358 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.anx. 18 



to a greater or less ex:teut, altbougli tlie central idea is preserved, 

 luterroiirse with the Kussians and snbsequently with the Americans at 

 St Michael and adjacent parts of Norton sound has modified in many- 

 respects the customs of the Eskimo in that region, yet the ancient 

 beliefs and observances are still preserved among the older people. 



Certain festivals, however, are no longer celebrated in the district 

 named. Perhaps the most striking change has been in the disuse of 

 masks, which are still used in the complicated ceremonials of the 

 inhabitants of the country lying between the mouths of the Kusko- 

 kwim and the Yukon. Among the Unalit Eskimo about St Michael I 

 noted the folk)\ving festivals: 



1. Ai-ya'f/uk, or Asking festival, which takes place each year about 

 the middle or latter part of November. 



2. lhl'-n-(j''i, the Festival to the Dead. In this there are songs and 

 dances, with food oiferings and libations in honor of the dead. It is 

 held the last of November or the first of December. 



3. Chaii'-\-ynli, the Bladder feast. This is held usually during the 

 December moon and sometimes extends into January. It is a festival 

 belonging essentially to the coast people, but is still preserved in 

 modified form among the Eskimo of lower Kuskokwim and Yukon 

 rivers. 



\. A repetition of the Festival to the Dead is given at St Michael 

 two days after the close of the Bladder feast, and (5) another just 

 before the opening of the fishing season in spring. 



G. Ikh' -tfi-l-a' -tul-h-tftl; Great feast to the Dead. This is the most nota- 

 ble of all the festivals, owing to the fact that years are spent in prepar- 

 ing for the display with which it is celebrated. Among the fur traders 

 it is known as the " Ten-year feast," but in reality there is no definite 

 number of years between its recurrence. It is held at the time when the 

 makers consider that they have accumulated sufficient material in the 

 shape of food, skins of fur-bearing animals, and other objects of value 

 to properly honor the shades of their deceased relatives for whose 

 benefit the feast is held. 



THE "INVITING-IN" FEAST 



I-thn'-lxa-gi\Tc, a mask festival, known as the "inviting in feast," is 

 observed along the lower Yukon and southward to Kuskokwim river. 

 Masks in every variety of shai)e and form are made by the men for use in 

 it. Some of these are so large that it becomes necessary to hang them 

 from the roof of the kashim by a stout cord, and the owner stands behind 

 with the mask fastened to his head, wagging and swaying it from side 

 to side. The masks are usually carved to represent heads of animals, 

 frequently the totemic animals of the maker, and very often expressing 

 mythological fancies, which will be more fully detailed in treating 

 of masks. The shamans make masks representing the faces of their 

 supernatural or semihuman familiars by whose aid they claim to work 



