The stories that previous generations of Yup'ik heard in the qasgi and assimilated as part of a life spent hunting, travelling, dancing, socializing, preparing food, repairing tools, and surviving from one season to the next. Yup'ik oral stories ("qulirat" and "qanemcit") of the storytellers ("qulirarta") were embedded in many social functions of the society. Storyknifing ("yaaruilta" literally "let's go story knife!") stories a traditional and still common activity of young girls and are told by children of all ages in the Yup'ik lands. These stories are illustrated by figures sketched on mud or snow with a ceremonial knife, known as story knife or story telling knife ("yaaruin, saaruin, ateknguin, quliranguarrsuun" in Yup'ik, "qucgutaq" in Cup'ik, "igaruarun" in Cup'ig). Story knives made of wood ("equaq" is wooden story knife) ivory or bone ("cirunqaaraq" is antler story knife). In the Yup'ik storytelling tradition, an important aspect of traditional stories is that each listener can construct his or her own meaning from the same storytelling.