E. W. HAWKES THE DANCE FESTIVALS OF THE ALASKAN ESKIMO 13 



THE KASGI OR DANCE HOUSE 



With few exceptions, all dances take place in the village 

 kasgi 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 kas- 

 gimiut, have their sleeping quarters. The kasgi is built and 

 maintained at public expense, each villager considering it an 

 honor to contribute something. Any tools or furnishings brought 

 into the kasgi are considered public property, and used as such. 



When a kasgi is to be built, announcement is made through 

 messengers to neighboring villages, and all gather to assis't in 

 the building and to help celebrate the event. First a trench 

 several feet deep is dug in which to plant the timbers forming the 

 sides. These are usually of driftwood, which is brought by the 

 ocean currents from the Yukon. The ice breaks up first at the 

 head of that great stream, and the debris dams up the river, 

 which overflows its banks, tearing down trees, buildings and 

 whatever borders its course as it breaks its way out to the 

 sea. The wreckage is scattered along the coast for over a 

 hundred miles, and the islands of Bering Sea get a small share. 

 The islanders are constantly on the lookout for the drifting 

 timber, and put out to sea in the stormiest weather for a distant 

 piece, be it large or small. They also patrol the coast after a 

 high tide for stray bits of wood. When one considers the toil 

 and pain with which material is gathered, the building of a 

 kasgi becomes an important matter. 



