Maniilaq

Delving into the Alaska bookshelf in my classroom I read Maniilaq: Eskimo Prophet Crying from the Wilderness by Sarah Haile. There are other books on him in print, check Amazon, and even some YouTube videos about him.

Although this is about a figure from Inupiaq history many things reminded of what I have heard here on Yupik traditional stories.

Basically Maniilaq is a great hunter but he is also controversial in his community.  He was traditional, but as he had visions of the future he began to break more and more with traditions:

"Maniilaq was a cautious man in many ways who disliked arguments.  With knowing eyes he studied the shaman's face for he had known the man from the time of his first remembering, and he was aware that the man from the time of his first remembering, and he was aware that the man would contest the obvious and make foolish decision based upon his decision not to agree with another man.  It did not matter if a person spoke the truth or not; however, knowing this he yielded to the temptation to irritate the shaman." pg 121