360 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
In the evening of this day the men are gathered in the kashim and 
the women in their houses, as on the preceding night. The man who 
prepared the wand takes it in his hand and stands with it in the middle 
of the room; any man in the community has the privilege of telling 
him the name of any article he wishes, sometimes giving him the name 
of the woman from whom he desires to obtain it. The wand-bearer 
then goes to the house of the woman named and stands before her, 
Swinging the hanging globes on the wand, at the same time telling 
her what he has come for, and then stands waiting. The woman thinks 
of something which she desires in return and tells the wand-bearer, 
whereupon he returns to the kashim and, swinging the globes before the 
one who sent him, tells what is desired in return for the object he 
demanded. In this way every one in the village asks for something. 
When the messenger has completed his task, the men go to their houses 
and bring the articles for which they were asked, and when all have 
returned to the kashim a dance is performed. 
The women then come, bringing with them the things asked for, and 
the exchange is made through the messenger, who must have his face 
blackened and wear a fishskin coat, or some other poor dress, having a 
dogskin belt with the tail fastened on behind. If any article is desired 
which the person asked does not possess, he is bound by custom to 
obtain it as soon as possible after the festival and present it to the one 
who wishes it. The two exchanging presents in this way are considered 
to hold a certain temporary relationship, termed i-lo/-y’uik. Formerly 
those once made i-lo/-q’uik exchanged presents each succeeding year at 
this festival, but that custom is now less strictly observed. 
At the time of this festival any man had a right to request the 
messenger to inform the woman he named, if she was unmarried, that 
he wished to share her bed that night. The woman returned answer 
that he must bring a deerskin for the bedding. When all were gath- 
ered in the kashim he gave her the deerskin, and after the festival was 
ended remained with her for the night. 
After the wand has been used while conveying the messages of the 
different people, it is hung in a conspicuous place in the kashim and kept 
there until the festival is ended. This instrument is much respected 
by the community, and it is considered shameful to refuse the requests 
made with it, and a person doing this would be despised by every one. 
In some districts this festival is observed by asking presents between 
persons of the same sex. It exists substantially as described from the 
vicinity of Bering strait to the mouth of Kuskokwim river, although 
each locality varies slightly the details and rites performed. 
The custom of the men taking women during the night of this festi- 
val is observed throughout this district. One variation of the festival 
is for the messenger to be told secretly the desire of each person, and 
until all meet in the kashim no one knows with whom he is to exchange. 
On the lower Yukon and in the adjacent districts to the southward this 
