Little People and Hairy Man!

Today, the man in charge of Cultural Heritage week took time to share some stories with students, stories that have a commonality with other cultures.  He spoke of little people, the hairy man and the whirlwind.  

There is a belief that little people exist locally.  They are often seen in the distance with a bag over their shoulder. Their physical description does not match that of either leprechauns (Irish little people) or the Menehune (Hawaiian little people)

 The man today spoke of being with friends when he was younger. They were out having a good time, when one of them looked up and saw someone peering down at them.  He pointed upwards and everyone stared.  He said there was something unearthly about the man and suddenly they realized it was one of the little people, so they all ran in the other directions, scared but wanting to look cool.

There are other stories of people in the area who have seen a little person.  They always see them and go the other direction.  No one speaks of having gone up to them and met them in person.  I gather it is not a good thing to meet these ones.

He went on to share a story about a friend who had gone out to the dump one evening.  Apparently, he took a path that took by a rise that had suddenly appeared out of nothing.  He dumped his trash, turned around before realizing the rise was no longer there and a bit further out, he saw something huge and hairy lumbering away from the dump.   The hairy man is the local version of big foot.

Even the local newspaper occasionally publishes stories of reported sightings of both little people and the hairy man complete with drawings.  According to the organizer of this week, there has been an increase in sightings of both little people and the hairy man.  I have never seen either but I do not go looking for them.  I'm usually listening to the wind and enjoying the sunlight.

The final story dealt with walking over a face in the ground.  The face is that of a whirlwind and if you walk across the face,a whirlwind will spring out of the ground taking the innocent victim with it up into the air before throwing the body away from it.  I've never heard this story before but it came from his elders who have long since passed on.

On the last day, there will be fresh fry bread and agutak or Eskimo ice cream made of Crisco, water, sugar, mashed potatoes, and fruit.  I can see some of you cringing but it is quite good and yummy.  The mashed potatoes cut the greasy flavor of the Crisco so its much nicer. Yum.  I'll try to take pictures and share it tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.  Enjoy your selves and please let me know what you think, I'd love to know.