488 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [bth.ann.18 



THE LAND OF THE DEAD 

 (From Andreivsky, on the lower Yukon) 



[The following tale is known all along the lower Yukon, and was 

 related by an old shaman who said that it occurred several generations 

 ago. It is believed by the Eskimo to have been an actual occurrence, 

 and it gives a fair idea of their belief of the condition of the shade after 

 death.] 



A young woman living at a village on the lower Yukon became ill 

 and died. When death came to her she lost consciousness for a time; 

 then she was awakened by some one shaking her, saying, "Get up, do 

 not sleep; you are dead." When she opened her eyes she saw that she 

 was lying in her grave box, and her dead grandfather's shade was 

 standing beside her. Be put out his hand to help her rise from the box 

 and told her to look about. She did so, and saw many people whom 

 she knew moving about in the village. The old man then turned lier 

 with her back to the village and she saw that the country she knew so 

 well had disappeared and in its place was a strange village, extending 

 as far as the eye could reach. They went to the village, and the old 

 man told her to go into one of the houses. So soon as she entered the 

 house a woman sitting there picked up a piece of wood and raised it to 

 strike her, saying, angrily, "What do you want here?" She ran out 

 crying and told the old man about the woman. He said, "This is the 

 village of the dog shades, and from that you can see how the living dogs 

 feel when beaten by people." 



From this they passed on and came to another village, in which stood 

 a large kashim. Close to this village she saw a man lying on the ground 

 with grass growing up through all his joints, and, though he could 

 move, he could not arise. Her grandfather told her that this shade 

 was punished thus for pulling up and chewing grass stemS when he 

 was on the earth. Looking curiously at his shade for a time, she turned 

 to speak to her grandfather, but he had disappeared. Extending onward 

 before her was a path leading to a distant village, so she followed it. 

 She soon came to a swift river, which seemed to bar her way. This 

 river was made up of the tears of the j)eople who weep on earth for the 

 dead. When the girl saw that she could not cross, she sat on the bank 

 and began to weep. When she wiped her eyes she saw a mass of straw 

 and other stuff like refuse thrown from houses, floating down the 

 stream, and it stopped in front of her. Upon this she crossed the 

 river as over a bridge. When she reached the farther side the refuse 

 vanished and she went on her way. Before she reached the village 

 the shades had smelled her and cried out, "Someone is coming." 

 When she reached them they crowded about her, saying, "Who is 

 she? Whence does she come?" They examined her clothing, finding 

 the totem marks, which showed where she belonged, for in ancient 

 days people always had their totem marks on their clothing and other 

 articles, so that members of every village and family were thus known. 



