524 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The 
“Inviting-In” 
Feast of the 
By Ernest William Hawkes. 
Alaskan Eskimo 
In the winter of 1911-12, I was located at 
St. Michael, Alaska, as government teacher in 
charge of the Unaligmiut Eskimo of that 
vicinity. When, in January, it was rumored 
that a great mask festival was to he celebrated 
in conjuction with the neighboring Unalaklit, 
Malemiut from Norton sound, I immediately be¬ 
came interested, particularly since the natives 
informed me that it was to be the Aithukaguk, 
or “Inviting-In” Feast: a native festival which 
is situated on an island near the mouth of the 
Yukon river. On account of its convenient 
position at the mouth of the river, it is the chief 
port for the Yukon trade, and was selected as 
such by the Russian-American Fur Company. 
As a result of long occupation the Unalit be¬ 
came mixed with the Russian traders, so that 
a't the present time a majority bear Russian 
names, and belong to the Russian church, al¬ 
though still practising their ancient religion. 
be seen on a little island in St. Michael bay. 
It is very probable that the present good feeling 
between the tribes may be due to help received 
against the Yukon raiders; at any rate, the Male¬ 
miut and Unaligmiut mingle freely in border vil¬ 
lages like Shatolik and Unalaklit, hence it is not 
surprising that, for many years, they have cele¬ 
brated the great inter-tribal feasts together. 
But my anxiety to witness the feast nearly 
came to grief owing to the over-zealous action 
had not, to my knowledge, been witnessed by 
scientific observers before. 
The Aithukaguk, or “Inviting-In” Feast, is ob¬ 
served in the month of January, after the local 
rites—the Aiyaguk, or Asking Festival, and the 
Bladder Feast (Tcauiyuk)—have been com¬ 
pleted. The “Inviting-In” Feast is a matter of 
great moment to the Eskimo, for on it depends 
the success of the hunters. It differs from the 
Bladder Feast in that while the latter placates 
the spirits of animals already slain, the Aithu¬ 
kaguk is an appeal to the spirits represented by 
the masks, the totemic guardians of the per¬ 
formers, for future success in hunting. In the 
Eskimo ritual, this festival is only equalled in 
importance by the Aithukatukhtuk, the Great 
Feast of the Dead. One supplies the material 
wants of the living, the other the spiritual needs 
of the dead. 
The Eskimo village of St. Michael, or Tat- 
cek, where the celebration was to take place, 
Setting Out the Decoys. 
The Unalaklit, on the contrary, have kept 
their blood and customs pure. They are counted 
as a model Eskimo tribe, and look down on 
their unfortunate neighbors, who have been un¬ 
able to resist the encroachment of the white 
man, and its inevitable result—native deteriora¬ 
tion. The Unalaklit are the southernmost branch 
of the Malemiut; the largest and most warlike 
tribe of Alaskan Eskimo. 
The early home of the Malemiut was on 
Kotzebue sound ; but in following the wild rein¬ 
deer which formerly covered the interior of 
Alaska, they spread across Seward peninsula, 
crowding back the weaker tribes—the Kavaig- 
miut and Unaligmiut. 
The Unalit never resisted the encroachment 
of these powerful invaders, as they were con¬ 
tinually harassed by the Magemiut of the lower 
Yukon, and in most encounters came off second 
best. The remains of one of their villages, 
which was wiped out by the Magemiut, can still 
of the young missionary in nominal charge of 
the Unalaklit. He scented some pagan per¬ 
formance in the local preparations, and promptly 
appealed to the military commander of the dis¬ 
trict to put a stop to the whole thing. Con¬ 
sequently, it was a very sober delegation of 
Eskimo that waited on me the next day—in¬ 
cluding the headmen and the shaman who had 
been hired to make the masks and direct the 
dances—to ask my assistance. They said that 
if they were forbidden to celebrate the feast 
on the island they would take to the mountains 
of the interior and perform their rites where 
they could not be molested. But if I said they 
could dance, they would go on with their prepa¬ 
rations. They also asked me to use my influence 
with the military commander. To this I readily 
consented. 
I found the captain a very liberal man, not at all 
disposed to interfere with a peaceful native cele¬ 
bration, which had lost most of its religious signi- 
