By: Julia Clark

Period 2

Alaskan Flood

Summary
It seems like almost every group in the world has some
kind of ancient flood story. These stories are about
entire groups of people being wiped out by water.
Almost everyone drowns in the flood, but there are a
few survivors left, so that group doesnt completely die
out.
The floods come from all kinds of bad situations
including storms, earthquakes, rivers overflowing their
banks, tidal waves, or just a downpour sent from the
heavens. Sometimes this water is sent because people
have been bad and are being punished by the gods.

Alaskan Eskimos
The Alaskan Eskimos are no
exception. They too have at least
ten different floods stories from ten
different tribes.
The Eskimos have been in Alaska
for over five thousand years. They
hunted sea and land animal
because the growing season was so
short.
History was passed down by telling
stories. In the winter they has lots
of long, cold, dark days. Story
telling was important for people
who spent the winter months in the
dark and cold.

Alaskan Eskimos Flood

I was able to find flood
accounts/ myths from ten
different Eskimos groups.
They all tell a story of floods,
killing almost everybody.
There are many different
reasons for the floods, they
include earthquakes, seas or
oceans rising up, to a woman
controlling the tides and even a
heavy snow fall.

Continued on from Alaskan Eskimos

Flood
So if I stick with just one, this is from the Tlingit tribe from the
southern coast of Alaska. Yehl, the raven, created man. His
wrecked uncle killed Yehls ten older brothers, so that none of them
would inherit his widow when he died (based on Tlingit law). When
Yehl grew up his uncle tried to kill him too. When he couldnt kill
him, the uncle called for a flood, which killed the trees and the
people. The people that survived were turned to stone and he
brought them back to life out of leaves. It also says that some
people were saved in a giant arch and that the arch hit a rock and
broke in half. Some Tligints survived in one half on the ark and the
people in the other half went someone where else. This is why
people speak different languages

Similarities to Hebrew flood

account
Someone was upset and
caused the flood (god was
upset because man was bad)
It also has a raven in the
story
There is a hero in the story
(Noah)
People were saved from the
flood in an ark
The flood waters rose up to
the tops of the mountains

Similarities to the Babylonian flood

account
Someone was upset and
caused the flood (the
storm god Adad)
An ark was built
There is hero or a good
person (Atrahasis)
A terrible flood happened
The mountains were
under water

Differences between the Hebrew and

Alaskan flood account myths
In the Alaskan flood account:
Ark struck a rock and split in
two
All man kind had been
destroyed
Mankind was recreated out of
leaves
The raven created man
The raven put a woman
under the world to control the
tides

Archetypical traits of Alaskan flood

accounts
The flood was terrible
event
They have a boat/ark
that saves the people
Includes some kind of
bird as part of the story
There is a hero in the
story
The human race was
recreated after the flood

Alaskan flood account reflects cultural

values
This account includes Tlingit law as
part of the story. (male family member
inherits his widow when he dies)
The people were given advance notice,
so they could escape in canoes. This
shows concern for fellow tribe
members.
The fact that a woman was put in
charge of tides, shows their respect for
woman.
The ark braking in half, was used for a
way to explain why people speak
different languages.