Amikuk

Sources do not provide a formal cosmogonic origin or a ranked placement for the Amikuk. Attestations present the Amikuk as a named spirit-creature in Yup'ik narrative and material culture: a being said to live within the ground and to move between subterranean and undersea realms, encountered in stories about hunting, kayaking, ice travel, and shore crossings.

Reported forms vary by source. In its aquatic guise it is described as hairless with four arms and leathery or slimy skin; accounts say it wraps its arms around people and kayaks and drags them under the water. In its subterranean (earth) guise sources report that it lives within and 'swims' through the ground, but do not supply detailed anatomy for this form. It may take human shape (sources note it may be referred to as a Qamungelriit when in human form). Yup'ik masks and contemporary artworks also represent the Amikuk, but styles and details vary by artist.

Sources describe the Amikuk as a shapeshifter that moves through earth and water. In the sea it attacks hunters in kayaks, wrapping its arms around them and dragging them under to be eaten. From beneath the ground it is said to pursue people onto land by burrowing or 'swimming' through earth and by breaking ice. Accounts record that an Amikuk may 'swim upwards' into a person, which is said to make the person weak, or may 'jump through' a person, which sources say causes them to lie down and die. When shot, one account says the Amikuk multiplies into eight beings. In human form it may offer gifts of increasing value; cultural advice records that a person should sit with their back to it and remain silent while it offers.