On the Kuskokim River there is a small river called the Holokuk River. This is where this legend comes from.

About 30 miles up the Holokuk River there is a statue that looks just like a lady carrying her baby. There is a story that goes with the statue.

A long time ago before the Second World War there was this family living in the bush. In this family there was a man, his wife, a baby and the man's mother. A long time ago these people used to live off the land and at times there wasn't enough food.

There came a time when this family was running low on food. They had only two bundles of fish to last the winter so the man had to go out into the country to find some more food.

When he was gone, the manes mother didn't treat the wife with respect or share the food they had. The man's mother told his wife that there wasn't enough food for the three of them, so she kicked the woman and the baby out of the house to face the wilderness.

When the man finally came home he asked his mother, "Where is my wife and baby?" The man's mother told him what she had done.

The man got so worried about his wife and baby, he took the last bundle of fish and went to search for them. He searched for a very long time, through the hills and valleys, in the woods and over the tundra. Suddenly when the man came over one hill and the lady and baby came over another hill, and they saw each other, they both turned to stone.

And that's how the old woman statue legend came to be. They say that the man statue used to look like a man carrying a bundle of fish. The year it fell down, the Second World War started.

The End

By: Wesley Pitka
Interviewed By: Gerilyn Fitka