516 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH.ANN. 18 



THE MAN-WORM 

 (From Kotzebue sound) 



[There are various tales among the Eskimo along the east shore of 

 Bering sea and the adjacent Arctic coast in which a Man- worm figures, 

 and among the mythical beings illustrated in the chapter on mythology 

 will be found figures of carvings representing this being.] 



In very ancient days there lived a large Worm who was married to a 

 woman, and they had a son who was also a Worm. When the son was 

 fully grown the father told him to go to the middle of the earth plain 

 and there in a small house he would find a wife. The son then used 

 his magic powers and made himself small, so that he could travel faster, 

 and journeyed away. When he came near the small house of which his 

 father had told him, he felt the earth shake and tremble under his feet, 

 and he feared that he would be killed. This happened several times, 

 until finally he reached the house. Here he found that the cause of the 

 shaking of the earth was the talk of an old woman who lived in the 

 house with her daughter. These people received him hospitably, and 

 finding that the girl was very beautiful, he married her. After he had 

 lived there four years he remembered his parents and started to go 

 back to visit them, but on the road he was killed by another Man-worm, 

 who was a shaman. In a short time after this the father felt a strong 

 desire to see his son, so he started to go to him. On the way he found 

 the body of his son, and looking about saw a large village close at hand. 

 He went to the spring where the villagers got their water, and making 

 himself small, hid in it, where, by the use of magic, he killed nearly all 

 the people in revenge for his son s death. When there were only a few 

 people left, an old woman in the village, knowing that some magic was 

 employed against them, worked a strong charm which caused the sea to 

 rise and break the ice upon its surface and carried it over the land 

 until the spring was covered; then the floating ice blocks were dashed 

 together until the Man- worm was ground to pieces and destroyed, so 

 that the people were freed from his magic. 



MIGRATION LEGEND 



[The following legend was obtained from an old man at Ikogmut, on 

 the lower Yukon. I had no opportunity of verifying any part of it, 

 which was given as a statement of fact.] 



Very long ago the Eskimo lived far away from the Yukon, and were 

 continually moving from place to place; traveling from the far east to 

 the west. After long wanderings some of them built a village on the 

 bank of Yukon river, just below where Ikogmut now stands, which 

 increased in size until there were thirty- five kashims. The ruins of this 

 .village can be seen at the present time, with large pits where the 

 kashims stood. 



