NO. 4 ITPKR YUKON NATIVlv CUSTOMS — SCHMTTTER 21 



FOLK-LORE 



The following stories were collected from various individuals, and are pre- 

 sented, as nearly as possible, in the style of the narrator : 



CREATION 01* THE WORLD 



Long time ago the water flowed all over the world. There was one family 

 and they made a big raft. They got all kinds of animals on the raft. There 

 was no land, but all water, and they wanted to make a world. The man of 

 the family tied a rope around a beaver and sent him down to find the bottom, 

 but the beaver didn't reach bottom; he got only half way and drowned. The 

 man then tied a string around a muskrat and sent him down; he reached 

 bottom and got a little mud on his hands, but he drowned. The man took the 

 mud out of the muskrat's hands into his palm and let it dry, then crumbled it 

 to dust. This he blew out all over the waters and it made the world. (All 

 tribes about here are said to have the same story.) 



ORIGIN OF THE WIND 



A long time ago, when all animals were men, there was no wind. There was 

 a bear that used to go about with a bag on his back. Many people were curi- 

 ous to know what was in the bag and they often asked the bear, but he would 

 not tell them. One day another man caught the bear asleep with the bag on 

 his back. The man's curiosity to know what was in the bag was so great that 

 he cut it open. The bag contained the wind, which then escaped and has never 

 since been confined. 



THE OLD MAN AND OLD W0M>\N 



In the Yukon River between Eagle and Fortymile there are two large rocks 

 which evidently were one before a geological cataclysm separated them. The 

 natives call the one on the north side the "Old Man," and the one to the south 

 the "Old Woman." These were the primogenitors of the Indians in this region. 

 The story follows : These two old folks were once together In the middle of 

 the river, but the old woman pushed the old man to the other side because he 

 left her there. So he went north and she went south, but the children grew up 

 around there. At that time this region was full of all kinds of animals, and 

 they could talk like men. The old man killed off all the bad animals and 

 saved one good one of each kind, which started the families. They have since 

 been unable to talk. 



The moose was the head game of the world, because the old man killed the 

 bad moose first. The big swan was once the head of all birds and animals 

 because it was stronger. All animals came together and had wrestling matches. 

 The little teal duck was the strongest animal in the world. First the swan 

 beat the moose, but the teal duck beat the swan after the swan had conquered 

 all others. 



ADVENTURES OE THE OLD MAN 



The "Old Man" (rock) in the Yukon went down the river where the bear, 

 when bears were men, was fishing. He put his canoe on this side of the river 

 where no one could see it from a point above where the bear was. Then he 

 made a circuit on foot around the bear and reached the river lower down. 



