It Alaska’s vast terrain remains largely unexplored. Despite its immense landmass, it remains one of the most sparsely populated states in the United States. Much of its area is remote and untamed. This unknown quality continues to intrigue people with stories of the mythical: evil spirits haunting the rocky cliffs, snake-like leviathans lurking in the waters, cryptids stalking the forests, and yet many other creatures are said to reside in the furthest reaches of Alaska, areas untouched by human beings.
Who else is with us?
One of these lesser-known creatures may be the Ircenrraat, the so-called little people of Alaska. These uncanny creatures parallel the traditional dwarves or sprites. These halflings, however, dress in indigenous Alaskan garb, bearing weapons used by tribesmen long ago. But of course, they are also said to carry some forms of supernatural powers.
The Hunt
Two men, Eugene and Cameron, set out one day on a hunting trip. They left in the morning, each riding a four-wheeler, and began tracking a herd of caribou across the Alaskan landscape. They patiently trail the herd until later in the afternoon when the animals settle in a valley within a mountainous region. The men get off their vehicles to continue their trek quietly.
They move toward the west side of the valley and begin scaling the rocks to gain a better vantage point. They proceed slowly, taking care not to slip or dislodge loose terrain. The late afternoon sun slowly starts to set as shadows cast across the tundra.
Eventually the men find a suitable spot to stake out the valley below. Eugene pulls out a pair of binoculars from his pack while Cameron steps back to light his cigarette. Eugene kneels down into the dirt and exhales into the crisp, chilly air as he peers through his binoculars. He scans the mountain ranges in the distance, the golden light of the sun reflecting off their rock faces. He then points his binoculars down below to the herd grazing among the sparse brush. As he continued to scan the herd, his line of sight suddenly snags on three hunters cleaning a freshly killed bull.
At first glance, the bull was massive. It would have been incredibly difficult to take it down, even between the three of them. It also struck Eugene as odd that there were others out here as well, since the area was exceedingly far from the nearest town. Eugene lowers his binoculars and calls out to Cameron to tell him what he sees, inviting him to take a look. Cameron puts out his cigarette and retrieves his rifle, aiming the scope to the area Eugene indicated.
He Locates
He locates the trio in the distance and zooms in. After a long moment, his brow furrows, a look of perplexity crossing his face. Impatient, Eugene asks him what he sees. Cameron keeps looking through his scope as he begins describing what he sees: the three hunters were dressed in traditional indigenous clothing. This was odd since these garments were made from animal hide and seldom worn by modern Alaskans, except during ceremonies and holidays. The garments were also impractical for hunting, lacking the modern tools and accessories many natives used today.
At closer inspection, none of the hunters were armed. How did they take down the bull? The hunters each were disproportionately shaped. They were short, but had big heads. Their limbs were proportionate with the size of their bodies, but they were also muscular.
They both continue to observe the bizarre scene when one of the hunters suddenly stops what he was doing and looks up. He points his index finger to the sky, the other two hunters pausing their tasks to see where he pointed. Slowly, the hunter lowers his arm, his finger unwavering until it zeroes in on the exact spot — directly at Eugene and Cameron hidden in the rocks above. In a single, chilling motion, all three hunters snap their heads in their direction, their eyes locking onto them with an unnatural precision.
Eugene and Cameron flinch, their stomachs dropping with the feeling of dread. They turn their heads to look at each other in confusion. When they looked back at the three hunters, they were gone. It was as if they were never there. Eventually, they make their way over to the exact spot where they saw the three hunters. Spots of blood covered parts of the area, and even more interestingly, small, child-like footprints were left behind.
The Elusive Still Walk Among Us
What makes the Ircenrraat legend particularly intriguing, as the following stories illustrate, is that many accounts come from Native individuals who claim to have personally encountered these beings—rather than merely passing down tales of distant ancestors whose interactions remain uncertain. However, it appears that members of the younger generation no longer report such firsthand experiences, whether these accounts fail to gain traction online or are simply left unshared, the Ircenrraat seemed to have mostly disappeared in current times. The following accounts were told from locals that lived in a pre-modern Alaska.
The Tribe that visited us
On a post submitted to the subreddit r/alaska asking about lesser-known paranormal stories from Alaska, a user going by DismalStreaks talks about an experience told to him years ago by an elderly Native:
“Not ghosts, but still weird. I heard a story from an older Native Alaskan lady once, whom is no longer with us, at the time she was on the upper side of 80, around 2010(ish).
She talked of a tribe of small people that lived in the tundra and would come to the village to trade. It was a regular and seasonal occurrence, so the townsfolk would put away the animals, as they would lose their shit when the tundra folk came by. On this occasion, a dog got out and killed on of the little people, and they just never came back. After that, she said the village fell on hard times, and when she told the story, she insisted that it never actually recovered, as though it had been cursed.
Given her age, and the timeframes, I’d say this all happened pre-statehood, and possibly in the midst of WW2. Alaska has a lot of strange going on, and most of the old indigenous stories have either been kept hidden, or stamped out, like so many others.”
It’s a fascinating story. This elderly woman spoke about the Ircenrraat as once being a normal part of her childhood—something that would seem rather outlandish to most people today. Stories like this one lends Alaska an otherworldly quality, and since this may have happened before Alaska joined the United States, it makes one wonder how different the region was back then. If these little people were real, what happened to them?
Maishmoon
In another post in the same subreddit, a user by the name Character_Juice3148 claimed to have befriended an Ircenrraat:
“They are very alien to behold. Very small, 3 feet tall at the most. Blunt nose, large round ears, hairy, but not fur. The one i got to know loved to trade but had no sense of value. He probably thought the same thing about me.
I met him fishing. We couldnt communicate, but it’s name sounded like Maishmoon. I just called him Mamoon. They are incredible fast. Im talking blink of an eye fast. It felt like he only moved when i blinked, but he could cover 5 to 10 paces in that time. He could ambulate but he used this “blink” mostly. It was very unsettling at first.
He really valued shiny things and fish and loved to hum songs. He liked fishing lures, bullets, coins, knives, necklaces, rings. It is said he also liked matches, lighters and beer. Didn’t care for cigarettes. He would always hum a certain melody when he saw fire. If i lit a smoke or started a fire he would always hum the same tune. He would bring me a bunch of old junk. Bones, rusted cans, old pieces of rotted leather, shredded plastic bags. He thought i would want it, i guess.
I always accepted it graciously and would give him whatever coins i had in my pockets or something out of my tacklebox and a few fish of course. We would trade often over the course of one summer. One day he never came back to our spot. I left things out for him, but he never returned. My gifts would be there weeks later. It’s been 40 years and i’ve never saw one since.”
It’s a peculiar story, however, if it was true, this had likely taken place during the 1980’s according to the user. Although they couldn’t communicate with each other, they seemed to have shared a close companionship that lasted until Maishmoon abruptly disappeared.
In the End
In a unique plot twist, the first story featuring Eugene and Cameron ends on an unexpected note. A professor from the University of Alaska Fairbanks recalls the ending as he’s heard it: after the two hunters had witnessed the scene of the Ircenrraat killing the large animal and subsequently spotting them, they eventually did make their way back home.
Once they arrived, however, they realized everything had changed. The neighbors and friends they had seen just that morning was all gone, all replaced by total strangers. One of the villagers recognized the hunters, but to their horror, he had grown old. The villager explained to them that after the two men left on their hunting expedition, they had never come back. After years had gone by, they were assumed to be dead.
References:
https://alaskavillagetovillage.com/2017/04/08/alaska-myths-the-little-people/
https://alaskamagazine.com/authentic-alaska/culture/little-people-of-alaska/
https://www.reddit.com/r/alaska/comments/1apjvwj/anyone_with_first_hand_encounters_with_ircenrraat/