A wedding in Kalskag is very rare because not many people want to get married or they have no one to get married to. It is also very small but it seems big because practically the whole village of Upper and Lower Kalskag is at the church and reception. Everyone goes to the church and we have mass and then they get married or they get married and then have mass.

 

When people get married in Kalskag they get dressed up, the man wears a tux and the woman wears a white dress or a quspek. A quspek is like a dress or shirt that people use on special occasions or when we Yupik dance or pick berries. It is made by anyone and it is made of any type of cloth or material. It has long sleeves, a front pocket, sometimes a hood, and sometimes a dress part on the bottom.

 

After church is over there is a feed or a feast for the couple and everyone goes and eats. After the feed they have a reception or as we call it, a fiddle dance, and the couple has to dance even if they don’t know how. A feed is when the whole village goes and eats at someone’s house, the schools or town halls. There is a lot of food but mostly native foods such as aqutuk (Eskimo ice cream), assaliaq (fried bread), moose soup, fish soup, duck soup, dried fish, baked fish, and all kinds of other foods. The married couple has to dish up first, then their family, the elders and then the rest of the people.

 

A wedding is rare in Kalskag and if people do get married it is small but it seems big because the whole village is there. The couple gets dressed up and get married at the church and have mass and after church there is a feed for the couple. After the feed there is a reception but we call it a fiddle dance. The best thing I like about the weddings is when we leave the church and we get to throw rice or something at them.