The Nome nugget., 1902-01-25
Interesting Story @! "Am G0d," aOhOwchu Shaman.
WAS \ PHILOSOPHER
And Proved Hiriseis a Friend of the White SOjOurners on the Bleak Siberian ShOre-White Strangers Denounced. as SOrcererS.

There happened to te liviIg at the village of Lorin, in Mechigme bay, a .shaman of good standing, with whom it was my good fortune. to become very well acquainted. Some time after,w we landed, late in the summer, lac came to the post on visit with two grie vances. The first was that only short time be- fore he had, on our account, 'been grosslyinsulteti by the wife of Kohar rri, the great and wellknown chief of h. dian Point. It seems tbat this lady had been engaged on . tour and mis- sion of agitation against our presence in the country, in the course of which she had fallen in with the complainant in the yaranga (tent) of q rich Me- schigme bay deerman. She had forth- with accused him of pro white man propensities-and had caused him to be thrown bodily out of the tent, to the great harm of his feelings and reputa- tion. His second grievance was of older date. He claimed to have not received his just pro rata Os the reward which about 16 years previous had sheen distributed by the United States in that vicinity for the excellent care those people had taken of the wrecked !, crew of the United States steamer yROdger. To his care had fallen two of 1anr nf hn Later, when we had become well ac- .Auainted, he told me very confiden- ,tially that he had beensvery sorry to dose them, as they had been such excel lent slaves, but he had only been paid for the keep of one. | sympathized with him for his first grievance, and in uregard to the second I told .him that sthe matter should be immediately re- ported to my big chief at home. This seemed to satisfy him. yand he, with his tbroken English, learned without doubt from his former slaves, ,.and l, with my limited knowledge of the Chowchu tongue, got along famouslv with each other. Mir. Kelly, on first sight, had dubbed him "Pandour;' his general appearance, his physiognomy a&nd stature fitted the name, and he cheer fully bore it .along with many other names. As g. rule, however, he tray eled under the more pretentious one adopted, DO doubt, in the. hOnor.of his calling, and extracted with consider able pain and persevering .persifiage-- of "Am God" It took me quite time before tumbled to the. pretension, and Il had been at some truuble to know how to spell his name in my visitors book, whena light went up in me. ] had often wondered what had been the lot of the two poor sailors of the .ROdyer, who had been his slaves, his teachers and his pensioners. He must have been veritable "Am God" to them. He was the greatest all-around clown l have. ever met, and his ih- .agination was uabounded. For hours l used to watch him and listen to him, when he would be telling stories to the natives gathered around him in ring. The contortions his face would undergo were something awful, and the spell bound way in which the natives would listen. to him was wonderful. Withal he was philosopher: fount of Chow schu wisdom, .and broader than his SUP -rourdings by far. He tried more than .,once to,get-me off into deep discussions, ahut, to my sorrow, my knowledge oi the Chowchu tongue .!was far too linn .ited, and his English did not extend beyond the ordinary sailors vernac' nlar. Great "Am God," 1 should, nc
 doubt, have been able to learn from
 you.
 4.Am God" had been our staunch efriendright through the weary winter,
 so when the .Ritarow affair began tC take on avery olninous look sent for him and had him promulgate at large .thatsbad luck had overtaken .Ritarow because he had been unkind tc
 strangers. This took, and, carried
 away with his success, ..sAm God"'weni further and pointed out and taught that
 all the deermSn who had beeh kind. tc
 the white strangers, had nobsel0ne moi
 lost any of their deer, but had been at
 tended as we'll with the best of luck in the fawning season. This wa: neatly turned by the opposition .:shsman, who immediately proclaimed that, in order to have such powers, the
 white strangers must be sorccrers, and therefore harmful to the. land, deserv-
 ing death, etc. Then the shamans fai and near started to go at 1t hammer and tongs. Promulgations clashed with promul. .ations, and the contro
 vers, drifted teyond my delt etc \ had aroused spirits could not con