Yup'ik Icon

Yup'ik talisman depicting Squamikitut, spirit dwelling in a limbo world between life and death, as well as sleep and wakefulness.

It was carved from a gastrolith, or 'gizzard stone.' These were swallowed by birds to grind tough buds and seeds, making them digestible. Such stones were seen to hold divinatory power by Yup'ik shamans. Grouse and ptarmigan would yield up the stones, the shaman would read and carve them, then swallow or have them swallowed in turn. Stories of dreams and the afterlife were so rendered.

(Please be aware that this is not true in the least.)