S40 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT (ETH. ANN. 18 
so that his face looked backward. Instantly the heads of all the vil- 
lagers turned around on their shoulders and the backs of their heads 
rested where their faces should have been, while their bodies were in 
the position of rushing forward. On getting the usual promise from 
them, Ak/-chik-chit’-gtik replaced the villagers’ heads, and the brothers 
were directed to make inquiries at the next place. 
In that village they were attacked again, and the villagers were 
forced to put their hands behind their backs by the strong magic of 
the elder brother. Here the people told the brothers that their sister 
was in the next village, but that she was the wife of a very powerful 
and wicked shaman, and they tried to keep the brothers from going on, 
saying that harm would come to them if they did. No heed was given 
to this, and they went on until they came in sight of the village. 
There they stopped while Ak/-chik-chi’-gtiik smeared his hands and 
face with the decayed fish roe and changed his fine deerskin clothing 
for the old bird-skin garments his mother had put in the boat. Then 
he coiled himself up in the bottom of the boat, bending down his 
shoulders until he looked like a feeble old man. His brothers were 
instructed what to do, and, rowing on, they soon landed at the village. 
Then the brothers started to carry Ak’-chik-cht’-giik into the village, 
when they were met by several people, among whom was the bad shaman. 
He asked them why they carried with them such a miserable old man; 
to which they replied that he did not belong to them, but they had 
found him on the shore and brought him along with them. 
Asking about their sister, they were told that they could see her 
when they had carried the old man in the kashim. Ak’-chik-cht/-gik 
was placed in the kashim, where they left him lying apparently helpless. 
Then they were taken to another house and shown a young woman 
dressed in fine furs, and were told that she was their sister. The two 
elder brothers believed this, but the youngest one was suspicious of 
some wrong, but said nothing and went back to the kashim with the 
others. 
When the brothers were inside the kashim, the shaman went down 
to the beach, where he untied the lashings of the umiak, rolled the 
framework up in the cover, and hid it. When night fell and everyone 
was asleep, the youngest brother crept out and went to the shaman’s 
house. In the passageway he heard a hoarse, choking sound, and at 
first was frightened, but soon felt stronger and asked, ‘‘ Who is there?” 
No reply came, and he went forward carefully until he reached the 
door beyond which he had heard the strange sound. He listened a 
moment, and then pushed the door open and went in. 
There on the floor lay his sister dressed in coarse, heavy sealskins 
and bound hand and foot, with a cord drawn tightly about her neck and 
another fastened her tongue. Very quickly she was released, and then 
told him that the wicked shaman had kept her in this way and treated 
her very cruelly; her brother put his hand on her breast and found her 
