Читать книгу Animal Stories from Eskimo Land. Adapted from the Original Eskimo Stories Collected by Dr. Daniel S. Neuman онлайн

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The people are courteous and considerate. I have sat in their kasgas when the oomaliks (head men) were in council with my husband, who at that time was Governor of Alaska. The dignity and order of their debates would honor any legislative assembly. There is no interruption to a speaker until the final “I have spoken.”

The council finished, comes the customary dance in the kasga. The dance is always symbolic—the coming of spring, the flight of the ducks, the spearing of the whale, the wolf dance, or the killing of the bear. The men dance with grotesque gesture until exhausted, while the women with quiet feet, sway gently in unison in the dim light from the opening overhead. On the platform at the end of the kasga the musicians beat industriously on their drums.

The stories in this little book are adapted from some of the great number gathered through many years by Dr. Daniel S. Neuman, of Nome. It was Dr. Neuman who painstakingly made the splendid and unequaled collection of Eskimo antiquities and modern implements now on exhibit in the territorial museum at Juneau. The acquiring of this collection for the Territory was one of my husband’s last official acts as governor.