ABORIGINAL DECORATIVE ART — KRIEGER 529 



tical in name, but their detailed ceremonial use corresponds. These 

 masks are used in ceremonies havinj; to do with usherin*; in the hunt- 

 ing or tlie lisliing season. It is sinceri'ly bolievod by the E.skimo, and 

 also by the Tinne on the Yukon, that proper ceremonies insure 

 success in their ociMioniic undertakings. The celebration in which 

 animals masks play an important part is always accompanied by a 

 feast, popularly referred to as a potlatch, a term that originated far 

 to the south among the Tlingit of southeast Alaska. 



Among primitive peoples generally, the relation of animals with 

 humans is based more or less on magic. Animals are supposedly 

 gifted with magic ])()wers of assuming human forms at will, of per- 

 forming supernatural acts, aiul generally conducting themselves 

 so as to defy the laws of nature. Therefore they must be propitiated, 

 especially during crises in human life. 



It seems that the bear, along with the raven and the coyote, are 

 about on a par with the fox and the bear in European folk lore. 

 These animals have supernatural powers; they are sly, they are 

 tricksters, and at the same time they are culture heroes. The anal- 

 ogy between animal folk lore of Europeans and primitive peoples 

 generally is almost startling. 



A typical mask ceremony of the Yukon Indians is know^n as the 

 " feast of animal souls." Its object is to assure success in hunting, 

 and it is therefore celebrated in midwinter when the hunting season 

 is best. Representations of the animals are carved on the ends of 

 sticks which are stuck up at various spots in the community gather- 

 ing place or kashime. Inflated bladders of as nuiny different kinds 

 of game animals as possible are contributed by the different families 

 of the community. These are hung on a cord stretched across the 

 kashime and the cord is shaken, causing the bladders to rattle. Dur- 

 ing the progress of the feast everyone must be reverent in his be- 

 havior, taking care to step softly in entering the kashime, and taking 

 their places without noise or unseemly behavior. There is a succes- 

 sion of songs illustrating animal stories and legends. Boys repre- 

 senting the various families of the community are dressed in their 

 furs with ornaments of wolf tails and wolf heads. A form of ice 

 cream is then brought into the kashime in great bowls; on each bowl 

 are stuck small models of deadfalls and other objects having to do 

 with the hunt. The ceremonial eating of ice cream is observed in 

 strict silence, even the whisper of a child being subject to severe 

 reprimand. All of the animal ma.sk feasts or ceremonies of the 

 Tinne are very carefully rehearsed even to the waving of the feather 

 plumes and the beating of drums. It is at the same time both pleas- 

 ing and ludicrous to observe the graceful movements of the dancere 

 who during rehearsals are encumbered with their babies and their 



