386 



OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE, 



prepare their simple meals ; the village guest and visitors of the 

 male sex are all quartered here ; the discussion of all the town af- 

 fairs is conducted here ; the tanning of skins, the plaiting and 

 weaving of wicker-work fish-traps, and the manufacture of sleds 

 and dog-harness, spear- and arrow-heads, and carving of wood and 

 ivory — in fact, everything done by these people under shelter, of 

 that kind, is executed on the platforms of a kashga. It is the 

 theatre for the absurd and vigorous masked dances and mummery 

 of their festivals, and above all, it is the spot chosen for that vile 

 ammoniacal bath of the Eskimo, the most popular of all their rec- 

 reations. 



The daily routine of living as practised by an Inuuit famil}^ is 

 exceedingly simple. The head of the household usually sleeps over 



S.^. 



Section showing Subterranean Entrance and Interior of a Kashga. 



night in the kashga, as do all of his peers. His wife in the early 

 morning rolls out of her rude deer-skins, retucks her parka about 

 her hips, and starts up the smouldering fire which she banked with 

 ashes before going to sleep. A little meat or fish is soon half- 

 boiled, and a small kantag of oil is decanted, a handful of dried 

 berries thrown into it, and perhaps she has a modicum of rotten 

 fish-roe to add. This she takes out to her husband in the kashga, 

 rousing him, if he is not awake, with a gentle but firm admonition. 

 A large bowl of fresh water is also brought by her, and then every- 

 thing is before the husband for his breakfast. She returns to her 

 hut after he has finished, and feeds her children and herself. If 

 she or her husband has a male visitor, he is served in the same way. 

 When the evening meal is ready, sometimes the men go home and 



