What is "qargi"

n. A kashim.

Qargi (by the Inupiats), Qasgi or Qasgiq (by the Yup'iks), Qaygiq (by the Cup'iks), Kashim (by the Russians), Kariyit, a traditional large semisubterranean men's community house (or communal men's house, men's house, ceremonial house, council house, dance house, communal gathering place) of the Yup'ik and Inuit, also Deg Hit'an Athabaskans (at Anvik, Alaska), was used for public and ceremonial occasions and as a men’s residence. The Qargi was the place where men built their boats, repaired their equipment, took sweat baths, educated young boys, and hosted community dances. Here people learned their oral history, songs and chants. Young boys and men learned to make tools and weapons while they listened to the traditions of their forefathers.

The qargi was almost always a separate building because the dwellings were not large enough to hold very many men. The qargi was a combination courthouse, church, workshop, dance hall, and received center, two or three times the size of a typical house. It was the place where the storytelling, dancing, singing, and games (high-kick games) that so enriched Yupik and Inuit life took place. Qargi, a communal building in which women were usually not permitted

Prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 1890s, every Inupiaq settlement had one or more of these ceremonial houses.