, “I must go in and find out what they want me in there for.”

When he got in, it was the biggest house he ever saw. On one end there was an old man lying in the upper place. The little girl he saw outside was sitting below this old man. The old man said, “There is a place to sit beyond there.” He looked where the old man motioned. There was only one place to sit, so he took it and sat there. He looked around. There were lots of people in there. They were two by twos. They had on the same kind of clothes. Each two had the same color clothes. There were two sitting by him. Their clothes were all white.

No one said a word. Everyone stayed where they were. They just sat. At last the old man sat up. He looked all over the room. He started to talk. “This stranger might be hungry. Let someone give him something to eat.”

One of the two in black parkas turned and called out. His voice was a Canadian goose. Right after that there came someone with berries. In those berries were live black bugs crawling around in the plate. The boy could not eat any of it. Then one of all the others called out. Their voices were of different kinds of birds. Each time someone brought food. It was never anything the boy could eat.

One of the two white parkas beside him called out. The voice was a sea gull. This time there was a woman coming in with fish on the plate. It was steaming. It had just been cooked. The boy took that and began to eat. He ate it all.

One of the white parka’s said, “You seem to me that you have enjoyed your meal.” The boy smiled. “Yes, I sure did. It sure tasted like real good fish.” Then the sea gull voice asked him, “Do you remember at your dad’s and ma’s fishing place when we were there you boys used to throw lots of fish eggs toward us.” They fell into the water and we gulls used to pick them up and eat them. Now you get to eat some of it.”

The old man was sitting in the middle of the kazghi. He looked all around in the room. When he saw the boy he stopped looking. “I have to tell you about you and your brother that died. First I have to make it clear what I found one time long ago. That time when I found my children murdered by your brother, I almost died from sadness. There were three of them dead. One was left. That was the littlest one. She was left.” He pointed to the same little girl with two little boxes for earrings that told the boy to come in.

“I have to take care of her. I had been hunting for something for my children to eat. Then I heard their mother calling. I knew then there was trouble. When I got to the nest, I could not see anyone in sight. Even the mother was gone. I did not know what happened to her. I called her and there was no answer. I looked all over and round about. Finally I found her. She was lying on the ground. She was like she was dead. I was shaking I was so afraid over our mother and three children being all dead. Mother came to life later on. She was not dead, only just nearly dead from fright and sadness. She told me what happened to our children. Then she died. My heart was heavy and burdened because of what happened to my family. I had only one little girl left.

“That is the reason you and your brother were lost from your home. I told the rabbit to lead you and your brother out to the trees where you would be lost. I did not do any harm to you or take your life from you because you saved this little girl from your brother by telling him not to kill her. You are with us today because you did right. I have spared your life for the sake of this girl of mine. I spread the berries on the snow for your brother to eat because of what he did to our three children.

“I will let you go on your way to your home. I want to give you a gift for saving this girl. She will be your wife because I will live up to a few more minutes. My life will end. You have this girl to go with you.”

At his last words, the old man died. He formed into a bird, not a man. All of the people started going out from the kazghi two by two. They all called out as birds and went out formed like birds. Only the young man and the girl were left. He turned to look at her. She had changed to the size of a human. She sure was good- looking in her face and her body. He went over to her and asked her to come with him. From that time on they became man and wife and lived a happy life with many children.

The young man lived to a very old age. One time he got sick and knew it was time for him to die. He was not asleep, but he was not awake. He seemed to be walking along the river where he and his brother used to throw the fish eggs to the sea gulls. He saw his parent’s house. It was all broken down. There was nothing but some frame still sticking up. Then he saw his brother coming toward him. He was an old man, too. His brother put his arms around him. The older brother said, “I am surprised to see you. I thought you had died.” The younger one answered him. “I did. Our parents are dead, too. I have been wandering around. I went down by the ocean. You remember when I killed those little birds? Well, I have been punished for doing that. See, my lip has a cut in it like the cut I made in those little birds throats. You have one in your lip, too.” Sure enough, when that older brother felt his lip, he had a split place, too.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” the older brother wondered. “There is nothing for us here anymore.” The younger brother said, “I do not know about you, but I like the sea shore. I think I will go back to the ocean and become a seal.”

The older brother told him, “I lived inland and I like the country. I think I will become a rabbit.”

This is what they did. We believe the seal and the rabbit are brothers because they both have a cut on their upper lip. This is how they got them.

V

Arsichsorawaruhk

Arsichsorawaruhk was born at Cape Douglas. When he became a young man, his father took him whenever he went out to hunt. He also took him whenever he went to walk along the Bering Strait shore. His father had two spears. When he took his son with him, he let him have one spear to take along, too. Soon he began to teach his son how to handle and use his spear. He also taught him high jumps, side kicks, and how to jump over anything that is high up from the ground. Arsichsorawaruhk soon learned all the tricks his dad taught him.

Pretty soon his dad could not keep up with his son. He was so fast-moving first one way and then another. He could not touch him anymore in using a spear. His father used to challenge him with spear against spear until Arsichsorawaruhk learned all his father’s special ways. His father let him lift heavy things and bigger and bigger rocks. Soon the son could lift heavy rocks and carry them away. He became very strong. Nobody ever saw them Arsichsorawaruhk’s father began to see fitness in his son’s body. Pretty soon he began to give in to his son whenever they did battle with the spears.

One day, after many years passed, they heard there was a man over in Siberia that killed some men when they were fighting with spears. Many tried to beat him, but they always ended dead.

Arsichsorawaruhk began to think, “I wish I could try that Siberian man.” One summer day, he asked his father for a new spear of his own. They went to look for a real strong wood for a new spear shaft. The father went looking along the sea shore. There was lots of driftwood along the shore as far as a man could see. Father went to find unbreakable wood. He tried every piece that looked good. Everyone broke in two when he hit them against a rock. Finally, he found a long piece with twisted grain. The tide had just left it on the shore. Father tried it on a rock and it did not break. He took it home and put it into seal fat to keep it from drying out.

One day he got it from the seal oil and trimmed it. He made a new shaft for a spear.

Arsichsorawaruhk’s father knew there was a place that had real hard, unbreakable stone to use for spear heads. He went to get a stone. His trip took three days. It was very expensive stone. It took much time and hard work to get it. It took almost one day to cut out that piece of stone. It was hanging from the roof of a cave. The Eskimo name for the stone is cauninoryauhk (copper). It takes time to shape it to an unbreakable point for a spear. When he finished it, that spear was a priceless weapon. There was no one that had a weapon like it. He put it in an oogruk hide case to keep it from rain and from drying out.

Arsichsorawaruhk sure was proud of that spear. He was proud of the size of it, too. He saved it for an Uelen man. In some days to come, he would use it when he challenged him. The father wondered from time to time why his boy never used the fine spear.

Next Arsichsorawaruhk wished to have a paddle that would not break, to use when boating time came. He asked his father to find wood strong enough for a handle for a paddle. He would bring a black whale shoulder blade for the blade. Arsichsorawaruhk went to Point Spencer to get the blade. Then his father made the paddle without asking him more. The father thought, “This blade is heavy for a paddle.” But, he knew his son was strong now. He always broke their paddles.

Arsichsorawaruhk told his father, “I will try my paddle when we go across Bering Strait one of the nice days. We can go visiting people at Uelen. I would like to have a new parka made out of spring fawn skin and a light pair of pants before we go. Have mother finish them before too long.”

They waited for a weather break. A few days later, in the morning, it was fine weather. It was calm with no breath of wind. Arsichsorawaruhk decided to take three families with him. He told them to bring whatever they wanted to trade with them. He also had a new boat that he made so it would go fast through the water. It had four walrus skins covering it. In it, they carried lots of dry meat, dry fish, and leaves and plants.

Arsichsorawaruhk had no wife. He was young. Lots of girls liked him, but for some reason he did not have a woman yet. He had everything. He was rich and always helped whoever needed something at home. He helped with both clothes and meat.

Soon they started going. They came to Diomede Island. They had a meal at that place. They continued on their way across the Bering Straits to Uelen village at Siberia. Before the sun set they were near Uelen. At Uelen village the people saw a boat coming in the distance. The boat traveled very fast toward their village. All the people came out to see it.

Arsichsorawaruhk changed his new paddle to a wooden paddle. He did not want people to see his big paddle. The Uelen people recognized Arsichsorawaruhk and were pleased to see him because this was not the first time he had come there. Everybody was happy to see them. After they landed the skin boat, the Uelen people invited all of them to their walrus skin houses to have a meal.

The people from Alaska traded many things with the Uelen people. Pretty soon a man came to them. He told them they had a strong man in their village. He sent him to ask Arsichsorawaruhk to get ready to fight with spears. The young man answered. “I will try to defeat him. Tell him I will be right with him.”

Arsichsorawaruhk put his very light fawnskin pants and parka on. He put on light boots. They were all new. He put a belt around his parka and he tried his spear. He began jumping around all over and jabbing here and there to practice. The news spread all over. Someone ran to other villages. Soon a lot of Siberian boats started coming. Many people came to see those two men do battle. The people waited. Everybody was talking and restless. “The strongest man in Uelen is going to challenge once more!” Everybody was excited.

Then Arsichsorawaruhk came to the place he was supposed to stand. Everybody could see him. He was very wide in the chest. He had muscular looks. He did not stand still. His legs were moving all the time and he held his spear with both hands. He waited for the other man.

Pretty soon the two men were standing apart from each other. One was from Uelen and one was from Kauwerak. An elder man made a speech. When he finished, he made a motion to start. They came together. The Uelen man struck out at the other. Arsichsorawaruhk jumped away. They fought and struggled with each other. The Uelen man always missed Arsichsorawaruhk. He was too fast for him. Finally, Arsichsorawaruhk saw his turn coming. He jumped so fast the Uelen man did not see him. He lost his spear.

Arsichsorawaruhk jumped upward so high the Uelen man could not see where he was. He looked from side to side. In one second the Uelen man’s spear was broken in two and the Kauwerak man landed back on the ground at the same time. Then he knocked the Uelen man flat on the ground. He pinned that man’s right sleeve with the arm in it to the ground with his heavy spear. Arsichsorawaruhk stood up straight beside the Uelen man. The fight was over. He won the battle. Everybody was surprised. The Uelen man made an offer to Arsichsorawaruhk, “Do not end my life and I will get you the best looking woman there is in Uelen.” Arsichsorawaruhk agreed. Then Arsichsorawaruhk pulled out his spear from the ground. The Uelen man stood up. The two men put their arms around each other and laughed. Then the Uelen fighter said, “I have challenged many, yet I have never seen anyone so fast like you. You have won over me. I will never do any more of this kind of fighting. I am glad that you have let me live. I thank you. You must come with me to my home and we will have a feast together.”

Everybody was talking about those two men. They claimed Arsichsorawaruhk was the fastest man they had ever seen.

After the two fighters had a feast together, the Uelen man asked Arsichsorawaruhk if he wanted to have a young woman for his wife. “How about this kind of woman? She always sends young men away when they want her to be a wife. She is here.”

The Kauwerak man answered him. “I have to see her first.” The Uelen man said, “I am going to bring her over to you. Wait for her here.” Arsichsorawaruhk agreed. “I will wait.” The man went away.

He kept his promise. Pretty soon a young woman came into the house and sat down beside Arsichsorawaruhk and looked at him. He looked back at her. She was so beautiful and her skin so light he had never seen anything like her. Now, the Uelen man asked him. “Do you like her? Do you wish to have her?”

The Kauwerak man smiled, “Yes, if she wants to. The only thing is, I have to go home across the Bering Strait where I came from.” The Uelen man answered him. “I have already talked to her parents. They say you can have her if you like her.” So Arsichsorawaruhk took the girl and went to the house he was using in the Uelen village.

Arsichsorawaruhk sure was proud of himself to win the battle against that Uelen man and then to win the most beautiful girl in Uelen Village. They came to the house. The girl could not understand their language, but she became a wife. She helped her husband’s mother. Arsichsorawaruhk really loved her.

The next day a man came to their house. He told them, “There is a man that wants to have a boat race.” Arsichsorawaruhk wanted to know “How many men in the boat?” The man answered, “Nine persons to a boat.”

Arsichsorawaruhk decided. “Tell that person I will put down twelve land otter skins in the end of my skin boat for a prize. If he wins, he will take those twelve skins. If I beat him, I will take whatever he puts up for prize for winning.”

Everybody was excited. They helped to put the boats to the water. They got ready to paddle. Arsichorawaruhk took out his big paddle that he used for speed. Lots of people were standing to watch. The two skin boats were ready to start. There were nine men on each boat holding their paddles up straight, waiting for the signal to start and go. An old man motioned to start off at the same time. Arsichsorawaruhk hollered to his men. “Ke eyi hoo oak! Ke eyi hoo oak! (Dip the paddle at the same time and pull.)” He took his big paddle with the black whale shoulder blade tip and he, too, paddled. First stroke he made they passed the other boat. They got to the place to turn around. Arsichsorawaruhk hollered again. “Ke eyi hoo-oak!” Everyone of them paddled and he worked hard. His boat was going so fast they made it in no time to the shore and left the other boat way behind. His boat won the race. There were two wolverine skins hanging in the other boat. They took them because the Uelen boat lost the race. Later that evening they had a big Eskimo dance and everybody had a good time.

Arsichsorawaruhk was sure happy. Later he made a promise to return to Uelen for more prizes to win. He went to Uelen in the next spring season to fulfill his promise. This time lots of other boats from his village came with him.

Arsichsorawaruhk wintered in Uelen and traveled far and near to other villages to look for stronger men to challenge. He fought many. He always won the battles. Whenever he came to a village they gave him presents. Soon he had three more dog teams to carry his three more wives that he got as gifts from the villages. Now he had four wives. He had picked them from different villages. They were the best-looking women that his eyes laid on.

One of the women had a man she loved very much. He stayed in a village far away. That man had to travel four days on his way to get to his girl friend. This time when he got to her village, she was gone. She had been taken by Arsichsorawaruhk. The next morning that man made up his mind. “I better trail them. They will travel three days before they get to the next village. Before they get there, I will catch up to them. I will come late in the evening. Then I will leave my team behind and kill Arsichsorawaruhk and take back my girl. The people in this village told me my girl was taken by force by Arsichsorawaruhk.”

Two days later that man caught up to them late in the evening. He crawled on his hands and knees to the camp. There were five sleds outside the reindeer tents. It seemed everyone was happy. They were having a good time. He moved from one tent to another. Right in the middle he heard a woman’s voice talking. She said, “I have a man that I love so much, but that Arsichsorawaruhk took me by force.” Now, that man knew his girl was in there. He waited to see Arsichsorawaruhk go in.

He had his spear with him. He would have a chance to kill Arsichsorawaruhk.

One of the women in the tent said, “I have a strange feeling this evening. There might be trouble coming.” Another one said, “Did you hear what I heard a little while ago?” Both the other women said they did not hear anything. She said, “I heard a wood being broken behind our tent.”

A little later Arsichsorawaruhk went in to his wives. “I have a strange feeling. I took my spear in. One of the dogs is looking back on our trail. It seems he heard something.” One of the women said. “There might be another team coming or a pack of wolves trailing us or something.”

All of the sudden, their tent came open and a spear came toward Arsichsorawaruhk. He grabbed the sailing spear and turned it and let it sail back toward the man’s face that appeared in the doorway. He got up fast with his spear and dashed out ready to spear anything outside. There was no one there except a young man lying on the snow with his own spear in his head.

Arsichsorawaruhk yelled. “Who is the man I killed?” Everybody came out to look at the man. He was dead already. One of his prize women said, “This is your prize woman’s boy friend.”

They took the dead man away. Arsichsorawaruhk turned to the woman. “Why did you not tell me about your boy friend before I took you along? I would let you stay at your home. Now I will have many people hate me.”

She told him, “I will promise you one thing. Every time when we come to a village I will tell the truth. I will tell them that I was the one giving you trouble. I will tell them because you have not forced me but that I was the one who really loved you so much I went with you. You can do as you please to me or send me back with the dead man’s team. You can take me along or kill me. You did not know what would happen. As far as we know not anyone knew this man was coming to kill you. All he did was get killed. He knew he was not a match to your fighting. He tried to trick you.”

All of the people said, “You have a right to defend yourself. We will all tell the same story. Do not you worry about it.”

In the morning, Arsichsorawaruhk sent two of the men to take the body back to his home. But he was sad.

Pretty soon they went back to the Uelen village where Arsichsorawaruhk won his first wife. The summer season had come and the ice was going out. One morning the weather was calm. Arsichsorawaruhk was getting ready to go home. Everybody was helping them bring the skin boats to the water. An old man came to them and gave Arsichsorawaruhk three small stones. He said, “Throw them in the sea when you get near to land but before you touch the shore. If you do not do that all of you in the boat will become rocks. So will your village and everybody around your place. Be sure to remember this.”

They made good time across the Bering Straits. They came to their home. Arsichsorawaruhk forgot all about the three rocks he was supposed to throw into the sea before his skin boat bow touched the shore. Suddenly, they all became rocks. The villages, all the homes, and all the people became rock.

You can see them today down at a place called the Douglas area. There is a boat with people in it, all rock. They are called Arsicksorwaagoot.

VI

Three Sisters

Once there was a large village. The chief had three daughters that were all very pretty with long hair on their heads. The youngest one was more pretty than the other two older sisters. Many young men came to see them from year to year from near and far distances. But their father would not let them go even when they wanted to become a wife.

In that same village there was a very poor young man. He was all alone. His parents and grandparents had died, but he stayed in their home. There was no one to take care of him. His clothes wore out. His parka ran out of hair. His elbows were exposed. His mukluks wore out and had holes in the bottom, but still he wore them.

One morning he awoke early. He went out. It was summer season. The moon was ready to go down behind the mountain. It was a very beautiful morning. The weather was cloudless. He stood there for a while. Then all at once he started for the grave place. He came to his grandfather’s grave. He thought about the things that happened before his parents and grandparents died. He used to have everything he wished to have. Now he was all alone and poor. Sitting beside the graves, he was very lonely for them. Those days were gone. The wrapping skins were rotting away and the skeletons were showing.

Now the young man thought to himself, “I must be useful to my grandpa. I need his help.” So he went back to his home and looked for his grandfather’s seal-gut rain parka and took it to his grandpa’s grave. He was thinking. “How can I do it? I am helpless. Anyway, I can try, I must do something.”

When he came to the grave, he was still thinking. “I must inherit my grandpa’s spirits. I do not know how.” He knelt down on top of the grandpa’s grave. He looked into his face and asked him for help or an answer to his call. He heard some kind of noise underneath him. He put on the rain parka and waited until the noise stopped. Pretty soon he heard a voice. “I have heard your call, Aleapuk.” The boy said, “Grandpa, I call you because I need your help now. Will you do me a favor? I need your spirits so I can get help from them same as you got their help.”

The voice answered. “Yes, I will help you more than you ask for.” The boy began to shake because he was scared and excited. He said, “I want to use your spirits so I can become a shaman.” He was still shaking. He was thinking his grandfather might desert him. He called out, “Grandpa, will you help me?”

The voice answered him again. “Grandson, I will answer. You will have all my spirits. I will give them all to you, including myself. Be patient. Wait so I can talk to them so they will come to obey you. They have done a good job for me. They will help you and will work with you constantly and will never disappoint you. Do ask whenever you want. You must make your decision with your spirits. Whatever you say, they will do it for you. They are all experts. Now you will have much strong help in whatever you want to do. I will look forward to a call from you whenever you need us. You must call when you want us to come.”

Aleapuk felt better now. His heart was heavy at first, but now it was full of gladness. He went home before any man woke up in the village. It was very early in the morning.

When he got home and looked in the house, there was nothing to eat. It was the same poor home without oil for the lamp. Soon he decided to call his spirits to bring food for him. Suddenly, there was a lady spirit bringing in a wooden plate full of food of all kinds to eat.

One morning he went out by the seashore a long way off from the village. He came to a rocky place. He stopped and pulled off his old parka. He lifted a rock and started throwing it farther and farther until he could not throw it any more distance. Then he lifted one big rock after another until he found one he could not lift. Then he asked his spirits, “Is there anyone who can give me strength to lift this rock?” He tried it again. This time he lifted it and moved it. He did the same thing over and over again until he could lift heavy things without help. He went home.

Next he found his grandpa’s spear. He always went out very early in the morning to somewhere where no one could watch him do things. He threw the spear a very long ways from where he stood. He hit what he aimed at, no matter how small the target was. He could jump very far and climb up a steep hillside without any trouble. His muscles grew around him. Still no one noticed him because his old parka hid his body.

He caught rabbits or squirrels or whatever he saw. He had his father’s bow and arrows with him. Once he killed a big male caribou and packed it home in the evening. When it got dark he killed a bear with the spear. He ran after the bear and caught up to it. Then he could spear it and kill it.

One day Aleapuk watched some of the young girls playing football. He wished he could play, too. The oldest daughter of the chief was the fastest runner in the whole village. One evening Aleapuk prepared to go to the ball game when it got dark. He asked his lady spirits to bring him a suit of parka pants, parka and mukluks — even mittens. They brought them to him. The parka had lots of walrus trimming. The mukluks were wolverine trimmed.

Late in the evening he put his clothes on and went to the ball game. No one recognized him, not even the chief’s oldest daughter. Aleapuk kicked the ball away from the girl. She could not run as fast as he did. That night in the kazghi they talked about that man that got the best of the oldest daughter of the chief. She was the fastest runner in the village, but she could not keep up with that man.

When Aleapuk went home, he was smiling to himself because he got the best of her. The next day someone told about the news all around the village. “There was a man who came to the ball game who took the ball away from the oldest girl of the chief and she could not keep up with him.”

The next oldest sister was a very high kicker. No one could beat her. Young men from all around could not beat her. One evening she was demonstrating high kicking. Aleapuk watched her from his shed. She kicked higher and higher until she could not touch the ball any more. He jumped up from the door and went over and kicked it without any trying at all. Then he went away fast. They all saw him, but nobody recognized him with the fine parka and mukluks on. As soon as he got home he changed his clothes. Next day everybody in the village was talking about it. They wondered, “Who could that be, that beat the chief’s second daughter?”

The third sister was a very good-looking girl. She could outrun anybody in the round-circle foot race. One afternoon she was tried by two strangers from a far off village, so Aleapuk came over too. They all three started running with the youngest girl. Nobody could recognize Aleapuk because his spirits had changed his looks whenever he appeared to people. He outran all of them. Then he disappeared from sight and went somewhere near them so he could watch.

The chief heard about what happened and asked everyone to come to the kazghi. They came to find out who was that man who beat the chief’s three daughters in the demonstration games. Aleapuk came in with his old clothes on. The chief saw him come in. He said to his wife, “Have I got any old parkas that I never use anymore? If there is one, give it to him. He does not look very good among the others.” The chief’s wife said, “You have an old parka you never use any more.”

The chief got up and asked, “Is there any of you people that have a stranger staying with you? Is there anyone that recognized who the man is that beat my daughters? Has anyone any idea who he is? I must get an answer. Whoever it is, he can become a husband to my oldest daughter.”

Everyone looked around. No one could see the man. Aleapuk knew he was the one that beat all those girls. There was no answer. The chief was waiting, but he heard nothing.

Before they went out, the chief said, “I will call every village all around about us to come to prove whoever can beat my daughters, they can be my sons.” Lots of young men came to the village to prove themselves able to beat the girls so they could become wife to them. Aleapuk watched them, but they could not beat the girls.

Aleapuk was thinking. “I might be able to beat the youngest daughter, and that is the one I really love, but for that matter, I love them all.” At midnight he called his spirits and his grandpa. He asked them what he should do. The answer came to him. “You must do better than any of them so you can have them all to yourself. You beat them all in your demonstrations. We will prepare a home for you while you are with them. You will win every contest. Only thing, you should put your best clothes on. We will control your soul all the way. You will never be disappearing this time because we will let you bring them to your home, not the old chief. You will become a chief from now on.”

The lady spirits brought in new pants of fawn skins, and an alder and willow-bark woven parka, colored red, and a pair of mukluks very light to wear. Aleapuk washed all over and put the new clothes on. He sure looked different. Nobody could recognize him.

When the time came to play football, he came to meet the football players. The village people saw a young man come down from Aleapuk’s home. He was a good-looking man in willow-bark and light fawn-skin clothes. They still could not recognize him. The chief had a seat to look down to watch the game. The whole village was out to see.

Everyone lined up. The chief’s daughter was going to kick the ball. She also used very light clothes. Finally the village people called in a loud voice, “It is time.” In a few minutes Aleapuk caught the ball. He outran everyone including the chief’s daughter. She tried all she could to beat him, but he was too fast a runner. She could not keep up with him.

There were happy voices coming out from everyone to cheer that couple. They came to meet each other. They stood hand to hand and smiled at each other. They were both happy to find each other, but still the girl did not recognize Aleapuk. The chief said, “We will go into kazghi now. My second daughter will challenge the high kick against you men.”

She was in there first. Soon everybody came in. There were some men who challenged her. She jump-kicked very high. Some men kicked nearly as high as she did, but could not quite make it. When the others stopped, Aleapuk went to the floor to size up the ball at the end of the string he had to kick up and touch. Then someone set the ball up higher. The girl tried and she touched it. Aleapuk tried it. He also touched it. They made it higher. The girl could not touch it, but Aleapuk kicked it very hard. That showed he could kick it higher yet. Now he also received the second daughter for his own. Now he had two. The third one was left.

They set up the circle race. She started out first and then every man and woman went out from the kazghi to see the loop foot-race. Everyone entered. So did Aleapuk. Soon lots of the others got tired out and stopped. There were only two men and the youngest girl. Soon the one man stopped running. The girl was still running and Aleapuk was also. Pretty soon the girl gave up. She dropped to the ground. Aleapuk made another two rounds after she dropped off.

He won again. Now he had all three of the chief’s daughters. Everyone felt happy. Aleapuk looked over to his home. He was worried because his place was very old. All at once his eyes opened wide. He saw a big house with everything outside. There were two big caches, a skin boat, a kayak, and dogs. He said to the three girls, “Let us go home.” He lead them to his house. Now they knew who he was. They sure were surprised, but they were glad he beat them at the demonstrations. He was good-looking and strong and they knew they loved him. Those girls had many children and Aleapuk and those wives had many grandchildren and other generations coming after them. They lived very happy life times even to their end.

VII

A Baby Cries

Once the Siberian warriors kidnapped a woman with a little baby on her back. That baby had on only a little hood and a little diaper made out of soft sealskin. Those men took that woman in their skin boat. They started for their home across Salt Lake. They came to a little island up at the east end. That woman said. “I want to walk around a little on that island before you take me over to Siberia.” Those men pulled their boat in and let her get out to walk around. All the time they were watching her. She was playing around with her belt made out of wolverine legs and feet. When nobody seemed to be watching her, she dived right in the water. She let her belt loose. The little baby dropped out of her parka and she left him there on the island.

There were lots of weeds in the water. That woman got down in those weeds where they were thick and swam in the water away from the men so no one could see her. A little later she peeped up to see what was going on. The men had pushed the skin boat out in the water and were spearing the water all over trying to find her. The woman was quite a ways from the boat. She dived down again and went further. Finally, she decided to go down to the bottom and crawl along through the weeds. She could go faster that way, and then come up for air. Pretty soon those warriors decided they must have killed her or she drowned or something. They went away. They did not take that little baby with them. They left it sitting on that island with nothing but the little bit of clothes it had on.

The mother finally came out on the other side of the river. She went up to Noxapaga because there was a bunch of women there in a cove. They had run away from Kauwerak so they wouldn’t get killed or taken. When she got there to tell them what happened, they took their skin boats and went to the island. They looked all over, but they couldn’t find the baby. Nobody knew what happened. The Siberian warriors went away and left it there. The mother saw that because she was watching them all the time from across the water.

Some years later, in the summer time, some man heard a baby crying. He was boating and he could hear a baby on that island crying. He thought, “There might be some people with a baby over there.” He went to that place, but he couldn’t see a baby or anybody there. A few days later a bunch of men in a boat heard a baby crying again. The next ones to hear it that year knew what it was by then. It was the spirit of that little baby left behind by its mother. The last ones heard that baby crying not so many years ago. The menfolk used to go up through Davidson’s Landing to hunt caribou. When they came down, they built a big bonfire so people could see it down at the mouth of Little Salt Lake. Then a bunch of men would take a skin boat and go after the hunters to bring them home with the meat in the evening.

This time some young fellows went after the hunters, except for one old man who went along. He was Francis and David Kakaruk’s dad. When they went by that island, one fellow said, “We used to hear there was a baby on that island that cried.” Another young fellow said, “Well, I heard that, too. Why isn’t it crying now?” On their way they came in close to that shore. Sure enough, they heard a baby crying. When the baby cried, that boat drifted closer and closer to the shore. That bunch of young kids began to get scared. They got up close to the older man. He told them, “Now, you fellows started it! You hear that baby crying? Well, this time the spirits are going to get you! You boys take a paddle and get going.”

Well, that baby kept crying. Everytime it cried, the boat went closer to the island. Those boys kept getting more scared. It was nice and calm. There was no wind blowing. Pretty soon they saw something on the water coming towards them. That older fellow says, “Here he comes now! Take a paddle and go!”

Those kids paddled that boat as hard as they could. They really took off. That’s the last time we heard of that baby crying. We call that island Keekicktoric.

VIII

Short Stories

Our grandfathers used to tell us a story about Bendeleben and Ohquienuhk (mountains). Those two mountains used to live side by side. They were always arguing with each other. Finally, Bendeleben Mountain got tired of that arguing all the time, so he left. He moved up there to where he is now to get away from all that arguing.

There was another story about the fox and the crow. That crow was flying in the air. Pretty soon he saw a fox far away in the distance. The crow was hungry. He didn’t have anything to eat for quite a while — a few days at least. He made up his mind, “I had better coast down and take a look.” There was a lime springs in a little narrow creek. When the crow came to that, he stopped. Then he spread his wings and jumped across. He landed on the other side. Pretty soon the fox saw the crow doing that. He came over. The crow said, “It is slippery here. You better do the same thing I am doing. When you get close to that open water, you jump over. When you jump over, it is lots of fun.”

“Look!” the crow said to the fox. The crow slid down the bank fast, then he spread his wings a little bit when he got close to that open water and then he jumped over. He flapped his wings back. “Now,” he said to the fox, “You do it yourself. You don’t need any wings, all you have to do is just jump over.” The fox said, “That’s easy!” So, the fox slid down the bank. When he got close to the open water he got excited. He couldn’t jump over. He just landed in the water. The weather was so cold he froze in. When he was frozen solid in the ice, the crow ate part of him. He said, “I wonder who is the wisest one, now.”

Another story our grandfolks used to tell was about the little brown birds. You see them flying all over the country. They say those little birds come from those little soft-nosed mice. Not the big mice — I mean those little brown ones. The way this story got started, one time one of those little mice fell in a container of seal oil and was in there all winter. When the man found it next spring, the hair was all off and it looked like it had little wings coming out of its back. Those little birds all disappear in the fall time, and then there are lots of soft-nosed mice coming around. In the spring the mice disappear and the birds come back.