Alaskan and Mackenzie Delta Traditions 49 A 



23. The Duck Wife 

 (Told by Fred, an Eskimo of Nome, Alaska) 



Long ago, near Tapqaq (Cape Prince of Wales), there lived a man, his wife, 

 and one son, a youth. The woman constantly urged her son to go and find a 

 wife for himself, but the youth refused, saying that he did not want a wife. 

 "Nay," said his mother, "I am growing old, and shall soon be unable to dress 

 the game that you kill. You had better find a young wife who can help me." 

 However, the youth refused; later, he said, he might look for a wife, but for 

 the present he was quite content without one. Then one day he went off in his 

 kayak to look for ducks and other game. All day he paddled up the river, but 

 he saw nothing. When night came he made a rough shelter for himself among the- 

 willows that fringed the bank and lay down. But he felt a little nervous and 

 did not sleep very well, so before daylight he rose, ate a little seal meat that he 

 had with him, and set out again up the river. All that morning he paddledi 

 along without seeing any signs of game. Dense willows lined the river bank 

 on one side, but on the other there were short stretches of beach. In the after- 

 noon the youth turned his kayak towards the more open bank and went ashore 

 to examine the country ahead, for it was all strange to him. He took the kayak 

 out of the water, turned it on its side, and propped it against a stake, intending 

 to return after a while. He pondered a moment as to which way to go, thfen 

 started off inland. Evening was drawing near when suddenly he noticed a 

 number of girls playing hide and seek (imutaq); strangely enough, they wore 

 no clothes. He crept near to watch them. "I never saw girls like this before," 

 he said to himself, and crept closer and closer until he had a good view of them. 

 There was one he particularly admired; she was more beautiful than the rest; 

 but how was he to seize her and carry her off? "Here is a fine place for you to 

 hide," he thought. "Come over this way." Even as he thought thus, she began 

 to run towards him. He concealed himself cautiously behind a bush, and when 

 the girl approached, sprang out and seized her. "Let me go," she said. "Let 

 me go." "No," he answered, "You are my wife now." "Let me go. I'm cold." 

 "No, no, I'll give you a skin shirt and you won't be cold any more." "I don't 

 want it," she said; "I never saw one like that before. I don't want it." How- 

 ever, he took her away to the place where his kayak was lying. "I'm hungry," 

 the youth said, and she answered, "So am I." "Well," he continued, "I'll give 

 you some seal meat." "I don't know that kind of food," she said; "I don't 

 want any." "Why, it's good food; it's what I eat all the time at home," Never- 

 theless she hardly touched it. By this time it was dark, so they slept there that 

 night. The next morning he put his wife inside the kayak and started off home. 

 All that day they travelled, and at sunset they slept on the bank again; the 

 following day they reached his home. 



Meanwhile his mother had been anxiously watching for his return, but when 

 several days passed and still he did not appear, she lost hope and began to 

 weep. "Alas! I shall never see him again," she mourned. Still she kept going 

 outside to look, and at last saw him paddling down the river in his kayak. 

 Presently she caught sight of the girl in the bottom of the canoe. "Why, he's 

 bringing a wife back with him; well done, my son, well done." At last the 

 kayak put in to the beach and the old woman went down to greet them. "You 

 have found a wife at last," she said. "Yes," he rephed, "I found one." "Well, 

 I expect she's hungry," his mother said; "There is some seal meat and caribou 

 meat in the house. Let her come in and eat." So the young man turned to his 

 wife and said, "Go inside and have something to eat." "No," she said; "I 

 don't want that kind of food," and she ate but little of it. But when all was. 

 quiet and the rest had gone to bed she gathered a lot of grass and ate that, and, 

 so appeased her hunger. 



