Palraiyuk
Yupik · numen · Yupik traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The Palraiyuk is a water monster of the swampy country between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and the coasts of Nunivak Island, remembered from an era said to have been warmer when it lurked in lakes, creeks and marshes. It is described as a long, serpentine creature with several pairs of legs, often compared to a crocodile or alligator, that lay submerged in the grass to ambush people at the water's edge and to overturn passing kayaks and umiaks. Yup'ik tradition counts it among the beings fashioned by Raven. So feared was the Palraiyuk that its image was painted along the hulls of boats in the nineteenth-century delta as a protective charm against any of its kind that still survived.
Parentage
- parent: TulukarukFashioned by Raven.A Book of Creatures, 'Păl-raí-yûk' (2015): 'one of Raven's many creations' (secondary)
Domains
- monsters predation
- marshes and waters
Powers
- lie submerged and ambush travelers
- drag down and devour hunters and kayaks
Relations
- parent: TulukarukFashioned by Raven.A Book of Creatures, 'Păl-raí-yûk' (2015): 'one of Raven's many creations' (secondary)
Sources
- The Palraiyuk is a serpentine, multi-limbed marsh monster of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and Nunivak Island that ambushes people and kayaks from the water and was painted on boats as a protective image.: A Book of Creatures, 'Păl-raí-yûk' (2015), citing Edward W. Nelson, The Eskimo about Bering Strait (1899) (secondary); Encyclopaedia of Cryptozoology / Cryptid Archives, 'Palraiyuk' (secondary)
- Yup'ik tradition names the Palraiyuk among the creations of Raven.: A Book of Creatures, 'Păl-raí-yûk' (2015) (secondary)