Reading Notes: Alaska Part B

A man married the only woman that they knew of at the time and she lived in the south. A while after they married the son of the headsman went to the south to get the woman and grabbed her by the shoulders. When the husband awoke he noticed what was happening and grabbed his wife by the feet. They both started to pull in different directions and the woman's body broke in half.

The son of the headsman took the top half of the woman's body up north and her husband took the bottom half to the south. They each completed the rest of the woman's body by carving wood to make the body complete.

The woman in the north was great at sewing and needlework but not so great at dancing because her legs were made of wood. The woman in the south was good as dancing but not needlework because her arms were made of wood.

So to this day, all the women in the north are skillful with their hands and the woman in the south are good dancers.

Bibliography: The First Woman from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson

Image source: Alaskan Eskimo women from Wikimedia Commons