Myths and Legends of Alaska

by Unknown

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		PAGE
The Raven Myth	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[17]
The Flood	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[33]
The Origin of the Tides	Tsetsaut	[37]
How the Rivers were Formed	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[39]
The Origin of Fire	Tlingit	[40]
Duration of Winter	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[41]
Raven’s Feast	Tlingit	[42]
Creation of the Porcupine	Tlingit	[44]
How Raven Taught the Chilkats	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[45]
Raven’s Marriage	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[46]
Raven and the Seals	Tsimshian	[51]
Raven and Pitch	Tsimshian	[53]
Raven’s Dancing Blanket	Tsimshian	[55]
Raven and the Gulls	Tsimshian	[56]
The Land Otter	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[57]
Raven and Coot	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[58]
Raven and Marmot	Eskimo (Bering Strait)	[59]
The Bringing of the Light by Raven	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[61]
Daylight on the Nass River	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[65]
The Naming of the Birds	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[67]
The Origin of the Winds	Tlingit	[70]
Duration of Life	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[71]
Ghost Town	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[72]
How Raven Stole the Lake	Haida (Queen Charlotte Islands)	[73]
The Killer Whale	Haida	[75]
Origin of the Chilkat Blanket	Tsimshian	[77]
Origin of Land and People	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[80]
Creation of the World	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[81]
Origin of Mankind	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[82]
The First Woman	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[83]
The First Tears	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[85]
Origin of the Winds	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[87]
Origin of the Wind	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[91]
North Wind	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[92]
East Wind and North Wind	Tlingit	[93]
Creation of the Killer Whale	Tlingit	[94]
Future Life	Tlingit (Wrangell)	[96]
The Land of the Dead	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[97]
The Ghost Land	Tlingit	[100]
The Sky Country	Tlingit	[103]
The Lost Light	Eskimo (Port Clarence)	[105]
The Chief in the Moon	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[109]
The Boy in the Moon	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[110]
The Boy in the Moon	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[112]
The Meteor(?)	Tsetsaut	[113]
Sleep House	Tlingit	[114]
Cradle Song	Koyukun	[115]
Proverbs	Tsimshian	[118]
How the Fox became Red	Athapascan	[119]
Beaver and Porcupine	Tsimshian	[120]
The Mark of the Marten	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[126]
The Wolves and the Deer	Tsimshian	[127]
The Camp Robber	Athapascan (Upper Yukon)	[129]
The Circling of Cranes	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[131]
The Last of the Thunderbirds	Eskimo (Lower Yukon)	[132]
How the Kiksadi Clan Came to Sitka	Tlingit	[135]
Origin of the Grizzly Bear Crest	Tlingit	[137]
Origin of the Frog Crest	Tlingit	[138]
Origin of the Beaver Crest	Tlingit	[139]
Origin of the Killer Whale Crest	Tlingit	[140]
The Discontented Grass Plant	Eskimo (Bering Straits)	[142]
The Wind People	Koryak (Siberia)	[147]
Tricks of the Fox	Koryak (Siberia)	[148]

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ILLUSTRATIONS

	PAGE
Tlingit Indians in Dancing Costume	[Frontispiece]
Reindeer on the Tundra	[20]
“Raven taught them how to build houses of driftwood and bushes, covered with earth”	[21]
“The next morning the baby was a big boy”	[24]
“The clay became a beautiful girl”	[25]
Ivory Pipe Stems	[28]
Kayak Man Casting a Bird Spear	[29]
Eskimo Woman from Cape Prince of Wales	[34]
Fur Parkas Worn by Eskimo Women	[35]
Reflection of Mountain Peaks	[38]
“So the smoke-hole spirits held Raven until the smoke blackened his white coat”	[39]
Pine Falls, Atlin	[42]
Elk Falls	[43]
Porcupine	[44]
“Raven showed the people how to make canoes out of skins”	[45]
Shoup’s Glacier, Valdez	[48]
Birdseye View of Valdez	[49]
Masks	[52]
Dolls	[53]
Eskimo Boys	[58]
“Marmot put out the tip of his nose”	[59]
Ice Hummocks on Bering Sea	[62]
Snow Shovel, Pick, Rake, and Maul	[63]
Eskimo in Waterproof Coat Made of Walrus Intestines	[66]
“Raven said to Grouse, ‘You know that Sea-lion is your grandchild’”	[67]
Figurehead on Indian Canoe	[68]
“Raven said to Crow, ‘You will make lots of noise. You will be great talkers’”	[69]
“Raven said to North Wind, ‘Your back is white.’” (On the Road to Fairbanks)	[70]
Old Russian Blockhouse, at Sitka	[71]
“Raven unrolled the lake there. There it lay”	[74]
“The man-spirit was inside the Skana”	[75]
A Chilkat Blanket	[78]
Alaskan Baskets	[79]
Keystone Canyon	[80]
The “S” Glacier	[81]
The Yukon, Taken at Midnight in June	[84]
Islands in Sitka Sound	[85]
Tool and Trinket Boxes	[88]
Spoons and Ladles	[89]
Skagway River, from Porcupine Hill	[92]
Middle Lake and Bridge on the ’97 Trail	[93]
Face of Davidson Glacier	[96]
“The Land of the Dead”—Graveyard at Rasboinsky	[97]
Perry Island, Bogosloff Group, Newly Risen from the Sea	[100]
“The end of the Death Trail”	[101]
Walrus Tusks	[106]
A Shaman	[107]
Box Canyon, on White Pass and Yukon Route	[110]
Near Valdez Narrows	[111]
Frozen Waterfall	[114]
“The wind blows over the Yukon”	[115]
Travellers over the Chilkoot Pass (1891) after the Discovery of Gold	[118]
Looking down Cut-off Canyon from below White Pass Summit	[119]
Dog Team with Record of 412 Miles in 72 Hours	[122]
Siberian Husky	[123]
Totem Poles	[126]
Laplanders Milking Reindeer, near Port Clarence	[127]
View of Skagway	[130]
Bering Sea, near Nome	[131]
View of Eldorado	[136]
Scene on the White Pass and Yukon Route	[137]
Alaska Cotton on the Tundra, near Nome	[142]
A Crested Hat	[143]

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MYTHS AND LEGENDS
OF ALASKA

THE RAVEN MYTH