Short Sketches from Oldest America

by John B. Driggs

The people in their fright rushed out from their homes; the invalid, forgetting his crippled condition, also sought the open air and began jumping down the beach on his stumps, or as the people said, "He jumped big." No doubt the alarm added to his alacrity in his effort to escape, thus gaining for him the reputation of being an excellent jumper. The eclipse passed off, so also did the earthquake, but the villagers all declared that it was the jumping of the invalid that caused the phenomena of nature to cease, and after that, instead of being an obscure cripple, an object of charity to his neighbors, he arose to the dignity of being one of the greatest of "Ongootkoots." If any of the inhabitants were taken ill, the cripple's aid was solicited, and he would jump around the sick one a few times, exorcising the evil spirit and commanding it to depart. If hunting parties were about to start on expeditions, they could not expect to meet with success unless the cripple had jumped around them and their sled a number of times. His fame extended throughout the surrounding country, his services being solicited from far and near, and he soon became quite prosperous, the rule among "Ongootkoots" being the greater the pay, the more efficacious the treatment.

At a far more recent day it was discovered that a certain Puneunau had a great admiration for his neighbor's dogs, he considering them a toothsome dish. The chief banished him from the tribe, with the warning that if he returned, the death penalty would be inflicted. In his wanderings Puneunau led quite a checkered career with its accompanying hardships. Several times starvation seemed to stare him in the face. It was during one of these latter occasions that he discovered the art of running a small slim stick down his throat without injury or great discomfort.

After the death of the chief, Puneunau returned to the village, claiming he could perform a marvelous feat, and in proof of the assertion he ran the stick down his throat, then went around uttering guttural sounds. The thing seemed wonderful in the eyes of the villagers, gaining for him the reputation of being an "Ongootkoot."

One thing troubled Puneunau, however: he was still a widower, much against his will, not for any lack of perseverance in offering himself to all the neighboring widows, but because none of them would accept his offer. At last that slight difficulty was removed. A widow belonging to another tribe came to the village with her children, and her son being ill, Puneunau offered his services to cure the lad. Day after day he would go to the iglo, run the stick down his throat, then walk around uttering gutteral sounds, but the boy refused to be cured and finally died. This, however, did not relieve the widow of her obligation to pay the "Ongootkoot" for his valuable services, and as she was very poor and had nothing with which to meet it, Puneunau took the widow herself for his fee.

The Inupash believe there are spirits wandering through space. Occasionally one of them, becoming discontented, desires to enter the world as a human being. It looks around, then selects some young woman about ready to enter womanhood, one that is noted for her virtue and other good qualities, to become its mother. Having made the selection, it awaits the opportunity and uses her as the medium for gaining its desire. In due course of time a child is born, which on maturity becomes an "Ongootkoot" of the first grade. Such births of spirits, desirous of entering the world as human beings, it is said, have continued down until comparatively recent times. These earth-born spirits had the reputation of being men with charmed lives who could not be killed.

"Kownalia" was such an one. His descendants will often relate how, when just born, he began talking with the people, conversing like an adult. At one time while visiting further North, he and a number of men ventured on thin ice; the ice broke and all were precipitated into the water. "Kownalia," stepping on the backs of the struggling men, walked to the shore uninjured, while all the others perished.

The claims for "Ungmana," another "Ongootkoot" of the first grade, were that he could lay his abdomen open, then, placing fuel inside, set the mass on fire, the people being allowed to witness the blaze and smoke. He would then remove the charred mass, and on closing the wound there would be no sign left of an injury having been inflicted.

These "Ongootkoots" have undoubtedly rendered a service to their people in the past by acting as their historians in preserving their traditions; they have also done good in the class of cases where nothing more than a faith cure is needed for the sick. Concerning the latter, the Polarites are not to be too much condemned when we consider the large amount of superstition exhibited by some of the more civilized inhabitants of the States, who have unbounded confidence in their "Faith Healers." The marvelous claims that are made for these "Ongootkoots" are undoubtedly due to the zeal of their descendants, who are naturally anxious to place their ancestors in as favorable a light as possible, especially if they themselves aspire to become "Ongootkoots" by inheritance. It is also doubtful if the marvelous deeds were ever known until the man had been dead fifty years or more.

The "Ongootkoot," however, has had his day and is now on the decline. One often hears the older people say, as they shake their heads, that he is not the wonderful man he was in the days of old. The young people, through their growing enlightenment, are also losing confidence in the man and his claims. Of those who were confirmed by the Bishop of Alaska at Point Hope in the summer of 1903, four were directly descended from spirits entering the world as human beings; but they discarded their supposed birthrights and have become zealous church workers. Others have been baptized and married to their wives, and are making good citizens as well as earnest Christian workers.

Should one take a trip through the Arctic portion of Inupash land, it is doubtful if he would meet with very many really non-Christians, for the people are now accepting the Nazarene as their great good spirit. The workers in the field truly taking an interest in the people and trying to benefit their condition have been few, but the people themselves have spread the teachings they have received, and the seed has fallen on fertile ground. It is true there is yet much of the old superstition of the past, but it has had its day and is gradually lessening its hold on the people.