Unsuspected: A Fictional Story Based on Yup'ik Oral Legends

THE REAL PEOPLE

The land was young and fairly new to the people. It was summertime and the tundra was soaked from the fresh rain. On this particular hill, a shaman and a Yup’ik man were hunting each other.

The Yup’ik man had his bow ready. The shaman was weaponless, but had his wits. After the ferocious battle, the shaman was on his knees trying to catch his breath. As the shaman was catching his breath, his mouth started gurgling out some blood.

The Yup’ik man walked in front of the shaman and fired his last arrow at the shaman’s forehead. From his arrow’s impact, the shaman finally fell down backward, but there were so many arrows in his back that he didn’t hit the ground. The shaman was finally dead for sure, the man was thinking to himself.

The man’s grandfather had once told him: Everyone remembers the good times, but they never forgot the unsuspected moments.

The central Yup’ik people are located in southwestern Alaska. They have lived, endured, adapted, and survived in the upper part of the world for thousands of years. With their knowledge of the land and the wisdom of their ancestors, they were able to survive there.

They called their land nuna and it was mostly made of tundra and trees. The winter months were extremely long and the land was mostly covered with snow. From spring throughout fall, it flourished with life. This priceless land had a variety of animals and plants that fed them. The short summer season made it impossible to cultivate the land. Unable to cultivate the land, the Yup’ik were solely hunters, fishers, and gatherers.

The Yup’ik elders are the educators in their region. The region was unforgiving and extremely dangerous, so the elders’ sole responsibility was to educate their people. It was most critical to use the knowledge gained from the elders to survive the harshest winters and the common starvation that sometimes plague the people.

Like most of the indigenous cultures throughout the world, the Yup’ik had shamans. Shamans had their own special roles and they could be either female or male. To cure the people, most shamans were healers who were experts in medicinal plants. They had the ability to heal their patients with their touch. Some believed that shamans possessed supernatural powers. The shaman’s reputation depended on how they treated the people. Most shamans treated their people very well, while some took advantage of them. Depending on what shamans did, they left their mark wherever they went and whomever they touched.

Male and female roles were varied and divided in the villages. The males hunted, gathered, and protected their people. The females also hunted, gathered and took care of their children. The women brought the men and the boys’ food to the qasgiq and cared for their clothing. Both genders greatly depended on one another to live.

Most precious to the Yup’ik people were the children. Believing in reincarnation, names were given to a newborn of a person who had recently died. When boys reached a certain age, they moved out to the qasgiq and learned from the men. The girls were left with their mothers or with other women to learn. The children were taught the correct way to live and behave in their world.

The children were the lights of their world and like the shining stars above them, some faded and some touched them. Their light had to be strong, so the people protected them closely and trained them very hard. Spread the light and anyone could see the beautiful magnificent land they called harsh.

In the center of every Yup’ik village was the center of their universe, also called the qasgiq (communal men’s house). The qasgiq was basically made from wood, grass, tundra and clay, gathered from the surrounding area. The qasgiq was partly dug down under the ground to keep the wind from blowing inside. The qasgiq was an important piece of the Yup’ik world and it was used in many ways.

The qasgiq was a community center for all the members of that village to gather and to hear the news. It was also a place for men and boys to learn the ways of Yup’ik life. It held great feasts and many ceremonial deaths or weddings. The qasgiq was a multipurpose home and it was even used for steam bathing.

To get inside the qasgiq, the people had to crawl in. Either a grass mat or fur hide was used as a door. Once inside the qasgiq, there was enough space for about fifty people or more. The floor was made of wood planks and grass. All around the side of the qasgiq were benches, which also became sleeping areas for men and boys.

The fireplace was located in the middle of the qasgiq. Above the fireplace was a window and it was made of animal guts. The window could be opened for the smoke to go out or closed during the day for the people to have light to see. Hanging on the ceiling were the traps and tools they used. To see at night, the clay lamps with oil were lit.

Circling around the center of their universe were individual sod houses. Much like the qasgiq, the semisubterranean sod houses were also made of materials from the surrounding areas. These homes were typically for families and for women and children to live in. The women cooked meals, mended furs, sewed parkas, and maklaks (fur shoes) in these homes.

To tell the stories, the Yup’ik danced and sang to the people. Their circular animal skin drums and their ancient songs told them the stories of their past, how they lived and who they were. Many such stories would be told this way and this was one of them.

DANCE FEST

It was wintertime and the snow was slowly falling all around the area. The full moon was out and the weather was freezing. On this night, two people were walking toward the desolate Yup’ik village called Tulukar. One was a boy and the other was a man. As the boy and the man were getting closer to the village, every step they took broke the snow crust that just hardened this night.

By the Tulukar qasgiq, four warriors were guarding the entranceway from any unwanted people. As they stood guard, they began hearing the crackling noise from the human footsteps. The warriors pinpointed the noise and saw two people coming in this late. As ordered, they got their weapons ready and stopped them.

The Tulukar qasgiq was filled with many people. They were celebrating their catches from the summer and fall. The festival’s purpose was to bring the people together and to honor the fish and game that fed them. They believed that the animals had spirits and if they didn’t respect the animals, the animal spirits wouldn’t freely give themselves to them and they would face starvation.

For three days now, the people were dancing and singing the ancient rituals. The dancing and singing were their heart and soul. It was a time of peace that the people enjoyed for many, many years. Giving thanks to the animal spirits, the people danced in great numbers.

In this last day of their great feast, eight elders, five men and three women, were sitting in the back of the qasgiq. Surrounding the elders were ten warriors and they were there to protect the people, especially the elders. This big gathering attracted many uninvited guests, so the elders had also placed four guards outside to stop them.

As the people danced and rejoiced, one of the clay lamps that lit the qasgiq fell down and broke into pieces. The people closest to the shattered lamp quickly turned it off and cleaned up the mess. For many people, the clay lamp was just an object, but to some people it was more than that.

One male elder noticed the clay lamp that had fallen and broken into pieces. Knowing what the sign meant, the elder muttered to his fellow elders, The lamp fell and broke into pieces; something bad is coming our way.

The elders knew they were well protected, so they looked at each other and waited patiently. Patience was one of their keys for survival and so they waited. Sometimes their people patiently waited for days for their catch. Their winter was cold, long, and dark. The never-ending winter darkness stressed most of their people. So patience is what they had learned to endure all their lives.

As the festival was about to end, Patu and a young boy showed up in the qasgiq. Knowing that Patu was a great shaman; everyone in the qasgiq ceased what they were doing and quickly sat down to the side. As Patu’s presence was known, the elders looked at each other, but said nothing. Something bad had entered the qasgiq and the elders knew it was Patu.

Showing great concern, one elderly woman did not want the kids to see what this shaman could do, so she nicely told them to go out. Knowing the shaman’s reputation, whoever was afraid of this shaman went out with the kids. Those who were left in the qasgiq began to focus on Patu.

The shaman Patu arrived from the sea they say. When the Yup’ik first saw Patu, he was wearing a parka and pants made of loon feathers. It was never known where exactly he came from, but from a land unknown to the people.

Nobody liked Patu and nobody wanted him, so he never seemed to care what he looked like. Patu was chubby and his small beady eyes were always puffed up from giggling a lot. His face was brown, wrinkled, and leathery looking. His hair was dark black and long, and it always looked a mess. Like his hair, his mustache and beard grew unevenly.

Patu was a healer and a good one too. With his touch, he cured the sick, mended their torn muscles or their broken bones. He deceived the people’s eyes, foretold the future, and ritualized to multiply the catches.

This shaman was powerful and everyone knew it. The most powerful shamans could kill people in their sleep and Patu was one of them. In people’s dreams, some say, he came in forms of animals. Violating people’s dreams and scaring them, he wasn’t liked very much.

Like the rest of his kind, Patu went from village to village to help or taunt the Yup’ik. The shaman traded anything for his services. This was his way of living with the people, but soon the people started dying or getting very sick when Patu showed up. Knowing that he was not helping them, the people didn’t want him around the village anymore. His presence was like a curse and more of an annoyance to the people. Then this day, for some reason, he decided to pay a visit to them.

In the middle of the qasgiq, with his face looking down, Patu began to smile at himself. He reached up with his right hand and covered his mouth. Covering his mouth, he started giggling to himself. His devilish giggle always made the people very uncomfortable and he knew it.

Patu’s roughed-up loon parka seemed old and dirty as he started wiping his hands on it like a long-lost pet. Without saying anything, he took off his loon parka and gave it to the young boy, who was his student.

Patu’s student never seemed to smile at anyone. The boy, who seemed about ten years old, was disturbingly dirty and it looked like he hadn’t washed himself for months. He was wearing a muskrat parka and pants and his garments showed the signs of wear and tear. He didn’t seem to be well fed, because his eyes were deep and dark in color. Patu probably beat him up a lot, because the little boy’s cheek was bruised and darkened.

This sorry-looking student was taken when he was very young. His parents were brilliantly smart, but he was sick a lot and needed a lot of care. Noticing the kid was strong-minded, Patu had taken him under his care and trained him.

As Patu gave his parka to his student, the young student grabbed it and went over to the entrance of the qasgiq. At the entrance, to keep the wind from blowing in, a grass woven mat was hung. When the young student reached the entrance, he removed the grass woven mat and replaced it with Patu’s parka.

To protect the shaman, the changing of the mat was done to shield off other unwanted shamans who tried to get in. Patu knew when he summoned his spirit, other shamans would want a taste of it. So his parka was enchanted to stop them from entering.

After replacing the grass woven mat, the shaman’s student gazed at the people and he finally spoke up, No one leaves or enters the qasgiq.

After the young student warned the people, he took out a stone knife from his parka and placed it down by the entranceway. After placing the stone knife, the student sat down and focused on Patu.

The elders’ council was unusually nervous at the shaman’s presence. The uneasiness of elders was felt by the shaman. Feeling the fear, Patu opened his eyes wide and gazed at the people. The elders noticed his awkward-looking eyes and they immediately shied away from him.

When everyone settled down, an elder by the name of Urraq began to speak to the shaman. Patu, what brings you here? Tell us what news we need to hear so badly? asked Urraq.

Without answering Urraq, when Patu heard his name being called upon, he began to dance and sing. To get into his trance and to call upon his spirits or demons, this shaman danced and sang to the people. This was his way to summon his demon, who was beyond this realm.

When Patu’s dancing and chanting began, without warning, his student flew off from the entrance-way and he landed on his back. At the unexpected loud thud, everyone in the qasgiq was startled and they immediately focused upon the student.

On the floor, the student realized that he got pushed and he quickly got up and yelled at his master, Patu, someone’s trying to get in!

When the boy yelled out, the rest of the people started getting nervous. Their eyes focused on the qasgiq’s entrance-way, but no one was there and no one came in. Suddenly, Patu’s parka started moving violently and a loud flickering noise was heard from it, but the wind didn’t seem to blow in. As the noise got worse, coming from the entrance-way, everyone heard a woman’s voice seemingly trying to enter the qasgiq.

Aah! Open up and let me in! the woman cried out from behind Patu’s parka.

Hearing the womanly voice, Patu ran over to his parka and grabbed the stone knife and poked his parka once. After poking his parka, the uninvited guest ceased to try to enter for a brief moment.

Grinning, Patu looked back at the boy and shouted, Another shaman!

The shaman or whoever was behind Patu’s parka started to scream again, Aaaah! Ah!

Knowing what to do, the student ran over to one of the warriors and asked him to give up his weapon. The warrior looked at the elders and when one of the elders nodded to him, the warrior surrendered his weapon. The boy grabbed the spear and ran over to Patu and gave it to him. At the entrance, Patu took hold of the spear and raised it up. He was now ready to strike and cleared his throat. His student backed off to see what would happen next.

Pointing the spear at his parka, Patu shouted out, Next time, I’m going to strike you to death if you try that again!

When Patu warned the intruder, the intruder ceased suddenly and got very quiet. Satisfied with the result and with a big grin on his face, Patu relaxed and he slowly backed off from the entrance. Whatever it was, behind Patu’s parka, seemed to be gone…for now.

After the entranceway incident, Patu threw down the spear and went back to the middle of the qasgiq. He had a couple of tattoos on his face and on his back. The tattoos were made of lines and shapes that people didn’t understand. His back was scratched and some of his scratches were still bleeding. The scratches on his back, they would say, were made by his demon that he summoned so much.

Then showing the motions of the earth, wind, and fire, Patu began to dance and chant again. He started off dancing slowly by turning his whole body around and showing all his tattoos to the people. His strange chanting was a language these people didn’t understand. It was said that his chants were really old and only he knew what they meant.

When the curious people tried to figuring out what the tattoos were, Patu would turn and move, going in circles, and leave them wondering what they were. What the people didn’t know was that one of Patu’s tattoos was a portal to open up the middle world.

As Patu was chanting and dancing, he suddenly yelled out, Drums, where are my drummers!

Hearing Patu’s request, the people closest to the drums picked them up and began beating. At first, the beats were slow and then Patu slowly quickened his dance. The drummers followed his rhythm and they started to hum and sing.

When everyone’s heart began to flow with the rhythm of the drums, Patu started summoning the spirits. He quickened his dance and the whole qasgiq cooled down drastically. The hot and steamy qasgiq was cooling and the people could now see the clouds forming on their breaths.

When the air cooled down, some people in the qasgiq started going in a trance-like state of mind. Unable to hold it back, the possessed people began to scream uncontrollably. When the possessed people got ecstatic, the others who were not possessed quickly took hold of them and tried to calm them down.

The elders and the warriors watched the frenzied people in the qasgiq. The elders had to stay focused, good spirits or bad; they didn’t like to mess with them. No shaman was to be trusted, especially Patu. They had to keep calm and they didn’t want to let down their guard at the moment or their people might die.

The singing suddenly stopped when Patu yelled at them, Tie me up! Tie both of my arms and legs!

After yelling at the people, Patu went down on his belly and started growling softly at first, but then his growling got louder and louder. His mouth was now beginning to foam as his breathing got erratic. When the people didn’t budge at his orders, he screamed again, You better tie me up into a ball or you will all die!

Hearing the word die, the men closest to Patu quickly grabbed some ropes and tied him tight. Patu’s growling got worse and worse until his eyes got strained and became bloodshot red. After tying up this shaman, the men backed off and sat down again.

On his belly now, Patu’s ropes around him began to break from his frantic movements. Seeing the ropes shearing, without warning one of the men jumped out and grabbed Patu on top of him. As soon as he touched Patu, the man buckled down and fell off him. The other men and women were shocked to see this and gasped. Out of the crowd, one of this man’s friends grabbed the limp man to remove him, but he too stopped in his tracks and fell down beside him.

The two collapsed men weren’t moving or breathing as the shaman kept growling and twitching violently. The frightened people in the qasgiq closest to the shaman backed off as far as possible from him. The people were thinking that if they touched the shaman, they too might get the same fate as the two men on the floor.

The elders and the warriors had to take caution after what they had witnessed. One of the elders nodded his head to the warriors and they picked up their spears. All the warriors then pointed their spears at Patu. One warrior, with his spear ready, slowly walked toward the shaman and stopped. The bold warrior just looked at the shaman and waited for the elders’ orders to kill him. Finally, such an order came to him. If the ropes break, kill him! demanded one of the elders.

Patu was still on the ground and heard the elder’s threat and got mad at them. He gazed out with his bloodshot eyes and yelled at them, I see you all! You’re all going to die!

After yelling at the people, Patu started calming down. His head was face first on the floor and he was now breathing heavily. The horrified people, who were holding their breaths, began sighing in relief when Patu calmed down. The ropes still held the shaman, but with more of his fits, the ropes could get loose and a lot of people would possibly die.

Patu finally gasped to breathe and calmed down. With his forehead on the floor, he was now groaning in pain and his eyes were still shut. His mouth was still foaming heavily and the dirt from the floor was now collecting over the shaman’s face.

Finally, Patu came around and seemed to get his senses together. He opened his eyes and turned his head to face the elders. His eyes were normal white again. Gazing around at his surroundings, Patu noticed the two men beside him. He raised his head slowly and pleaded to the elders, Elders, let me loose, I got what I needed!

Gaining more consciousness, Patu studied the two lifeless people beside him. The two men didn’t seem to be breathing and they looked dead. He knew what to do, but right now he was too exhausted; yet he had to react to save them and time was of the essence.

After taking a deep breath, Patu shouted again, Untie me now, if you want these two to live!

Patu didn’t care if these two died, but he was with the elders, warriors and everyone else who was watching him. He needed to gain the trust of these Yup’ik, so he could get anything he wanted from them. He had no sympathy for these people whatsoever. Fools who dare to touch me should die! Patu thought as he disgustedly looked at the two lifeless men beside him.

One male elder, closest to Patu, took out his stone knife and carefully cut the ropes. After freeing Patu, the elder backed off and sat down again. This elder, fearing that he might have touched the shaman, looked at his hands carefully. Feeling nothing, he muttered to his fellow elders, I’m good, I’m OK.

Freed from the ropes, Patu immediately stood up and took out a feather from his pants. Holding the feather, he raised the feather up and quickly showed it to the people. After showing the feather, he placed it on one of the lifeless men’s mouth. After placing the feather on the man’s mouth, with his fist Patu pounded the man’s chest twice. On the second try, the helpless man began to spit out blood and started to breathe again.

With the same results, Patu revived the other limp man beside him. Both of the men were now on their knees coughing and coughing until there