Ak'a Tamaani -- A long time ago, there was an old reindeer herder who was falling asleep in his tent. He was a good herder, so he was not so much asleep that he didn't know where his reindeer were. His ears were always awake. The only sound in the night was the occasional "thud" of reindeer kicking the frozen tundra to break loose lichen to eat. It was a satisfying sound. A sound that told the herder his reindeer were content. He didn't need to worry about their wandering.

Just as the old herder was dozing off to sleep he thought he heard some whispering voices just outside his tent. He rose from his bedroll, shook off the daze of his half sleep. He listened intently but did not hear any voices. He thought he must have been dreaming for, indeed, if there was someone outside his tent the reindeer would begin snorting and that would give them away. He took a deep breath, folded himself back into his bedroll and nodded off to sleep.

Later the voices returned, only this time much louder. He awoke once again and listened, but as before the voices stopped. Curious, he rolled out from his bedroll and stepped outside the tent to look around. The night was silent, still and very, very cold. Faint auroras lit the northern sky. The reindeer were quiet. There was nobody to be seen and no footprints other than his own to indicate that anyone else had ever been there. He went back inside the tent.

Now that he was wide awake he decided to have some tea and a small snack. He put more wood in his camp stove and put on a pot of water to boil. He put some tea bags in the pot and mixed in some dried ayuq leaves for flavor. He rummaged through his food box for pilot bread and a piece of old dry fish. It was then that he heard the voices again. He knew they must be real because he was wide awake. He stood up and reached for his rifle, but before he could grab it, two small men came through the door of his tent. The younger of the two was thin and rather scruffy-looking. He wore dark-green trousers with a shirt that sparkled like the starlit sky. He stood about a foot or two shorter than the older man, who was a bit plump, brightly dressed in red and smiled through a full beard that was whiter than new-fallen snow.

The older man spoke, but the herder couldn't understand him, although he almost could. Then the older man waved his hand in front of his face and spoke again. Now the herder could understand him.

"Don't be afraid," the older man said. "We're just tired from traveling and wanted to rest and get out of the cold for a little while. We didn't want to disturb you if you were asleep, but when you put the water on for tea and put in the ayuq leaves the aroma was so delightful, we couldn't resist. Could we possibly share a cup of tea with you?

The herder nodded and dug more cups out of his food box and motioned to the men to sit on some grass mats laying beside a small table.

The herder remembered stories told to him as a child about the little people who lived on the tundra -- the ircenrrat. He had never encountered any.

Could these two guests be ircenrrat? he thought to himself. They were certainly short but taller than he imagined the ircenrrat to be. At any rate, they didn't seem dangerous, but he certainly didn't want to spur their anger. According to the legends, ircenrrat could be very mischievous. He thought he should treat them well so they would tell their little people friends what a good host he was so they wouldn't come around to bother his reindeer.

He poured the tea and put some pilot bread and dry fish on the small table between them. "You do look cold," he said to the two men. He rummaged through his food box again and brought out a jar with a small amount of cloudy yellow liquid in it. "Have some seal oil with your dry fish. It will warm you for the rest of your journey."

"Oh no, no, no," the old man said. You don't need to share the last of your seal oil and dry fish with us. The tea and pilot bread are more than enough."

"It's nothing," the herder said. "I'll be returning to my village soon and can get some more," although he knew a jar of seal oil would cost him a reindeer or two in the trade with the seal hunters from the coast.

The two men relished their tea and took great delight dipping their dry fish in the seal oil and eating it. "Ah, this is such a wonderful treat," said the older man. "It has been so long since I've had seal oil and dry fish." Little droplets of oil were falling into his beard as he spoke. "This is just what we need to give us the strength to finish the last part of our journey."

"And where might that be?" asked the herder.

"Our village is still some distance from here. It lies just beneath the bright star at the end of the small dipper."

"And where are you coming from?" asked the herder.

We have been visiting the villages to the south delivering gifts to the children who live there.

The herder looked puzzled. "Why would you be giving gifts to children at this time of year?" he asked. "Soon the villages will be hosting their winter potlatches, and children will receive many gifts, especially those children who will be dancing for the first time. They will be receiving the finest of parkas and other winter clothes from their parents and namesakes.

"Oh yes, that may true for the villages you know," said the old man. "But we give gifts to the children in those villages that no longer host potlatches so that the children in those villages will have something to look forward to during the long, dark winter and be happy."

And how have you traveled? Asked the herder. "I heard no dogs barking as you arrived. My reindeer have been quiet."

"We travel like you. We hitch a sled to a team of reindeer."

The three men visited for a while longer and talked about their reindeer. Finally the older man with the beard finished his tea and soaked up the last drop of seal oil with his dry fish. "I'm afraid we've eaten the last of your seal oil." "No worry," said the herder, "I was happy to share it with you."

With that the two men got up from the grass mats they were sitting on and left the tent. The herder followed, but not for long. He stopped in amazement. He could not believe what he was seeing. The two men were traveling in the largest sled he had ever seen. It was huge and bright red in color. Much larger than his tent. The sled was hitched to eight reindeer, and they were tiny -- much smaller than his own. He could not imagine how those reindeer could pull such a large sled, especially when it was loaded. The men all shook hands, said "goodbye," and the two visitors climbed up into the sled. The older man picked up the reins, snapped them and bellowed in a loud voice:

"NOW DASHER, NOW DANCER, NOW PRANCER AND VIXEN, ON COMET, ON CUPID, ON DONNER AND BLITZEN, TO THE TOP OF THE PORCH, TO THE TOP OF THE WALL. NOW DASH AWAY, DASH AWAY, DASH AWAY ALL.

Then the old man in the white beard turned and looked down to the herder, waved and, with a beaming smile, said: "Merry Christmas to you and to you an especially good night." Then, to the herder's amazement, the little reindeer began lifting the sled off of the ground -- the sled was flying!

The herder could only stand motionless as the sled rose and then disappeared into the distant, northern sky. He watched until it became no larger in the night sky than the star that guided it home.

After a while, he shook his head. He wasn't sure he understood everything that happened. "Merry Christmas." What could those words mean?

The thought came to the herder that he was experiencing a dream. He went back to his tent, collapsed onto his bedroll and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

In the morning he awoke, much later than usual. His memory of the night before was still vivid, but he laughed quietly to himself, amused by the strangeness of the event. "What an odd dream," he thought. "Little men in red and green suits delivering presents to children from a giant sled pulled by tiny reindeer. How silly can a dream be?"

But as he got up from his bedroll, he noticed on his small table the three empty cups and beside the cups was a large jar of fresh seal oil and a bundle of dry fish smelling as if it had just come out of the smokehouse.

"I can't believe it," he gasped. "The little ircenrraq with the white beard was real. Now, if only I can remember those magic words he said maybe I could make my reindeer fly."