NELSON] THE DWARF PEOPLE 481 
from long strips of wood running lengthwise, but after they had seen 
the dwarf’s sled with many crosspieces, they adopted this model. 
Up to the time when they saw the dwarf people bury their son in a 
grave box with small articles placed about him, the villagers had 
always cast their dead out upon the tundra to be the prey of dogs and 
wild beasts. But thenceforth they buried their dead and observed 
four days of seclusion for mourning, as had been done by the dwarf. 
Since that time the hunters claim that they sometimes see upon the 
tundra dwarf people who are said usually to carry bows and arrows, 
and when approached suddenly disappear into the ground, and deer 
hunters often see their tracks near Pikmiktalik mountains. No one 
has ever spoken to one of these dwarfs since the time they left the vil- 
lage. They are harmless people, never attempting to do any one an 
injury. ° 
THE SUN AND THE MOON 
(From St Michael) 
In a coast village once lived a man and his wife who had two children, 
a girl and a boy. When these children grew large enough, so that the 
boy could turn over the gravel stone, he became in love with his sister. 
Being constantly importuned by the boy his sister finally, to avoid 
him, floated away into the sky and became the moon. The boy has 
pursued her ever since, becoming the sun, and sometimes overtakes 
and embraces her, thus causing an eclipse of the moon. 
After his children had gone their father became very gloomy and 
hated his kind, going about the earth scattering disease and death 
among mankind, and the victims of disease became his food, until he 
became so evil that his desire could not be satisfied in this way, so 
he killed and ate people who were well. 
Through fear of this being people threw the bodies of their dead 
just outside the village that he might be fed without injuring the 
living. Whenever he came about the bodies would disappear during 
the night, Finally he became so bad that all the most powerful sha- 
mans joined together and, by using their magic powers, were enabled 
to capture and bind him hand and foot, so that he was no longer able 
to wander about doing mischief. Although bound and unable to move 
about, he has still the power to introduce disease and afflict mankind. 
To prevent evil spirits from wandering and taking possession of 
dead bodies and thus giving them a fictitious animation for evil pur- 
poses, and in memory of the binding of this evil one, the dead are no 
longer thrown out, but are tied hand and foot in the position in which 
the demon was bound and placed in the grave box.! 
1 There is another Norton sound version of this tale similar to the one from the lower Yukon, which 
will be given with the tales from that district. 
18 ETH——31 
