This is part of the ANKN Logo This is part of the ANKN Banner
This is part of the ANKN Logo This is part of the ANKN Banner Home Page About ANKN Publications Academic Programs Curriculum Resources Calendar of Events Announcements Site Index This is part of the ANKN Banner
This is part of the ANKN Logo This is part of the ANKN Banner This is part of the ANKN Banner
This is part of the ANKN Logo This is part of the ANKN Banner This is part of the ANKN Banner
Native Pathways to Education
Alaska Native Cultural Resources
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Indigenous Education Worldwide
 

Yup'ik RavenMarshall Cultural Atlas

This collection of student work is from Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available for educational use only.

 

 

 

 

A Broken HomeA Broken Home

A Broken Home

 

Our home looks beautiful and happy from the outside, but what lies within is a terrible and sad sight. Some of my friends at work say I have the perfect family and call my home a kingdom. Well, if they want it, they can have it. I don't think I can live with all this violence, and I hate seeing my children hit by their father. Many of the people I have told, about my abusive husband, Dusty, have commiserated and said that they felt my pain. But maybe they should come and stay here for a week and see just how much pain there really is.

"Grace can you please get me some dinner? I'm starving in here!" Dusty's shouting rudely interrupted a great daydream I was having about taking a vacation on a warm tropical island, alone, of course. Right when my dream was starting to make me feel good I was pulled back into the gloomy reality of my life. Nothing could have made me more angry. But I couldn't show it, at least not while Dusty was around.

"Yes sir," I mumbled as I made myself get out of the soft, comfortable recliner in our living room. I stood there for a minute, a part of me longing to sit down again on the chair and get back to my daydream, and the other half of me telling myself to get my behind in the kitchen and kiss my master's feet before the fists started flying.

"Grace, you earless twit, didn't you hear what I just said? Or do I have to go in there and pound it into your thick skull? Come in here and fix me some dinner before I go in there and fix your face!" Dusty's voice had that certain tone I recognized all to well, the tone that he had right before he started beating on me. That's when I looked up and realized he was standing in the doorway with a look of rage on his face. At this moment, I swear to God, all hell broke loose.

"Why do you always make me do this to you Gracie? You drive me to this, you're the reason I hit you and your obnoxious little offsprings. When are you going to realize that if you just listen to me your life would be a whole lot easier."

"Stop hitting me Dusty! Please!"

"If I don't do this, you'll never learn!"

The pain was agonizing. He hit me in the back, kicked my legs, punched my chest and arms and pulled me by the hair into the kitchen. Then he started cursing and throwing food at me and told me to start cooking. Claude, my oldest child, came downstairs with his sister, Jenine, to see what all the commotion was about. As soon as Dusty saw Claude he started beating on him. His screams were echoing in my ears. Before I knew it, I was fumbling around in the kitchen drawers looking for something. "Ah, this will do," I thought, grabbing a carving knife off the counter. When I turned around I saw Dusty had started pounding on Jenine. I felt my anger seething inside me, bubbling over. I'd never felt this way before. Then I exploded and stabbed Dusty again and again like he was a wild animal. Claude finally grabbed me and threw me to the floor. I looked at what I'd done and I felt an odd sense of relief.

"Boy, have I made a mess," I said with a cool calm voice, almost as though I hadn't realized what I'd done. But I had. I knew I'd just gotten rid of my family's biggest fear. And that made me feel good! Even though the cops were going to arrest me for what I'd done, I knew there would be enough evidence to prove that all I was doing was defending us. We would be able to show them the bruises on our bodies and testify that he had always beaten us. But all that matters now is that we're happy.

By Charlotte Alstrom

 

 

A Broken Home

- Charlotte Alstrom

Dangerous Relationships

- Robert Pitka

My Cousin's Lesson

- Jack George

My Drunk Parents

- John Tikiun

Problems

- Garrett Evan

A Rough Night

- Jonathan Boots

A Life of Violence

- Fred Alstrom

Losing My Daughter

- Tanya Peter

Beaten Today?

- Cheryl Hunter

Violent Kid

- Mary Jane Shorty

 

My name is Kerry and I have
AIDS
(Now I'm dead!)

 

 

 

 

 

Going, Going Gone!
Man and the
Environment

 

Christmastime Tales
Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1996
Christmastime Tales II
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1998
Christmastime Tales III
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 2000
Summer Time Tails 1992 Summertime Tails II 1993 Summertime Tails III
Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995 Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996 Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997
Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999 Signs of the Times November 1996 Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations
Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out, the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993 Yupik Gourmet - A Book of Recipes  
M&M Monthly    
Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997 Happy Easter! March/April 1998 Merry Christmas December Edition 1997
Happy Valentine’s Day! February Edition 1998 Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000 Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997
Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon Bay Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981
The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska Poems of Hooper Bay Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students)
Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997 People in Our Community
Buildings and Personalities of Marshall Marshall Village PROFILE Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A Glimpse of the Past’
Raven’s Stories Spring 1995 Bird Stories from Scammon Bay The Sea Around Us
Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the Weather Spring 1996 Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November, 1998 Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993
Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming and the future November, 1997 Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring, 1992

 

 
 

Go to University of AlaskaThe University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, educational institution, and provider is a part of the University of Alaska system. Learn more about UA's notice of nondiscrimination.

 


Alaska Native Knowledge Network
University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 756730
Fairbanks  AK 99775-6730
Phone (907) 474.1902
Fax (907) 474.1957
Questions or comments?
Contact
ANKN
Last modified August 24, 2006