The Nome nugget., 1927-05-07
PROGRAM OF NATIVE SPORTS
 EAGLE HALL, BIG AFFAIR

AVAVWlh6 lnJGECSlbu6 ANCO0ut M Nu0 Native Potlatch of last Saturday ev- eping, to c. L. Andrews. Supervisor of Reindeer, under the Bureau of Education. who has spent many years of his useful life in teaching the Eskimos and in learning their language, customs. traditions and fife cf the EskimO. s
 A program of old time Eskimo customs. games and dances. was put on the boards at the Big Eagle Hall on the evening ot April soth by the Boring Native Brotherhood of Nome. The actors entered into the spirit of the entertainment with zest that was greatly appreciated by the people of Nome. both white and native. s5. A .
 The pie eating contest, was not specially typical of Eskimo life. but was none the less amusing on that account. Harry Adorak of the Sand Spit won the strenuous and spat- tery competition and took the hrst prize. E.
 Then followed the best known of al. the native dances. the Anga- yah, which was performed by both men and wom and with the mu- sic of an orchestra of the ipanee di ums, the same as were beaten by the fathers of the dancers and by their grandfathers as we'll, even before the coming of the white man to Alaska.
 The high kicking contest. s rictly Eskimo athletic stunt. kicking with both feet in front of the body and then alighting on the feet again. This contest was won by John kowassuk. who made i record of six feet ten inches. The Eskimo name for this sport is An sa h-see-ah-toit.
 An ancient interpretive dance.
 known as See-nah-me-tah-toa
 was done by Mary Nicholas and Kanuktuk, both from the old vil- ldge of Kingegan, or Wales. one of the places which was most cele- i bIated for the interesting and mys- terious dances of the olden times. l l. represented, first the hunting of i the whale or walrus in the Oom- l iak. the man in the brow padding and using the harpoon, the woman in the stern using her paddle to help in the capture of some of the
 greatest game of the sea.
 Following the dance. was an- other act of man hunting the hear with a knife and spear, while | the woman danced with the motion
 Of the bear, her hands as the paws and her body in the peculiar droop- ing positions of the animal when it assumes the standing attitude This
 was 'one of the most interesting of the scenes and through a misunder-
 standing was cut short.
 The next number on the pro- gram was selection by the High School Orchestra which was enthus- iastically encored.
 The wrestling in the Eskimo
 manner in which four contest ants entered, was declared a tie between David Willowa and Perry Kagoona, and was followed by
 dance of two boys. the Say-ok-to- ok. ., Then the famous hunter Kanuk- took showed the old way of cap- turing the seal on the ice, stalk ing it as it lay at the side of it's
 hcle, raising it's head every few seconds to look for the approach ef its hereditary enemy the polar bear. The, hunter slowly, took
 from his poke the line, harpoon
 head. the scratcher. and other par aphernallia for the capture, crept cautiously toward the quarry, stop ping each time the seal raised its
 head. to scratch and initiate seal
 in order to deceive ,i the victim.
 Finally, when near enough to be l within reach. the harpoon was flung with @ sudden, swift lunge, and the stricken animal founder cd toward the water, and the cons test began. to decide whether the hunter be pulled into the sea or the seal be brought to land. It ended in the hunters swinging his poke over his, shoulders. packing
 his gear into it, and with his drag ging line across his breast. towing the heavy body homeward. where the wife pours water into its mouth to, propitiatei the spirit of the dead, for the old belief was
 that every animal had soul or spirit.
 The old time dance of the Dio-
 mede women. by six girls. is based on an old tradition. and was by sinuous movement of the body and . ou{n~ Ia nntan~