INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 215 



too young to notice the event. Guns have been used here about fif- 

 teen 3'ears. Strong bows and arrows were effective against enemies 

 and their game. An arrow could be sent clear through the body of a 

 bear if no bone was struck. Whales and walruses abounded. There 

 were more people at this place formerly than now. Even long ago, 

 houses were built above ground in the summer, but in winter the un- 

 derground houses were used. However, Assoone's father built a very 

 large overground house for the use of his friends and family during 

 the entire year. This house was as large as the school building. 



The famine which destroyed nearly all of the inhabitants of the 

 island occurred about nineteen or twenty years ago. The villages have 

 never since then been repopulated. The dead were not buried, but 

 left to decompose where they fell, as the other people were too feeble 

 to give them burial. 



Sometimes a canoe party would be blown by a gale to Indian Point, 

 Siberia, and be put to death. 



Opium was formerly secured by the people in trade with the Indian 

 Point natives. Assoone desired me to procure some for him next 

 year in return for some things which he would make for me. I 

 explained the deadly nature of this narcotic, and told him that I could 

 not possibly place it in his hands. I was glad to hear that none of it 

 is secured from Indian Point or from whalers at present. 



shoolook's legend. 



The Massinga men, according to Shoolook, have believed in one 

 supreme god. Myerapuk, the Massinga Moses, was a very big giant 

 who used to walk in the Bering Sea, sinking only waist deep, so tall 

 was he. He was the friend of god and interpreter or prophet to the 

 Massinga people. He visited all places and all peoples. The Indian 

 Point and other Eskimos, Nakoorooks, hold the same tradition. The 

 soil of St. Lawrence Island and elsewhere was soft, but this man with 

 his knife cut off large blocks from the soft mountain and made them 

 stepping stones, rendering them firm. There are many of these 

 stones near the sea along the lower sides of the mountain. He made 

 seats also in the side of the mountain where he could rest, making 

 them firm. The snow now remains in them, but in summer time they 

 can be seen. He was a friend and teacher of the ''First people" and 

 thus aided many of the Eskimos here and elsewhere. Myerapuk in* 

 the spring used to walk in the sea near the shore and catch a whale in 

 one hand and put it in his ''atkok" — his fur blouse — making it fast, as 

 in an apron, by means of ropes. Sometimes he would catch walruses 

 and big seals and other fish in the same way. In the fall he would 

 eat one whale and then lie down to sleep for the whole winter and 

 would not awake until spring. Often he caught bears (white and 

 brown), foxes, and other animals and ate them. He was very gener- 

 ous to his friends, the Masssinga men, and other Eskimos, and often 



