Historically yoik was also used as part of shamanistic healing rituals and was a means of achieving an altered state of consciousness . It was most likely therefore that yoik along with other pre-christian cultural elements and customs was banned as “sorcery” during the early 17th century. The Christian missionaries associated yoik with pre-christian heathen ceremonies and condemned them as “serving the Devil” . Death penalty as punishment for yoiking ended first at the beginning of the 18th century. However, “sorcery” and yoik as part of it was still prosecuted .