98 BUREAU

are

known

to

have

lostconsiderable

amounts

^ofpropertyin the process ofplaying it.

Returning to the kashgee to consider its functions further, it is

obvious thatthis structureis the

hub

of villagelife.

For

not only do the

men and

older boys live

and work

here, but it serves additional purposes. It is here that the

men

bathe in the late afternoon of al-

most

every

day

that they are in the village. In order to bathe, the

window

covering is

removed and

a large

sprucewood

fire is built in the firepit.

The

fire

may

be lighted

from

a strike-a-light or with a

fire drill propelled with a strap.

When

the

smoke from

the fire has cleared

from

the

room and

^the

wood

has

become

reduced to a layer of glowing coals, the

men remove

their clothing

and

replace the win-

dow

cover.

Each man

then sitswith a

wad

of

wood

shavingsstuffed in his

mouth and

breathes through this respirator.

The men wash

themselves with urine

and

^{scrub their bodies} with grass. After the

room

begins to cool, they sit outside the kashgee until they are dry.

Then

they dress

and

return inside to wait for their evening

meal

to

be

brought in

by

the

women and

girls. This

and

all othermeals are prepared

by

the

women

^{in their} houses

and

served to the

men and

older boys in the kashgee.

The women

eat with the other females

and young

malesin their respective dwellings.

Villageceremoniallifecentersin thekashgee,

but

not simply^{in their}

own

kashgee.

The

proximity of

Ohagamiut and

the fact that they

have

a

much

larger kashgee frequently induces the

Crow

Village people to join those of

Ohagamiut

to present a

major

ceremony.

The

practice of having ceremonies in first one village

and

then the otheris reinforced

by

asystemin

which

each

man

has a

male

partner intheother settlement

from

the

same male

lineas his father'spartner.

These

partnerships are linked to asystem ofceremonial exchanges ^or

"potlatches." Itislikely also thata

man

has sexual intercoursewith the wife ofhis partner.

About

the time of the

Kuskokwim

River freezeup each year the people prepare for their winter ceremonials.

The

face

masks manu-

factured represent animals such as thebear

and

fox, or birdssuch as the raven, while stillothers are in the

form

of

human

^faces orspirits.

These masks

are

made from

spruce

from

the trunk of a tree or,

more

preferably,

from

spruce roots since the roots are carved

more

readily

and

tend not to crack.

Some

^of the

masks have

small

wooden

carv- ings attached to the sides

on

slender pieces of

wood;

these carvings represent fish, animals, boats,

and

wands.

Each mask

has a special song

and

dance associated with it,

and

every year

new masks

are

made, new

songs composed,

and

different dance motions developed.

A man may make

one type of

mask

one year

and

another the next year; thereisno rigidity to the

form

of

a^manVmask.

vln^Stolfel

CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 99 At

this time of the year

when

the

moon becomes new

the

women

prepare food for the particular festivity

which

occurs.

Two men

dressed in old

and

very tattered clothing parade about the village wearing

"funny"

masks.

They

go

from

house to house begging food,

and what

they receive ^is placed in

woven

grass baskets carried

by men who

follow the

masked

performers. After all the houses

have

been visited, the

men

return to the kashgee with the food

and

feast

on

it for 3 nights. This particular ceremony,

from

its descrip- tion, appears to be a largely secularactivity.

Another ceremony

has supernatural implications that

seem

to centerabout a propitiation of the dead

and

possibly the magical renewal^of

game;

it also is held at about this time ofthe year.

The ceremony

centers about the gather- ing

and

burning of wild celery stalks (for details see Oswalt, 1957, p. 31).

The

specificsoreventhe gross patterningof thewinter "potlatches"

and

feasts for the

dead

are not recorded although each is

known

to exist. It

might

be anticipated that these are quite elaborate, con- sidering the dramatic effects achieved in central

Kuskokmm Esldmo

ceremonies ingeneral.

When

the kashgeeisprepared fora ceremony, a grass

mat

or canvas curtain is

hung

to separate the audience

from

the preparing performers.

When

a skit is to be introduced ^{for the}

first time, the guests eagerly await the performance.

The drummers

sit on the upper

bench

beating theirtamboiu-ine drums,

which

consist of a handled

wooden

frame over

which

is stretched an animal's intestines or stomach.

The men

beat the

drums

very slowly with sticks

and

singsoftly so that theassembled people

must

strain tohear the

words

beingsung.

Then

the

man whose

songis being introduced rushes

from

the audience to behind the stage ciu-tain, strips to his short underpants,

and

imitates the sounds of the creature he is going to portray.

He

then sticks his

masked

face through an opening ⁱⁿ the curtain before entering the performing area.

From

either side of the kashgee a

woman ^comes

forwardto joinhim; each

woman

isdressed in her finest parka

and

holds finger

masks

in each hand.

Some

of the finger

masks

are

trimmed

with feathers, while others are edged in long caribou hair.

Dancing women may

^{at certain} performances

wear

only rain parkas

made from

intestines.

The women

keep time to the

drums

with motions of their arms.

Any

particular song is

sung three times, with eachrepetition at a faster tempo, until at last the performers sing, dance,

and drum

as fast as possible.

When

the melting

snows

of spring introduce the

month

of April, ceremonial attention turns to the subsistenceactivities for the

coming

year. In order to try to predict

what

the year will hold, a doll

ceremony

is performed. Special dolls are retrieved

from

their hiding place,

and

their clothing is inspected for the scales of the species of

100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

^{[Bull. 199}

fish

which

willbe

most

plentiful or abit offur toindicate whichof the fur animals

most

likely will be taken in the year to

come

(for details see Oswalt, 1963 b, p. 69). In the spring, too, there is an interest in establishing

which salmon

will arrive first along the central Kiiskokwim.

When

thefirstfish

jumps

following the breakup, a

man

paddles out in his canoe or

kayak and

with a small birchbark dipper takes water

from

the river.

The

water is brought

back

to shore

and

tasted

by

different individuals.

From

the taste of the water it is

thought that it can be predicted which species of

salmon

will arrive first, thedogs (chum) or king salmon.

The

reason for thisinterest is

that different gaged nets are required for these respective species,

and

the nets to be set first are determined

by

this procedure.

The

only suggestion of the presence of Russian

Orthodox

missionary activities

among

the people is a single carving in

wood

that

may

represent a flower

and have

associationswith Christianity.

In the ceremonial life of the village the children are not forgotten.

For

example,

when

potlatches are held, each child,

no

matter

how

small heorshe

may

be, is always

remembered

with agift

from

ahost.

The

realintroduction ofa small child toceremoniallife

comes when

he or she performs a dance for the first time.

The

performer stands in the kashgee holding the skin of an animal, while one adult sings

and

another dances for the child. After his "performance" the parents distribute gifts to all the assembled guests

from

other villages.

A

ceremony

for boys is held in the late

summer;

this gives recognition to theirhuntingactivitiesduringtheyear (seeOswalt, 1963b, p. 138).

Along

the hillside above

Crow

Village the dead are buried in small boxesof

hand-hewn

planks

bound

together atthe corners with spruce roots.

The body

of the deceased individual is placed in the coffin

on its

back

with the knees

drawn up

to the chest

and hands

crossed over the chest.

The

clothing of the deceased, except that in

which

he ^is buried, is

burned

unless he or she has lived a long time. In this event various items are given to

young

children so that theytoo

may

livelong.

Some

of anindividual'ssmall tools

and equipment

are placed in the coffin, while othersmall items are given to relatives

and

good friends as remembrances.

On

^{the outside of the coffin of a}

male may

be painted representations of the

most

important species the

man

killedduringhis life. If the

man was

a great caribouhunter orfisherman, paintingsof caribou orfish appear

on

hiscofiin. Paint- ings or small

wooden

carvings of the

most

important species

hunted by

a

man

^are pegged to a board at the

head

of the cofiin.

On

this board too is very often a carved representation of a

man

or

woman,

the sex being the

same

as that of the individual interred beneath.

A

separate

wooden

representationofthepersonispegged ontheboard for a

woman

^the

head

is in partial relief

and

adorned

mth

beads

virsCel CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 101

around the neck

and

hanging

from

the ears.

A

few graves

have

separate

wooden

carvings of

humans. On

these the

head and

shoulders are represented,

and

the carvings are placed on poles set in theground nearthe grave.

On

topofthe closed coffinorsurround- ing it, strips of birchbark are arranged so that water

may

not reach the body.

At

each corner of the burial

box

is a post, ranging

from

45 cm. to 1.5

m.

in height,

which

holds the

box up from

the ground.

Over

the grave boxes orstuck in the ground around

them

are placed larger items belonging to the deceased.

For

a

man

his canoe, sled,

bow, arrows,

and

spears are found; ^for a

male

child his toy bow, a smallboat model, a ball, or top are left.