TUKNER.] 



RELIGION. 195 



A legend related of the origin of the Tung ak is as follows: A father 

 had a sou and daughter whom he loved very much. The children fell 

 ill and at last died, although the father did all in his power to alleviate 

 their sufferings, showing his kindness and attentions to the last mo- 

 ment. At their death the father became changed to a vicious spirit, 

 roaming the world to destroy any person whom he might meet, deter- 

 mined that, as his dear children died, none others should live. 



Tung ak visits people of all ages, constantly placing obstacles in 

 their patliway to prevent the accomplishment of their desires, and 

 provoking them beyond endurance so as to cause them to become ill 

 and die and go to live with him. Tung ak no longer knows his own 

 children and imagines all i)ersons that he meets to be his children. 

 Famine, disease, and death are sent abroad to search for these lost 

 children. 



People at last began to devise some means of thwarting the designs 

 of Tung ak and discovered that a period of fasting and abstinence 

 from contact with other people endowed a person with supernatural 

 powers and enabled him to learn the secrets of Tung ak. This is 

 accomplished by repairing to some lonely spot, where for a greater or 

 less period the hermit abstains from food or water until the imagina- 

 tion is so worked upon that he believes himself imbued with the power 

 to heal the sick and control all the destinies of life. Tung ak is sup- 

 posed to stand near and reveal these things while the person is under- 

 going the test. When the jierson sees the evil one ready to seize uxion 

 him if he fails in the self-imposed task to become an "Angekok" or 

 great one, he is much frightened and beseeches the terrible visitor to 

 spare his life and give him the power to relieve his people from mis- 

 fortune. Tung ak then takes pity on him, and imparts to him the 

 secret of preserving life, or driving out the evil which causes death. 



This is still the process by which the would-be shaman fits himself 

 for his supernatural duties. 



The newly fledged angekok returns to his people and relates what 

 he has seen and what he has done. The listeners are awed by the 

 recitals of the sufferings and ordeal, and he is now ready to accom- 

 plish his mission. When his services are required he is crafty enough 

 to demand sufficient compensation, and frankly states that the greater 

 the pay the greater the good bestowed. A native racked with pain 

 will gladly part with all of his worldly possessions in order to be re- 

 stored to health. 



The shaman is blindfolded, or else has a covering thrown over his 

 head to prevent his countenance from being seen during the incan- 

 tation. The patient lies on the ground before him and when the shaman 

 is worked up to the proper state of frenzy he prostrates himself upon the 

 afflicted person and begins to chase the evil from its seat. The patient 

 often receives blows and jerks sufficiently hard to dislocate the joints. 

 As the spell progresses the shamau utters the most hideous noises, 



