Negakfok is the Yup'ik spirit of the north wind, the being who loves cold and stormy weather. Because winds governed the fortunes and safety of hunters crossing repetitive expanses of land and sea, the wind directions were treated as powers to be propitiated, and Negakfok was among those honored in the great masked ceremonies held after freeze-up. Masks made in his likeness, several of which reached museum collections in the early twentieth century, are marked with white spots for snowflakes and hung with wooden danglers that clattered to give the north wind a voice. Danced with accompanying songs, such masks were a form of prayer, calling on the spirit for kindly treatment and safe journeys.