‘”Saluting the Light’, was a custom that was performed by grown males in the Aleut community. This early custom is described as follows –

The grown men were in the habit of emerging from their huts as soon as day was breaking, naked, and standing with their face to the east, or wherever the dawn appeared, and having rinsed their mouths with water saluted the light and the wind; after this ceremony they would proceed to the rivulet supplying them with drinking water, strike the water several times with the palm of their hands, saying:

‘I am not asleep; I am alive; I greet with you the life-giving light, and I will always live with thee.’ While saying this they also had their faces turned to the east, lifting the right arm so as to throw the water, dripping from it, over their bodies. Then throwing water over the head and washing face and hands, they waded into the stream up to their knees and awaited the first appearance of the sun. Then they would carry water to their homes for use during the day. ln localities where there was no stream the ceremony was performed on the sea-beach in the same manner, with the exception that they carried no water away with them.”