Malruulutek kegginaquk akiqlirraqlutek; cimirtaarturluteng. Tuaten piureluteng, taungunguarturluteng aperluku kaigaluteng. Canguat tamakut apalluqureluki tua i kiaku amlleresqelluki.

People took turns presenting masks in pairs side by side. They used animals depicted on the masks as apallut [verses] in hopes that the animals would be plentiful in the summer.

--Justina Mike, St. Marys

Elders tell us that each dance song consists of both a chorus and two or three apallut (verses), which the masked dancers enacted. Masks appeared in pairs and trios because the songs they dramatized had two and three verses.
No single meaning underlies the paired masks. Some highlight opposites--ocean and land, day and night, male and female. Others emphasized similarities. Most masks in museums probably were once paired, but we no longer know their songs and stories and so cannot recognize their partners.