A young Chippewa Indian from Minnesota collected these legends
and stories told by the Tanaina Indians of southwestern Alaska.
Called suk-tus ("legend-stories") and stemming from the seventeenth
century, they are anecdotal narratives centered on a particular
animal or animals common to the Tanaina country. Thus the tales are
peopled with foxes, beavers, wolverines, porcupines, and other
animals, some of which disguise themselves in human form for
sinister purposes and all of which have human desires and
weaknesses.
According to the author, some embellishments in the stories
certainly resulted from contact with Western civilization,
particularly during the Russian and early fur-trading periods, but
basically they are aboriginal Tanaina and are told as they have
been handed down through oral tradition.
Originally, suk-tus were related to entertain and instruct, and
they are as apt to do so for today's audiences as for yesterday's,
reflecting both the outlook of their originators and the nature of
the environment in which they lived.
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