Vol. VI No. 2 ————————————————————————————  ...

This account of the Dance Festivals of the Alaskan Eskimo was written from material gathered in the Bering Strait District during three years’ residence: two on the Diomede Islands, and one at St. Michael at the mouth of the Yukon River. This paper is based on my observations of the ceremonial dances of the Eskimo of these two localities....

ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, long vowels. a, e, i, o, u, short vowels. ä, as in hat. â, as in law. ai, as in aisle. au, as ow in how. h, w, y, semivowels. c, as sh in should. f, a bilabial surd. g, as in get. ǵ, a post-palatal sonant. k, as in pick. l, as in lull. m, as in mum. n, as in nun. ng, as ng in sing. p, as in pipe. q, a post-palatal surd. ṙ, a uvular sonant spirant. s, as in sauce. t, an alveolar stop. tc, as ch in chapter. v, a bilabial sonant. z, as in zone....

THE DANCE IN GENERAL The ceremonial dance of the Alaskan Eskimo is a rhythmic pantomime—the story in gesture and song of the lives of the various Arctic animals on which they subsist and from whom they believe their ancient clans are sprung. The dances vary in complexity from the ordinary social dance, in which all share promiscuously and in which individual action is subordinated to rhythm, to the pantomime totem dances performed by especially trained actors who hold their positions from year t

With few exceptions, all dances take place in the village kásgi or dance hall. This is the public meeting place where the old men gather to sit and smoke while they discuss the village welfare, where the married men bring their work and take their sweat baths, and where the bachelors and young men, termed kásgimiut, have their sleeping quarters. The kásgi is built and maintained at public expense, each villager considering it an honor to contribute something. Any tools or furnishings brought int

The Dance Festivals of the Alaskan Eskimo are held during that cold, stormy period of the winter when the work of the year is over and hunting is temporarily at an end. At this season the people gather in the kásgi to celebrate the local rites, and at certain intervals invite neighboring tribes to join in the great inter-tribal festivals. This season of mirth and song is termed “Tcauyávik” the drum dance season, from “Tcaúyak” meaning drum. It lasts from November to March, and is a continuous su

The Annual Feast to the Dead is a temporary arrangement, whereby the shades of those recently departed are sustained until the advent of the Great Feast to the Dead. The essence of the offerings of food and drink are supposed to satisfy the wants of the dead until they can be properly honored in the Great Festival. In the latter event the relative discharges all his social obligations to the dead, and the ghost is furnished with such an abundance that it can never want in the world below. The ma

After making offerings to his relative at the annual feast the chief mourner begins saving up his skins, frozen meat, and other delicacies prized by the Eskimo, until, in the course of years, he has accumulated an enormous amount of food and clothing. Then he is prepared to give the great feast in honor of his kinsman. Others in the village, who are bereaved, have been doing the same thing. They meet and agree on a certain time to celebrate the feast together during the ensuing year. The time ch

A—Outer Vestibule. (Lā´torăk.) B—Summer Entrance. (Amēk´.) C—Front Platform. (Ṓaklim.) Seat of Orphans and Worthless. D—Plank Floor. (Nā´tūk.) E—Rear Platform. (Kā´an.) Seat of Honored Guests. F—Smoke Hole. (Ṙa´lŏk.) Entrance for Gift-lines. G—Entrance Hole. (Pug´yărăk.) H—Fireplace. (Kēne´thluk.) Seat of Spirit-Guests. I—Underground Tunnel. (Ag´vēak.) J—Side Platforms. (Kā́aklim.) Seats for Spectators. K—Chorus of Drummers. L—Feast Givers. (Nä´skut.) M—Namesakes of Dead....

A—First Movement. The Chief’s Son, Okvaíok is dancing. B—Second Movement. ANTHR. PUB. UNIV. MUSEUM VOL. VI PLATE XII   MEN’S DANCE...

C—Third Movement. D—Fourth Movement. ANTHR. PUB. UNIV. MUSEUM VOL. VI PLATE XIII   MEN’S DANCE...

Children’s Dance. The Chorus. Leader in Center Beating Time With an Ermine Stick. ANTHR. PUB. UNIV. MUSEUM VOL. VI PLATE XIV  ...

Women’s Dance. ANTHR. PUB. UNIV. MUSEUM VOL. VI PLATE XV [1] This characterization applies to the Alaskan Eskimo only; so far as is now known the other Eskimo branches do not have totemic dances. [2] While the northern and southern tribes have the same general movements for their ordinary dances, they give a very different presentation of the festival dance-songs. The northerners leap and stamp about the kásgi until overcome with exhaustion; while in the south the performers sit or kneel on the