MURDOCH. } DANCING. 375 
ligious or dramatic about it. The musie was furnished by the usual 
orchestra of old men, who beat drums and sang a monotonous song. 
Each person who intended to take part in the dance came provided with 
some small article to be given away as a “favor,” and rising in his 
turn, danced a few minutes, and then called out the name of the part- 
ner he wished to give it to. The latter then rose, and having received 
the “favor,” danced a while with him, and then both resumed their 
places among the spectators. 
We never heard of any such elaborate “donation parties” as are de- 
scribed at Norton Sound and the Yukon region, where a man “saves up 
his property for years” to distribute it among his guests.’ A festival, 
however, was heldat Nuwiik in June, 1883, which apparently resembled 
the second kind described by Dall.2. Two men came down from Nuwttk 
to invite Lieut. Ray and Capt. Herendeen, telling them what presents 
they were expected to bring. Unfortunately it was considered that too 
much was asked and the invitation was declined. The messengers car- 
ried “notched sticks.” 
Dances in which the children only take part, entirely for amusement, 
sometimes take place in the ki/dyigi, and people occasionally amuse 
themselves by dancing in the iglu. I have often 
seen the natives, especially the children and 
young people, dancing in the open air, and the 
dancing was always of very much the same char- 
acter. The feet were but slightly moved, keep- 
ing time to the music, while the body swayed 
gracefully and the arms were waved from side to 
side. All the dancing which I saw was rather 
quiet and graceful, but they told us that when 
they got warmed up at a great dance they went 
at it with tremendous vigor, throwing off their 
garments to the waist. The dance which accom- 
panies the song sung by the children to the 
aurora, however, is more violent. The dancer 
clenches his fists and, bending his elbows, strikes 
them against the sides of his body, keeping time jg. 373 youth sesSing es 
to the song and stamping vigorously with the the aurora. 
right foot, springing up and down with the left knee (see Fig. 373, 
from a sketch by the writer). 
We never heard of any of the licentious festivals or orgies described 
by Egedet and Kunilien.° 
'See Dall, Alaska, p. 151. 
2Tbid, p. 154. 
3Compare the wand ‘‘curiously ornamented and carved” carried by the messenger who was sent 
out to invite the guests to the festival at Norton Sound, Alaska, p. 154. 
4Greenland, p. 139. 
5Contributions, p. 43. 
