Evening star., 1927-10-09
YUKON INDIANS DISCARD MAGIC
AS INFLUENZA SWEEPS VILLAGE
DR.. Krieger Finds Medicine
Men Junking Masks as
Epidemic Prevails.
Legends of Degenerate Tribe
Closely Coincide With Old
European Traditions.

| Museum, arrived at the Indlan VII
| lage of Anvik on the lower Yukon
| this Summer to find the inhabitants
| in the midst of an influenza epidemic
| which was claiming two or three
victims every day. Corpses were
| piled two and three deep on the
| tundra.
The local medicine men were in de-
spair. Their most skillful magic,
| which had been potent against the
| bodily ills of the tribe for generations,
seemed futile. The gods had turned
against them.
A day or two after DR.. krieger ar
rived the three village medicine men
held a conference and voted to junk
their entire paraphernalia of magic
masks, representing the guardian
spirits of birds, animals and super
natural monsters. The Government
ethnologist in this way secured 80
rare implements of Alaskan magic,
which have been added to the collec.
ton in the National Museum.
Floods Deter Research.
DIR. Krieger was in Alaska to inves.
tigate the possibility that a pale
olithic race, men of the old stone age,
at some time passed up the Yukon.
The river banks We're flooded, how
ever, and conditions We're unfavorable
for archaeological explorations. The eX.
plorer instead settled down to a de-
tailed study of the ethnology of this
Indian group, a somewhat degenerate
group of the great Athabascan family
which spreads over much of Arctic
America.
This particular branch rapidly is
nearing extinction. Further up the
Vt,Iy lirc 70 L[rjo
constitute a much more virile race,
each family earning a fair income
every year from salmon fishing and
beaver trapping. But along the lower
reaches of the river the natives think
only of storing up enough food for
the Winter, and often fall short. The
result is that there is a heavy death
rate every Spring when influenza at.
tackS them in their weakened condi.
ton.
Among these people. DR.. Krieger
found, ice cream is ceremonial dish
with a notable part in various re-
iigious and magical exercises. The
chief ingredient is bear fat, deer fat
or fish grease colored with the juice
of salmon berries or blueberries SO
that it presents the appearance of an
appetizing delicacy. Chunks of snow
then are thrown into the mixture and
the whole is stirred violently by a
medicine man with a big wooden
spoon. The Children of the village
sit around in the community house
While the ice cream making ceremony
is in progress. Nobody is allowed to
speak. One word would nullify the
magic.
Half Gallon Apiece.
When the concoction is ready it is
served in wooden dishes, each of
which holds two quarts, to the vii.
layers in the order of seniority and
is devoured with great gusto. An old
woman will put away her two quarts.
says DR.. Krieger. in an astonishingly
short time and then smack her lips.
The ice cream feast is held an
nually at the start Of the hunting
season and various magical potencies
are attached to the observance. The
Government ethnologist himself
sampled dish or two. If fresh fat
Is used. he says, it is rather tasty.
If, on the other hand, the medicine
man has used stale fat or fish grease,
1t becomes extremely unpalatable to
a stranger.
In this backwash of humanity,
which has not come much into con-
| tact with missionaries, DIR. Krieger
found some Of the ancient legends of
European peoples in slightly differ
ent forms and these raise the inter-
| esting question as to whether the
original distribution of these stories
was by word of mouth, gradually
spreading through the human race,
or whether they originate in a COM
mon psychology.
Banshee Legends Recalled.
The legend of the ghostly willow
woman" of these people, he found,
compared in many details to the Gel
tic Banshee legends. The character
is somewhat obscure, but the willow
woman is a ghost who inhabits vari-
Gus hunting areas. The story fire.
quently is used by enterprisng hunt
ers and trappers, the ethnologist
found, TO scare off rivals. 1t Is only
| necessary to say that the willow
| woman" has been seen in the
vicinity.
One of the Indian legends Of Anvik
compares very closely in detail to the
ancient Teutonic Undine legend. The
chief pursues and captures a strange
| and beautiful woman on the tundra.
| AZ he approaches her she cries: Il
am not human, / am not human
| Cndeterred he seiZes her and carries
| her to his lodge. There they live hap
PLY for a time and child is born.
But after a few years the chief be.
| gins to treat his wife cruelty. She
| fees from him. He still loves her.
| Conscience stricken, he follows her
over the tunda. But as he catches
up with her she changes into an UNI
brella plant and the baby changes into
small umbrella plant growing beside
| her.
| Did this legend spread in some far.
gone day from the forest of Germany
to the Arctic Circle? The details are
practically the same, except that in
the German legend the bride changes
into waterfall, Of which the umbrella
| plant is somewhat suggestive.
Have One-Eyed Monster.
Or is there some mate quality of
the human mind which tends to create
| just such a legend over and over again
among far-distant peoples? DIR. Krieger
does not know.
Among the magic masks collected
|