The Aleuts are natives of the Aleutian Islands and of western Alaska. They are closely related to the Inuits in language, race and culture.

The cold hostile world of the Aleuts, covered in snow and ice for most of the year, is reflected in the story that follows. Igaluk is the Moon Spirit in Aleutian belief. Among the Inuits he is the moon god.

Long ago, there was a time when the world was still new. In that time there were no winds. Everything was still.

In a little village by the mouth of the Yukon, there lived a man and his wife. The man and his wife had everything in the world to make them happy, but they did not have a child. ‘If only we had a child,’ they would sigh.

‘If it were a son, I would teach him to hunt seals and whales,’ the man would say. ‘We would walk over the ice, and set traps and snares.’

‘And if it were a daughter, I would teach her to weave the finest baskets in the world,’ the woman would sigh.

And so the man and his wife wished for a child.

One night, as the woman lay fast asleep, she had a dream. She dreamt that a sledge, pulled by dogs, drew up at her door. The driver of the sledge called out to her, and beckoned that she should ride with him. The woman climbed into the sledge, and all at once the sledge rose up, up into the dark night sky.

The sledge flew faster and faster, through the black sky. The snow-covered earth shone white beneath, and the stars twinkled bright above. But the woman was not afraid, because she knew that the driver of the sledge must be Igaluk, the Moon Spirit, who comforts those who are sad.

All at once, the sledge came down to earth and stopped. The world lay still and silent. There was nothing to be seen in all that white and glittering plain of snow and ice, except for a small tree that grew out of the frozen ground.

‘Look,’ said Igaluk pointing at the tree with his whip. ‘Take that tree, and make of it a child. And you will find happiness.’

Before the woman could ask him more, or question him, Igaluk vanished, and the woman awoke to find herself in her own warm bed.

The woman kept thinking of what she had dreamt. The dream had been so real that the woman believed that Igaluk had in truth come down to her. She woke up her husband, and told him about her dream. ‘Go,’ said the woman. ‘Go at once to find the tree that Igaluk showed me.’

The husband grumbled at being woken up like this. ‘It was only a dream,’ he said. ‘And it’s the middle of the night right now!’

But the woman insisted. ‘Igaluk himself came down to me,’ she said. ‘You must go now to find that tree.’

At last, the husband got out of bed, and putting on his warmest furs and shouldering his axe, walked out in search of the tree. As he came to the edge of the village, he saw before him a path, lit as if by moonlight, and leading straight ahead. The man knew then that Igaluk the Moon Spirit was showing him the way. Now believing in his wife’s dream, he followed the moonlit path over the snow till at last he came to the very tree his wife had seen in her dream. The man took his axe and cut down the tree, and carried it home.

Next day, in the evening,  the man carved a little boy out of the tree. His wife made little sealskin clothes for the wooden child and lovingly dressed him in them. Out of the remaining wood the man carved a tiny spear and a tiny knife, and a set of little wooden spoons and dishes. He set the weapons in front of the wooden child, while his wife filled the tiny dishes with food and water and placed them by the child as well.

The man and his wife then went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, the woman was woken by a strange sound. She looked around and what did she see? The little wooden child was alive! It had eaten all the food, and drunk all the water. The woman woke her husband and the couple ran to the child and hugged him and called him their son. After a while, they carefully put the tiny child to bed and went to sleep again themselves.

In the morning when they awoke, they found that their child had gone, as had his spear and knife. They could see his tiny footsteps in the snow, leading out of the village. But suddenly the tracks stopped, and there was no trace of the child. The couple hunted high and low in the snow and ice for their child, but they could not find him. Weary and heartbroken, they returned home.

Now, though the man and his wife did not know it, the child had taken the same moonlit path as his father the night before. On and on went the child, along the path lit by Igaluk the Moon Spirit himself. At last the child came to eastern edge of the world, where the sky touches the earth. And there the child saw an opening in the sky wall, covered over with a piece of skin. The covering bulged as though something was pushing at it from the outside. Curious, the child took his tiny knife, and cut the cords that kept the skin covering in place.

All at once a great wind rushed in, bringing with it animals and birds. The child let the wind blow for a while and then covering up the opening in the sky wall said:

Blow Wind blow,
Sometimes strong,
Sometimes slow,
Sometimes do not blow.

 And securing the cover firmly in place, the child went on his way.

After a while he came to the southern edge of the world, and there found another opening in the sky wall, covered up with a piece of skin and bulging as before. As before he slashed the cords that held the covering in place, and in poured a warmer wind, bringing with it more animals, birds and bushes. After a while, the child covered up the opening, saying to the wind as before:

Blow Wind blow,
Sometimes strong,
Sometimes slow,
Sometimes do not blow.

At the western edge of the world, the child found a similar opening. When he removed the cover, in poured a wind with rain and storm. The child quickly covered up the hole, and instructing the wind as before, went on his way.

Finally, he came to the northern edge of the world, where it was immensely cold. Here too he found the hole in the sky-wall, covered up with a piece of skin. As soon as the child opened the hole, in whistled a furious gale, howling and blowing and whirling snow and ice. The child quickly covered up the hole, and instructing the wind as before, went on his way.

The child now moved inwards, away from the sky-wall, and to the very centre of the earth. There he saw the sky, arching over the earth like a vast canopy. Now he was sure that he had travelled everywhere, and seen all that he needed to.

So the child decided to return to the village from where he had come, home to his parents. The man and his wife were overjoyed to see him, for they had given up all hope. The child told them all about his travels, and how he had let the winds into the world.

With the winds came the birds of the air and the animals of the land. The winds stirred up the sea so that seals and whales and walruses could be found all along the coast. Hunting was easy and food was plentiful. The people of the village honoured the wooden child for the happiness he had brought them just as Igaluk the Moon Spirit had said he would.

Ever afterwards, the Aleut people make wooden dolls for their children, knowing that happiness will come to those who care for them.