Alaskan and Mackenzie Delta Traditons 63 a 



drew near The boy took off one of his mittens and said to it, "Help me my 



n!^^4 ''''•1"^/ ^^r-' ^*i^? ^''- ^^^'^ ^^^ a «hort fight; then the fir^ ate 

 up the mitten and continued the pursuit. Far in the distance the boy saw his 

 home but the fire was close behind again. He hastily drew off the other mitten 

 and addressing It m the same way, threw it back; again the fire swallowed it 

 up. But now the house was near at hand, and with one last effort the boy 

 gained the entrance and rushed inside. Dark matter oozed from his nostrils, ^ 

 and he fell on the floor exhausted. "What's this?" said a shaman who was 

 present He looked out and saw the fire, but by the power of his magic he 

 killed it, and saved the boy's life. 



Cf. Rink, story 77. 



33. The Orphan who Became a Great Shaman 

 (Told by Jennie Thomsen) 



'I'^ere was once a, small boy whose father was dead, and only his mother 

 lett to look after him. The other people in the place constantly ill-treated him 

 and made his childhood miserable. Years rolled by, and he grew older and 

 stronger. One winter the people in the village built a large dance-house where 

 they used to gather every evening. The boy spent nearly all his time in the open 

 air; even while the others stayed in the dance-house he would often be wander- 

 ing about outside. One evening, when he was gazing around outside as usual, 

 he saw a bright light some distance away. A great desire filled him to find out 

 about that hght, so he started out, and walked for a very long time till at last 

 he reached a big dance-house. He was gazing in through the window, but 

 someone inside called out: "What are you standing out there for? Come 

 inside." So inside he went. Men were sitting all round on three sides of the 

 room, and the boy took his place on the fourth side near the door. Time after, 

 time the men asked him whether he were not a shaman, and each time he would 

 answer, "No, I am not a shaman." Finally a man sitting opposite him on the 

 platform said, "No, you are not a shaman; you are only a poor orphan boy 

 whom everyone illtreats. I know all about you and I should like to help you." 

 Then, getting down from the platform, he turned to another man and said, 

 "Bring me in my seal-spear and my ice-scratcher." The man went out and 

 brought them in. Then the shaman said "My spirit, help me. Make ice appear 

 in the floor." A moment later a tiny circle of ice appeared in the middle of the 

 floor, and gradually widened until it covered the whole space. A seal hole 

 opened up in the middle, and a seal emerged and crawled out on to the edge 

 of the ice. The shaman crept up and speared it, dragged it home, cut it up, 

 and distributed it among all the people in the dance-house except the boy. Then 

 the ice disappeared and the floor came back; at first it was only a small patch 

 in the middle, but gradually it expanded and superseded the ice. The shaman 

 asked the boy if he wished for more, but the boy was too frightened to answer. 

 "You are a poor boy," the shaman continued, "and I should like to help you. 

 Soon it will be light and then it will be too late. Shall I do some more?" In a 

 voice barely audible the boy managed to whisper "Yes." The shaman immedi- 

 ately called out, "My spirit, help me." The floor became covered with young 

 ice pierced with a row of holes through which a fishing net was set. The shaman 

 drew it in — it was full of white fish (anaxUq), which he laid out on the ice to 

 freeze, then divided up among the people on the platforms as before. Once 

 again the ice vanished and the house resumed its usual appearance. Again the 

 shaman called out: "My spirit, help me." This time a moor appeared, and a 

 ring of nooses into which caribou were driven and caught; these too the shaman 

 divided up among the inmates. Before daylight the boy was sent back home. 

 A short time afterwards, when all the people of his village were gathered in 

 the dance-house one evening, someone said to him, "You play us something 



72753—5* 



