NELSON] ANIMAL TRANSFORMATIONS — SUPERNATURAL POWERS 427 



Near St Michael is an island which the Eskimo say was made from 

 the straw pad from a boot which Raven Father once threw into the sea. 



In the Raven tales it is made a point to describe the Raven as dressed 

 in dogskin or other miserable garments, and he always occupies a place 

 by the entrance of the kashim where the poor people are seated. 



Curious transformations of people into beasts are also believed to 

 have taken place. Among these may be mentioned the one given in 

 the tale of Ta-lcu'-lca, where a woman became transformed into a red 

 bear, and which also accounts for the manner in which these animals 

 became ferocious. 



In another tale the red bears originated from an image made by an 

 old woman near the Yukon. All animals are believed to have changed 

 from the original human-like being, taking throughout life their present 

 form, but the inua or shade is still similar to its former appearance. 



SUPERNATURAL POWERS 



Among the Unalit, who form a typical Eskimo group of this region, 

 the belief exists that there are different ways in which the person may 

 be gifted with supernatural power. Those who are able to foretell are 

 called a' -hlu-]iai'-lin-ul; "the one who knows everything." There are 

 / also people who are clairvoyant, besides wizards or witches who control 

 supernatural beings or tunr/Mt, and conjure by means of magic words 

 and in other ways, and know the hidden properties of things. 



There are also people who possess the secret of making amulets which 



serve for various purposes. Occurrences out of the usual order of 



events are thought to be the work of some supernatural influence. 



^ Those possessing power over the invisible world are usually men, but 



this power is sometimes held ])y women. 



In connection with the belief in supernatural powers is an apparent 

 mystic virtue contained in the number four. In the creation legend the 

 Raven waved his wing four times over the clay images to endow them 

 with life. The first man in the same legend slept four years at the bot- 

 tom of the sea. The Raven was absent four days in the sky-land when 

 he went to bring berries to the earth. The Whale in which the Raven 

 entered, in another tale, was four days in dying. In the tale of the 

 Strange Boy, trom the Yukon, the hero slept in the kashim every fourth 

 night. The woman in the tale of the Land of Darkness, from Sledge 

 island, was told to take four steps, and these transported her to her 

 home from a great distance. In the Bladder festival, witnessed south 

 of the Yukon mouth, four men, representing four gentes, took a promi- 

 nent part. 



In their original beliefs the Eskimo have noJ conception of a single i \ ^ 

 ^ i' supreme being or deity, but their spirit world is made up of shades I ' 

 and tunghat, which have an existence quite independent of any central 

 authority. At Ikogmut, on the lower Yukon, where the Russians have 

 had a mission for many years, the Eskimo call God Tun'-run-ai'-yuJc, 



