The written records about Tamra kingdom of the Jeju island are too scare to reconstruct its history. We can use oral tradition to fill up the blank. The shaman epic, ponphuri, offers the best evidence to know how the kingdom was founded. Different types of the shaman epic was originated from different ages. The laudatory epic was the product of the primitive hunters. The creation epic was used to demonstrate priest rulers ability in the transitional stage from the primitive to ancient ages. The heroic epic testified the founding of ancient kingdom. The records in Koryeosa, History of Koryeo Dynasty, about three forefathers of Tamra are partial translation of the founding epic. The oral version transmitted until now are different from it in two points. Not only three male forefathers but also their bridges sprang out from the earth. The son abandoned by parents overcame difficulties and returned triumphantly. The marriage of the first generation explained the collaboration of the native hunters and the emigrant farmers. That made the economic background to develop society. The next generation s struggle provided the political force to build a kingdom. The founding epic of Tamra kingdom was composed of these two parts. After the collapse of the kingdom, its founding epic was scattered and transmitted as shaman epics telling the lives of village gods. Among them, two versions of the Kujwa subcounty in the northeast part of Jeju island maintain particularly rich heritage.