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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:-Theodore Roosevelt As I plan for the new initiatives on Village Science Applications and Careers and Living in Place that are being implemented in the Interior region this year, I can't help but reflect on past performances. Much of the success in 1996 was the result of a joint effort comprised of dedicated contributors from diverse fields touching on math and science. A sense of place and direction will surface under the flourishing guidance from elders, UAF staff, the seven participating school districts, Fairbanks Native Association, Denakkanaaga, Inc., Cultural Heritage and Education Institute and Gaalee'ya Camp. I would like to thank Paula and Lolly for their proficiency in putting together the Sharing Our Pathways newsletter, and I would like to invite any of the Interior members to submit an article in which you share some of your students' work in math, science, social studies or language arts. There are many exciting things going on. The Athabascan Regional Elders Council known as "The Spirit Of Our Ancestors Cultural Review Board" has nine board members. They are: Avis Sam, Northway; Trimble Gilbert, Arctic Village; Catherine Attla, Huslia; John Andrews, McGrath; Hannah Solomon, Ft. Yukon/Fairbanks; Bertha Moses, Allakaket; Rita Alexander, Minto/Fairbanks; David Salmon, Chalkyitsik; Kenneth Thomas Sr., Tanacross and James Dementi, Shageluk. Alternates are Fred Alexander-Minto/Fairbanks, and Johnson Moses, Allakaket. As Alaska RSI partners that represent the Interior, our first task is to maintain proper respect, mutual trust, loyalty, good people skills and an understanding of how the Native way of life is universal to all indigenous people. These are reflected in the project goals for the Interior region: * Provide governance within the Native community for the use and evolution of Native culture and education. * Empower the elders in their traditional role of transmitting the laws, customs, and values of Athabascan culture. * Make accessible the cultural resources that have been collected by disparate programs, identify the gaps in information and interview elders whose stories have never been recorded so that future developers of cultural materials can build on the base that already exists. * Equip village personnel with the highest-quality program models, information resources and the networking ability to share experiences and conceivable solutions to rural problems. * Promote unity among Native organizations. * Wage war on alcohol and drugs. * Provide elders with the means to express their concerns and to assume a leadership role in resolving issues of concern (education, social well being, elder care, family structure, etc.). * Involve the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Native organizations, school districts, youth programs and others in pursuing these goals. (From the Denakkanaaga, Inc. mission statements) Still in the works is the Athabascan regional strategic work plan. It is important for me to learn of all the Interior rural events, activities, career fairs, science fairs, Native council/corporation meetings with emphasis on education, teacher in-service days, cultural camps, AISES club/chapter meetings, Native language workshops, traditions week, curriculum workshops, medicinal plant workshops, students hunting and gathering ventures, Native science field trips, elders' council meetings and other gatherings that highlight cultural change. Such information is important to the Alaska RSI in order to implement a comprehensive and systemic approach to education reform. Project WILD Workshop Along with interested persons from Ella B. Vernetti School, Galena City School and sponsorship from the Alaska State Fish & Game education department, we facilitated a Project WILD workshop in Galena for a dozen local teachers last October. Two local elder women were invited to share their life experiences in two different cultures which they had to adapt to. For 16 hours we did hands-on cultural activities, teaching and sharing while safeguarding methods of peoples' lifestyles. Because of the success and quality time together, we decided to have another workshop at the Mokakit Conference entitled LISTEN.LEARN. LIVE.TEACH: Hands-on Designs for Integration of Indigenous and Western Scientific Knowledge. What happens when you take an international curriculum like Project WILD, mix it up with the Alaska Wildlife Curriculum, then flavor and season it with an understanding of traditional Native language, stories and the many seen and unseen elements of nature observed from your area? The result: an intriguing workshop where everyone gains from the total group knowledge. We will take the participants on a multimedia field trip along the nature trail, share images, stories and then go WILD firsthand with an activity. Handouts include adapted activities and poetry created from our experiences in Galena and Koyukuk. That is our version of integrating science and math with an Athabascan perspective. Watch and listen for upcoming events in the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and Rural Challenge Program. Thank you for your valuable time. | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:The AISES Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp will be recruiting 42 rural students, six to seven people for each of the following divisions: teachers, Native elders and college students as resident advisors. A contact person from each school district will distribute the applications to interested students. It is scheduled for July 14 through August 5, 1997. The latter part of the camp coincides with the Fourth Annual Association of Interior Native Educators Conference. It is our hope to have the AISES students show their science project achievements during that time and to be an integral part of the conference. Project WINGS has an article following mine. Now that program took off the ground right away. I think it was because of the very interesting components it concentrates on. It has a fall schedule of October 5-19, 1997. There will be two cultural geography camps in the summer months. The geographic area is the Minto flats with students from Minto. They will be researching place names through talking with their respective elders, parents and other stake holders of the community. Consultation members will be involved with curriculum development on compact disc with a guide book that would contain the Athabascan and English names for places, land forms, descriptive information for each name, stories and anecdotes from the elders about life and activities in the Minto Flats. Other Tidbits Students in Shageluk are interviewing students in New Hampshire on the internet who in turn are sharing with students in Delaware. Shageluk student's Iditarod race updates are a hit in New England. The most pleasurable time I've spent recently was listening to speakers for the Native history of the Fairbanks area before Creamer's Field days. Speakers were Howard Luke, Robert Charlie, Clara Johnson and Jim Kari. They shared information they've gathered from elders and research on the Chena Athabascan people and their historical contributions before Creamer's Field Dairy Days. The sponsors of the meeting were the Friends of Creamers. The meeting was also a training session for new volunteers. I think it pleased them very much when Jim Kari said their educational site was the first and only place that used Athabascan translations in identifying places. I will close on this high note. | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:I would like to share some thoughts expressed by Interior teachers and students this past year. First, I will include a few samples of poetry written by Galena teachers after a Project WILD field trip in minus 27 degree weather last October. Following is a short essay about elders written by a Galena City School fourth grader last April in response to stories about local weather patterns, subsistence foods, games and observations. Animal Poetry by Jenny Pelkola Didn't see you bird but I knew you were near How did I know, you ask? I know-because Since the beginning of time This has been your natural home What made you stay away On a beautiful day like today? Perhaps it was my intrusion On your beautiful homesite Or perhaps, you were just a flying about. Red Poll Reflection by Charlaine A. Siefert Blue sky Soaring undisturbed above my head Feathered ice crystals reflecting gold in winter air Alone The bird and I Caught in a circle of time Pause to reflect on Infinity He, with a red cap that matches my nose I, with a hunger that matches his song Red Poll Elders by Harold Warner I am writing about elders when they were kids. I am writing about myself. These are some things that the elders eat: moose, bear and rabbit. These are things that I eat: fish ice cream, chicken and fish. These are things that the elders did. They used to slide down the bank. They used to throw a ball back and forth over the roof. I slide down and cut wood for fun. I try to make a fish wheel. Now I am done writing about myself and the elders. Thank you for your valuable time. Happy trails. -Mike Marshall, fourth grade, Galena | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:After our recent Athabascan Unit Building workshop, the word "potluck" came up. As a Native person trying to gather resources that are usually stored in people's minds, I usually say "Come as you are!" when I invite local Native elders, parents, council members, etc. to our meetings. We never know what substance surfaces from the depths of each heart. For instance, at a village potluck with all kinds of different foods, we feel like we are leaving with substance in our bellies, mind and something for the soul. During the Christmas season I am thinking of garlands, either as a wreath or a woven chain of flowers and leaves to be worn on the head or used as decoration. In relating that word to my insatiable search of Native people's achievements and accomplishments I would like to use garland as a symbol of honor or special recognition for so many others who have remarkable collections of stories, poems, Native songs and dances, handicraft skills, Native ways of preserving tasteful treats and survival skills. Elders possess a special talent for passing on that knowledge in their respective communities with strengths we only hope will be passed on from generation to generation. Happy (snowshoeing) trails to you! Thank you for your time. | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:Our unit-building team has been working on integrating "Native Ways of Knowing" in a curriculum unit on snowshoes for grades 5-12. We are now looking for teachers to field test it, so please let me know if you are interested. There is so much happening! Sometimes, to rejuvenate my excitement, I read over prior issues of "Sharing Our Pathways" to get a better grasp on the whole picture. It helps me to recognize where rural Alaskan's needs are with respect to education, the environment and the economy. There are many interested groups who might stand to gain directly or indirectly by supporting community-based curriculum. Additionally, as I assess my role as coordinator from time to time, I realize I have another responsibility and that is to see the difference between "what is" and "what can or should be." Watch for further developments on the 1998 Athabascan Regional initiatives Native Ways of Knowing and ANCSA and the Subsistence Economy. I look forward to networking with everyone of you. Just let me know where I can be of assistance. Happy Trails! | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:Isn't it a thrill watching a little person's five senses become aware of the outdoor environment? I remember so many thrilling moments when I use to observe my children as toddlers walking around in the woods behind our Fairbanks' home. The questions they asked were not only cute and whimsical but also thought-provoking. Such as the time my daughter was looking up at the sky and saw a long white jet stream formed in a perfectly straight line. She asked, "Mom, how did that rope get up there?" When I used to take rural students out camping, the activities were open-ended and non-threatening to children who didn't know how to make a campfire, draw water, gather wood, cut fish, put up a tent, respect boundaries, plus other variations of certain activities. Often enough the students were responsive once they learned to focus on higher-level thinking skills along with their natural creativeness. Most cultures are familiar with the hard work involved with managing a fish camp. They also have a pretty good idea on which subsistence activities to teach children about traditional uses that nature has provided. The students learn fast on what a typical day is like. These kinds of questions with follow-up activities could usually end up as unique hands-on activities designed to help children question the world around them and to extend what they have learned to their daily life beyond their experience in camp. What is solar heat? Air? Wind? Water? Ask the children around your camp why people like the sun mostly in the summer? Ask them why a smokehouse has open rafters with tarpaulin flaps pulled aside? Why aren't flies around the smokehouse? Why are some swift water currents good and some not so good? HEY! Is this like science? Purpose of camp, location, partners or sponsors, fundraising, target audience, traditional teachers, health and safety instructors, and any other cooperative partners are the main "heart" of the camp experience and success. Coordination efforts are being made to hold science or traditional-based summer camps throughout Alaska between the months of May and July. Many of the annual camps have integrated the two different ways of life. Be a happy camper! May 5-9 Spirit of the Bechoraf Lake Science Camp in King Salmon* Contact: Angie Terrell-Wagner, Fish & Wildlife Service Coordinator, (907) 246-3339 or 246-4250. June 22-29 Ellamek Taringnaurvik The Western Alaska Natural Science Camp in Bethel* Contact: Lorrie Beck, Yukon Delta NWR Coordinator, (907) 543-3151. July Denaa Kkoykaa Hedokdeleen Denh means "Where Our Grandchildren Learn" in Tanana. First week is girls only. Second week is boys only. Third week is for the whole family. Focus is on fishcutting and language. Contact: Donna Folger, Tanana IRA, (907) 366-7160. 6-20 AISES camp at Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp Contact: Claudette Bradley-Kawagley, Interior-Aleutians Campus, (907) 474-5376. 29-24 Nulato Spirit Camp Contact: Sharon Demoski, Tribal Family Youth Service Coordinator, (907) 898-2329 Late July Galena Spiritual Cultural Camp Contact: Louden Village Council, (907) 656-1711. Ruby Spirit Camp Contact: Judy Kangas, TFYS Coordinator, (907) 468-4400 Mansfield Traditional Survival Camp Contact: Debbie Thomas, TFYS Coordinator, (907) 883-5024 August 1-10 The Round Mountain Science Camp in McGrath* Contact: Beverly Skinner, Innoko NWR Coordinator, (907) 524-3251 *Denotes sponsored and coordinated by a National Wildlife Refuge | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:Sometimes, when people who are not familiar with a person's background do an interview, they (unintentionally) take information out of context. However, if you double check your work, then it has a good chance of fitting to the source's background. Compare the two Elder interviews I submit here. There are ways to interpret them and not take them out of context. Try to figure out the process by using clues from the context of information on hand. One article is transcribed from a recorded interview with Jonathan David. Further knowledge I have of him not mentioned in the interview is that for years Jonathan has helped students, teachers and community members learn about the two worlds he lives in. He is very encouraging and an inspirational speaker too. A few projects he is very involved with are the AISES Native science fair & camps, Old Minto Culture Camp and the UAF Elder-in-residence program. The interview with Henry Titus was edited from my notes. I had asked his daughter to add whatever she remembered about growing up in camp as a way to encourage others who have moved away from rural villages. The next time I am told "I don't know anything," I will gently say, "Nonsense!" because what little she shared with me was like adding passwords to missing pieces. She corroborated my interview notes. Thank you, Dolly Edwin. Special thanks goes to Jonathan and Henry, with loving respect from me. Happy Trails. Henry Titus Happy Birthday Henry Titus! Henry turned 84 years old on April 10. He respectfully remains the oldest person in Ruby, Alaska. Originally from Kokrines which was once a booming little town about 30 miles up river from Ruby, Henry and his late wife Agnes raised their family as the last residents in the 1980s (he currently resides at the Tanana Tribal Elders Housing during winter months.) Numerous people see him as a friend who is fun and easy to talk with. One of the most important values in life I picked up from him, is to have fun while working hard and doing my personal best. The powers of play are often forgotten during work or in other things we do for our own sake or for the sake of others. Read further along and notice that play is not simply games like baseball, volley ball and hopscotch, but a matter of how to maintain life skills (Native science) and gripping the kind of resilience it took to live in the midst of tough times without pointing it out. Henry said the prime time of his life was being able to live out in the woods and having the ability to make various tools and other implements for subarctic subsistence living taught to him by his ancestors. The basic tools he used were handmade from various earthly elements. Henry's outdoor education was taught with simplicity and logic. For example, the trunks of big birch trees were used for two main reasons: moisture and straight grain. The natural curve from the base of a root was used for the bow and stern of a canoe. It was also used to make downhill skis. Henry's measuring tool was a long piece of string with knots tied into it. It had many uses such as building eight-foot freight sleds, canoes (see photo of canoe building in 1970 in Kokrines), smoke houses and fish racks or balers out of spruce or birch trees. It was very handy when he made snowshoes with accuracy according to his petite wife's height and weight. Even the little kids owned their own size snowshoes. In addition, he had a workbench staked into the ground on the bank at fish camp. For a fun exercise, Henry skied down the base of Kokrine hills. When he checked his trapline he noticed that fox liked to follow his ski tracks, so he set his snares nearby. He figured fox didn't follow sled tracks because of the dog scent so he never set snares close to sled trails. He used to "gee pole" with his dog team, that is using skis (like skijoring) between a team of eight working dogs and the freight sled. He use to hang onto a long pole that was fastened underneath the sled basket and just alongside a sled runner. This method was the best way to handle a big load. In those days, the sleds were big and heavy. They were especially heavy when he loaded them down with camp gear, wife and kids. In the 1950s he taught sled building to students for one month in Tanacross. He said kids from Ruby and Nulato went with him to Tanacross and that the people were real nice there. His father talked about how he rolled himself up inside of birch bark to keep warm in cold temperatures. It was also used as a repellant when mosquitoes were bad. Don't use spruce bark because it is sticky. His daughter Dolly Edwin, living in Fairbanks, shared some rich cultural activities with me. With fond memories of growing up in a remote village, she recalls how she and three other sisters helped their parents gather the clear kind of spruce pitch in a can. Her Dad melted it and spread the pitch when he did repair work on canoes. They collected duck and goose down for blankets and pillow fillers, lake grass for lining their boots, and birch bark to line ground pits that served as coolers or to keep things frozen a bit longer. Besides carrying dry fish or meat, they also carried geencodze as trail snacks (fried bear or moose fat similar to pork crackling.) A weather observation she believes to be true was when you see fresh mouse tracks in the snow it means it won't snow for very long. We hope you enjoyed the information we shared with you. (All this sounds like curriculum ideas-figure in the physics, mathematics, science and oral history and then run with it!) Jonathan David Jonathan David is a soft-spoken Athabascan Elder from Minto. The twinkle in his eyes gave him away before I took him serious whenever he was being witty. He is a fun person to be around. I found his sense of humor very enlightening and straight from the heart. He is one of the most willing and able-bodied men to work with students in camp settings. His years of experience in living off the land that he was born in, gives listeners a sense of being there when he talks of the old days. Please read the words he shared with me at a "Huff and Puff" basketball tournament in Fairbanks (he said he never played basketball, just baseball and handball the old time way.) For years I operated the generator in Minto, Alaska. In the village I use to collect rainwater from the roof. One time I got around 40 barrels of water. I put pipe all the way around from barrel to barrel. It ran into a big wooden tank. The school used it. In the winter I hauled ice from the lake close to my village. I learned about electricity before I left the village. The schoolteachers use to talk to me about it and they had an electric stove. I became good with my hands and I could think about what I was hearing real good so I went to school in Sitka. Some teachers work in Sitka for 13 years. Many times I just figured it out in my head and never forget. Once they told me something I never forget. Now I got bum head because I have too many things to think about. (He laughs.) Before that I worked on the Nenana boat dock in summer time for four years. I did everything on the barge. We hauled lots of groceries. Up to 300 barrels of fuel too. Before that I helped cut 1,000 cords of wood. The whole village cut it in two months. We had six different wood cutting areas. My oldest daughter, Anna Frank, was little that time. She even help cut brush and burn it after the wood was cut, so the Army caterpillar could haul all the wood out. All the steamboats use to buy the wood. We had it banked up in six places. All the way up and down the river from old village up to about twenty miles away from the village. Before that I worked construction for $125 a month. I changed railroad tracks between Nenana and Fairbanks. We put in higher tracks that use to have narrow gauge. Nowadays it's bigger gauge. Wintertime I go back to work at the school. I seen campfire, wood stove, oil stove, electric stove, gas stove and now microwave and I never cook. There are too many coffees and too many other things so I just drink tea. I don't know how I learned all those things. I had to use my head. Work on my own things. My own house when something is wrong. I fix it. Only when I can't fix it, I buy new one. That's after it's been there too long (He laughs and we seemed to have ended here, but there is more to his stories.) | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten "Neggaat denlebedze" (Koyukon name):There are many questions to ponder about the environment we live in. Here are two: How has the water changed the land? Why did our ancestors move from camp to camp? One way to try to find answers to such questions would be to look it up in a book. However, in reference to the question as to why our ancestors moved their camp, sometimes the answers are not in any textbook. There may not be anyone nearby who knows the answers either. Now what happens with your question? Where will you go in finding answers or ideas to understand what changes have occurred? As a way to explore these questions, let me convey a boat experience I recently had, with thoughts as to where relevant curriculum development could take place. My first journey from Huslia on down the Koyukuk River was the result of an invitation extended to me by Steven and Catherine Attla. It was a journey through time as well as geography-back to the world as it used to be for two generations ahead of me. Both Steven and Catherine are devoted and knowledgeable Elders from the Koyukon region. I was ecstatic over the thought of seeing the Dulbi River and Nicholia Slough where my tribal identity originates. The morning of take-off the sky was overcast with dark clouds, but it never did rain. During the boat ride, I listened to the sounds of the water splashing along side of the boat, remembering safety instructions from short stories told by my Elder teachers. In listening to stories of days gone by I tried to imagine the kind of stamina our ancestors sustained during hard times as part of their survival skills in wild country. In addition to looking at distances and the flatness and windiness of the river, I wondered, how did our people successfully cross the waterways by walking on foot and using poling boats, dog teams and later by diesel-powered houseboats or 25 HP kickers (outboard motors). Prior to leaving Fairbanks I bought topographic maps (revised in 1984) of the river. I was amazed to see and hear how the river has changed since my grandfather's youthful days of living in cabins that are no longer visible because of bank erosion. I marked on the map the vicinities of old gravesites long gone over the bank, fish campsites, old and new trapping cabins, shee fish spawning areas and where two meandering parts of the river carved right through the lowland providing two shortcuts. The Koyukuk River was unusually high, but without the swift currents of the Yukon River. Because of high water our trip was shortened by three hours. Usually sandbars take the most time to go around during low water levels. I also took along a camera, but left behind the tape recorder and camcorder because I knew the outboard motor noise would drown out any interviews. Therefore, I mostly relied on my memory when I was told historical facts about our Native people's endeavors just to survive. We stopped at Dulbi Village to refuel and look around at old-timer Joe Notti's fallen log cabin walls. He used to have a store there around fifty years ago. There was a well-used moose trail right next to the log cabin, so we didn't hang around too long. We saw plenty of wildlife, beaver, moose, wolf, porcupine, eagle and hawk. I took pictures of tracks along the bank made by wolverine, fox, martin, porcupine (they looked like baby footprints) and moose. Seeing a hawk or eagle is considered a good sign for the day. I offered a bit of food out the boat window to the majestic bird's spirit. At the confluence of the Koyukuk and Yukon River is the Koyukuk Bluff community cemetery. As our gift of thankfulness to ancestral spirits watching over our journey, we offered bits of food and tobacco overboard as we passed the cemetery. Meneelghaadz' (Koyukuk: From the Central Koyukon Junior Dictionary) This one trip offered opportunities to get involved in all kinds of learning that could be the basis for curriculum projects in the school. Some possibilities include a place-names project, oral traditional stories, family genealogy, geography, soil conservation, animal science, wildlife biology, forestry, fisheries, ANCSA, subsistence economy, language immersion camps, traditional naming ceremonies, spirit of giving & preparations for different types of potlatches, Native spirituality, regional cultural atlas, cultural literacy, how to read weather, Native knowledge and survival skills in a harsh environment and understanding time management without a wrist watch. This is not an exhaustive listing. Let your own experience and imagination speak for itself. Good luck. Thank you, Steven and Catherine Attla, for a wonderful trip and a lifetime of experience that words can not describe. I am still in awe of my short time on the Koyukuk River. Because of this I have a changed mind and way of thinking. A new sense of belonging has overtaken my whole being just through this first-hand experience in seeing the river of life that sustained my ancestors for generations. My cultural respect was enhanced as I listened silently to the river sounds. Steven and Catherine Attla, Koyukon Elders | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy VanHatten:So, just what is curriculum? As I see it, curriculum is the formal master plan for student education throughout a school district that: * Ensures consistent procedures for planning and evaluation in subject areas. * Guides teachers in developing lesson plans. * Utilizes relevant textbooks, traditional stories, etc. and respects cultural beliefs and values. * Integrates "Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools" and "Alaska Content Standards." * Is an ongoing process involving community, teaching staff, students and the school board. * Expands student academic needs, expectations and opportunities to excel and develop individual intelligence. I am not the only one who experiences complex challenges in working on curriculum. One reality I found helpful is to keep asking myself this question: What is an appropriate way to invite Elders into the schools that is respectful and valuable while staying focused within the framework of the curriculum? I saw a good example of this recently in the Iditarod Area School District's work on creating culturally-based units and holding curriculum workshops for their staff, including the presence of their own regional Elders. In addition, an eighth grade student of Nikolai, Dietrich Nikolai, won a trip to the National AISES science fair for his martin set science project at the Second Annual Native Science Fair at the Howard Luke Academy in Fairbanks. I had the opportunity of being in the Nikolai School when he returned from Fairbanks. The whole village is very proud of his accomplishment and the representation of their culture. I can still envision the smiling faces and rounds of applause from all of us there. I am sure the Iditarod Area School District newsletter will soon highlight him with honors. A total of 677 years of distinguished Athabascan Elders' life experiences was present at the Notaaleedinh Nets'edaat meeting in Galena November 16-19, 1998 (Third Annual Athabascan Regional Consortium and Elders Council Meeting.) Notaaleedinh Nets'edaal meeting in Galena, November, 1998. L-R back row: Fred Alexander, Johnson Moses, Sidney Huntington. L-R front row: Rita Alexander, Lillian Olin, Catherine Attla, Bertha Moses and Eliza Jones. Absent from the photo is Trimble Gilbert. Photo taken by Amy VanHatten. I have had the good fortune to be able to work with some dedicated Elders who have identified the following topics as areas in which they feel school curriculum needs to be focused (this is not an exclusive list): * Family values * Family clan/family tree * Place names curriculum * Native spirituality parallel to Christianity * Use common sense * Discipline * Work hard 5 * Proper protocol * Language: learn both sides * Student/cultural exchange * Respect "period of time" * Indian name is powerful * Respect private details in stories * CAUTION * Gifts for life * Cultural identity Cultural identity is best described as an identity that gives the individual a sense of a common past and of a shared destiny. What is Athabascan culture? How can we increase our traditional knowledge base, provide immersion programs, and work more closely in the future with Elders, teachers, curriculum specialists and language instructors? In search of answers to those questions, I would like to share what Sidney Huntington advised-we need to be careful of what we are trying to do and to use common sense before implementing the next round of rotating initiatives. He is concerned about education. First off, he says, we should ask ourselves "Where are we? Where have we been? Where are we going?" During the evenings the Elders got together with the Galena Charter School students for talking circles, a block and pulley exercise with Dan Solie, fiddling and Indian singing and dancing. The best summary of the regional meetings is this: the Athabascan Region just keeps on getting better and better. I wish to thank Galena City School for hosting our meeting, along with all the fantastic people who contributed: the local musicians and Elder musicians, the Project Education Charter School (PECS) and students, the Galena City School student general assembly, the Interior Campus Center, the Louden Tribal Council and all the other people in Galena who gave us a big warm reception. L-R Bart Mwarey, Project Education Charter School (PECS) principal; Aaron Tickett, tenth grade; Melanie Shockley, ninth grade; and Elder/author Howard Luke presenting his book to the PECS student representatives at the Galena City School general assembly. This is my own advice to myself: At times I feel overwhelmed by all that has taken place and the things that still need to take place. That's when I remind myself I am only one person and can only do a certain amount at any given time. So, I make my own incentives and try to avoid overload and not make all the decisions. Delegate! Be thankful, thankful, thankful and enjoy life while making a living for yourself. | |
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Athabascan Region by Kathy Swartz:Mapping Project This project is the beginning of a cultural atlas that will preserve the histories, stories and other information about the traditional lands of the Minto Athabascans. The project will create an interactive web-based map and CD-ROM of the Minto Flats area with Athabascan and English labels, links to stories, photos and audio clips. The map is being developed by Minto students based on information gathered with Minto Elders. The project is being coordinated by Bill Pfisterer and Paula Elmes is the ANKN graphic artist. In 1998 and 1999, Minto students traveled with Elders and project staff to different sites in the Minto Flats to record information. In 1998, there was a field trip to three historical sites: Cache, Graveyard and Four Cabins. During this trip the students were given a short course in photography and approximately 200 photos were taken. Students were taught interviewing techniques and how to use a tape recorder and microphone. In August 1999, there was another field trip by boat to Jack Hill #1 and #2 gravesites and the Goldstream cemetery with eight Minto Elders, eight Minto high school students and archeologist Carol Galvin. The trip focused on the identification of traditional subsistence and historic campsites and identification of old gravesites. During this school year, thirteen students have volunteered their time to compile the information that has been gathered and prepare an interactive website. Denali Foundation, "Denali on the Road," Snow Science Workshop In early 1999, Patty Craw of the Denali Foundation conducted a Snow Science Workshop in Minto. The workshop was made possible through the support and participation of local Elders, Deanna Couch, the junior high science and math teacher and 20 junior high students. The Snow Science Workshop was four days. The first two days of the workshop involved a combination of lecture and lab activities that provided students with background knowledge in Western science methods of studying snow and glaciers. Snow was introduced in the context of the hydrologic cycle, crystal formation and properties of snow. Students learned how to identify a variety of snow crystals and how to use aerial photographs, satellite images and topographic maps to observe glaciers. The third day took place at Ptarmigan Hill, approximately 20 miles east of Minto. Elders shared their knowledge with students for the first half of the day. The first activity they did together was to create a comfortable place to talk and eat by placing "greens" or spruce boughs on the snow in a circle. Then, two Elders showed the students how to make fire starter from dry spruce shavings and soon a fire was burning, snow was melted to make tea, snacks and stories were enjoyed by all. After spending time together in the circle, an Elder with the boys built an emergency shelter with spruce boughs while others showed the girls how to make ptarmigan snares. The second half of this day was focused on Western science methods of observing snow. Students collected measurements of density, depth, temperature, snow crystals and identified layers within the snowpack. During the final day, students made correlations between traditional knowledge learned from the Elders and the physical properties of snow as understood by Western science. During the workshop, students and Elders had a positive learning and teaching experience. Students were able to discover how certain traditional knowledge and Western science ideas coalesce. This shared knowledge was has been incorporated into the Snow Science curriculum to pass on to future students for years to come. Making Oral History Materials available in Minto The Oral History Program at UAF's Rasmuson Library is working on a project to locate, document, copy and annotate materials related to Minto and Lower Tanana Athabascans. The final products will include a complete and annotated list of material holdings at UAF. Copies of these materials will also be available at the Minto school with appropriate release agreements available. For audio and video recordings, the project has contracted with Minto residents and local language specialists to review the information. Bill Schneider oversees the project as curator of oral history and David Krupa, research associate, is the project director. Jarrod Decker, research technician, and Lissa Robertson, student assistant, are compiling, collating and annotating UAF materials. Ken Charlie and Richard Frank are working as independent contractors to review audio recordings. To date, the project has duplicated and begun annotation for the following: 250 historic photographs, 75 audio recordings, 6 video recordings, 120 journal articles, 350 newspaper articles, 125 audio recordings, 65 pieces of material culture, 40 artifacts from the University of Alaska Museum and 50 audio recordings from the James Kari collection. Project staff have made several trips to Minto to discuss the project with the Minto Village Council members and Elders. Additional trips are planned. The staff will provide a progress report to the community and seek new participants to help with review of the material. A photo album containing original photos will be left at the Minto Lodge with a log identifying people and places. The development of this annotated list will make it much easier for the public to access materials at UAF and in Minto. This project is a small step towards intellectual repatriation that is crucial, timely and may serve as a model for similar efforts throughout Alaska. Contact Information Cultural Heritage and Education Institute Robert Charlie P.O. Box 73030 Fairbanks, AK 99707 Phone (907) 451-0923 Fax (907) 451-0910 chei@mosquitonet.com http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/chei | |
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Athabascan Region by Linda M. Evans:by Linda M. Evans, ANCSA Curriculum Coordinator Greetings from the desk of Linda M. Evans, ANCSA Curriculum Coordinator. I was hired in August by Doyon Foundation and Alaska Native Foundation under a memorandum of agreement with AKRSI. My task is to finish the job that Beth Leonard started which was to create a database on Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act curriculum resources and produce a CD-ROM of the most useful resources for rural schools for educational purposes only. Another task is to gather resources on the subsistence way of life and to develop curriculum units on ANCSA and the subsistence way of life. I am originally from the village of Tanana. My parents are Horace and Harriet Roberts. I graduated from Copper Valley High School and received my elementary teaching degree from UAF in 1992. I taught a multi-grade classroom in Rampart for four years. Last year I taught preschool in Fort Yukon for the Yukon Flats School District. I am working on my master's degree in educational leadership. Just recently, my family has moved to Fairbanks after spending the summer fishing in Rampart. I would like to commend Beth Leonard on the superb job she has done on creating the ANCSA database. It was a tremendous job to gather all those resources and to review them to see which would be most useful for use on the CD-ROM. Another big thanks goes to Sean Topkok for his assistance in linking the database to the ANKN website. Now, the task I am currently working on is familiarizing myself with the database and its resources and copyright issues to utilize the resources on the CD-ROM and other educational purposes. If you know of any resources that you or others have developed for educational purposes with regard to ANCSA or subsistence way of life, please let me know. My phone number is (907) 474-5901; e-mail ftlme@uaf.edu; or mail to Linda M. Evans, ANKN, P.O. Box 756735, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6735. I look forward to hearing from you. | |
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Athabascan Region Summer Events by Amy Van Hatten:Put your dream of camping into a reality. Reach for that paper and pencil to make your list of things to bring out camping while you are keeping in mind how much room you will have in the boat, car or plane to carry all that stuff. First things first, ask who is planning to go. Okay, now second, think of the camping skills they would have to offer either as a good fish cutter, an operator of the net or fish wheel, a river navigator who could find a good "eddy" to use for the net, a crafts person who uses what nature has provided to use as tools, wood by-products, skin sewer, hunter and gatherer, user of medicinal plants or berries, a storyteller/historian who remembers the old days on how it use to be or how it became a popular campsite, who the ancestors were, one(s) who seem to "keep vigil over the site," the spirits of past generations, etc. Make a list of how much food will be needed and what is already provided by nature: fish, meat, ducks, etc. Check for what staples are in the house or at your neighbor's. (Leave behind the junk food, ear phones with CD players and the like.) The list is endless and each of us have different needs. After all, the goal is for everyone to have a relaxed and a very memorable time at camp. I know! Think of what you will need in terms of the ABCs of camping, for example, A is for ax, B is for boat, * is for cutting knives, D is for drying racks and F is for fun! Camping out in Alaska has a rich history. It was a way of survival. A way of life. It was our ancestor's traverse ways that made this country what it is today. Camping was born out of the traditions of the past. Enjoy that time together! | |
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Athabascan Region: 2002 Alaska Indigenous People's Academy by Linda Evan:Our teachers were Trimble Gilbert, Maggie Roberts, Florence Newman and Elder-in-training, Kenneth Frank. They were natural teachers in their traditional environment. Each has so much traditional knowledge and they were happy to share. The theme for the camp was caribou. We learned about the caribou and traditional subsistence living in this area. Some of the topics covered included: caribou skins, dry meat bags, dog packs, babiche, tools made from the lower leg of the caribou, games made from the caribou knuckles and hooves, snowshoe lacing using babiche, building a fish trap with willows, fishing with a net, cutting and drying whitefish, sucker, pike, and lush, traditional cooking over the campfire, some Gwich'in games, setting snares made with babiche, traditional uses of plants and roots in the area and some traditional stories told by the Elders. The participants made a list of the learning activities the group participated in and came up with a total of fifty-nine different activities in that short period of time. Besides working on caribou skins, the only other part of the caribou we worked with was the lower leg, including the hoof. All the tools and games we made came from that one part of the caribou. It was amazing how much knowledge the Elders have. Imagine what we could have done with a whole caribou if our camp lasted two or three weeks! During the time we spent at camp learning from the Elders, some of the traditional values taught were: * take care of yourself * use the resources wisely * don't be wasteful * share with others * work cooperatively with others-teamwork * humor Staying at camp and working with the Elders helped me realize how intelligent our ancestors were to use the natural resources of the land to survive. Now I am a part of that learning process and have the responsibility to pass my knowledge on to our young people. Part of the process of attending the Elders' Academy is to develop curriculum units from the indigenous knowledge learned from the Elders. I am proud of the teachers and their hard work. Project AIPA will have eight curriculum units to implement in the schools by the end of October: * Living in the Chandalar Countryby Kathleen Meckel (language arts and social studies unit for level 2, grades 3-5) * Huslia Plant Project by Gertie Esmailka (integrated unit on local plants for level 2, grades 3-5) * Caribouby Twila Strom (integrated unit on caribou for level 2, grades 3-5) * We are the Gwich'in by Debra VanDyke (language arts and social studies unit for level 4, grades 9-12) * Appreciating Caribou: Vadzaih Gwich'in Native Games by Mary Fields and Karen Dullen (integrated unit on the traditional uses of caribou by the Gwich'in people for level 2, grades 3-5 and level 3, grades 6-8) * Gwich'in Games by Cora Maguire (language arts and social studies unit on games for level 3, grades 6-8) * Subsistence Fishing on the Chandalar by Linda Evans (integrated unit using a traditional story for level 1, grades K-2) The resource materials developed from the camp experience will include: * a resource book with pictures of the Arctic Village Camp by Carol Lee Gho, * a handbook for setting up a cultural camp by Linda Green and Virginia Ned, * a poster showing the uses of caribou and * a poster showing the seasonal activities in the Gwich'in area. I encourage school districts, administrators, school boards and local schools to get involved in making a camp experience available for your students and teachers. The experience will enhance your educational program immensely and make education fun for everyone involved. | |
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Athabascan Region: A Mini-Archeological Field School and a Place-Names Field Trip:This year, the Cultural Heritage and Education Institute (CHEI), a partner in the Athabascan Region of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, is involved in several different activities to enhance educational opportunities for the youth in Minto and foster intergenerational exchange of information. Field School This summer, with support from the Alaska Humanities Forum, cooperation from the Minto Village Council and the volunteer assistance of archeologist Carol Gelvin-Reymiller, CHEI implemented a mini-archeological field school for 17 youth in Minto during August of 2000. This field school took place at the "North Fork East Point" site near the village of Minto, which has been used for viewing animals and where stone artifacts have been found in the past. The mini-field school lasted about four days and included discussions with the students on the field of archeology, the tools used in an excavation, different map views, soil profiles, site layout and surveying and work on troweling, screening methods, observations and other techniques of archeological field work. The students recovered some bone and one artifact-a fragment of a groundstone blade (in four pieces). Most of the participants were under the age of 15 and although they were attentive and persistent, the inclusion of field assistants would have been useful with this young group. Carol Gelvin-Reymiller noted that "The kids were really good and careful with the equipment. They were good workers." Overall the students and the Minto community members seemed very interested in the work and learning about their past and archeology. CHEI hopes to continue to expand this activity as part of the cultural atlas work. Field Trip On a bright sunny fall afternoon near the Fourteen-Mile area along the Tolovana River, a group of Minto Elders, youth, CHEI staff and other participants stopped to make tea and have lunch during the annual cultural Aatlas field trip. The Elders demonstrated how they look for firewood, start a fire with birch bark, cut spruce boughs for sitting and make Indian fry bread. Stories were told by the Elders about hunting in this area and the Minto youth took photos of the place and the other participants. Kraig Berg, a Minto teacher, also participated in the field trip. For two days, the group visited other sites along the Tolovana River including Twenty-Mile Hill, Three-Mile Slough, the old Tolovana Roadhouse and Monty Creek Cabin. The stories and photos taken during this trip will be used during the school year as a curriculum resource for the cultural atlas project. For the past three years, with Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative support, CHEI and the Minto School have supported the development of a curriculum resource to record the indigenous place names of traditional and contemporary land sites used by the people of the Minto Flats. A web site with a map of Minto Flats was created and during the school year the students learned how to create web pages that describe specific sites or the Athabascan culture using text, photos, images, and multi-media. A mapping project curriculum document has been prepared by Bill Pfisterer, Linda Pfisterer and Paula Elmes that describes the four segments of this project. These include: (a) bringing the community and school together to plan the field trip, (b) gathering information through field trips, (c) using technology including web page design for putting together the information and (d) expansion of illustration skills through the visual arts to illustrate events and activities that cannot be photographed. This academic year, in addition to AKRSI, the initiative has received support from the CIRI Heritage Foundation and the AOL Foundation Interactive Education Initiative. Field trip participants in front of the old Tolovana Roadhouse. Three participants working on a grid. | |
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Athabascan Region: Alaska Indigenous Peoples Academy by Victoria Hildebrand:Project Alaska Indigenous Peoples Academy (AIPA) is nearing the end of its first fiscal year in early June and many objectives have been accomplished. The project's focus is twofold. One is to develop Athabascan curriculum aligned with state and cultural standards and the other is to train in-service teachers new to the rural and urban schools of the Interior. To date, the AIPA staff has been very busy working towards the project's goals. Although the staff started working late into the grant, they have met many objectives for the first year. One of the activities has been to network with interested staff and educational agencies. To date we have made new contacts with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Anchorage, Tanana Chiefs Conference, the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, the First Alaskans Foundation, the National Indian Education Association and the Native Hawaiian Education Council just to name a few. Another activity that turned out to be a success included a summit that was held on January 15-17, 2001. The focus of this summit was to discuss issues and concerns that are important to Alaska Native education and to develop action plans for the objectives in Project AIPA. The plans from this summit are now in progress. The plans for the 2001 Alaska Indigenous Peoples' Academy are underway and brochures for interested attendees will be mailed out soon. Our curriculum specialist is very busy developing the curriculum and we look forward to its future implementation. In the coming fiscal year, Project AIPA will focus on teacher training and continued curriculum development. | |
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Athabascan Region: An Elder Interview With Howard Luke:Sarah McConnell interviewed Howard Luke on April 3, 2002. Below is an excerpt from that interview. Transcription by Jeannie Creamer Dalton Sarah: It is a sunny April 3, 2002 and Howard, you wanted to talk about respect? Howard: Yeah I like to talk about respect because we're losing it so fast right now it's terrible. Myself I don't care about it because I'm old enough now. The biggest thing right now is I want my young generation to pay attention about respect because down the road they will find out but it will be too late by then. Respect is the biggest problem: respect is something that you really got to take care of yourself by being clean and when you're skinning moose or cutting fish. Never try to get bloody, get blood on your clothes or nothing. Many years ago I use to hunt with a lot of old people; my mother used to tell me to go out with them old people so I used to go with them. They give us some meat and stuff. I lost my dad when I was really young so it was just my mother until she got married, married again. So I went out with a lot of old people and I seen them how they do it 'cause my mother say you pay attention now you see how they do it; you see they don't try to get bloody and the first thing they do is clean all the tripe-they clean all the guts-they never throw anything away. The main thing they do right away is they roast meat. I hunt caribou, there used to be a lot of caribou in Nenana at one time way back in 1934, somewhere around there anyway. I used to go out with them, I seen how they do it, they clean the tripe, they clean it good. They wash it, they use a little water, then they turn it inside out; they put all their stuff in there. They put the kidneys, and heart, and all the stuff they can put in there. They tie it-they put a stick through it-then you can just carry it on your hand. That little bag would hold all that. So I learn all that. This is what I want to teach the kids how to do things because if we don't show respect, our animals are going to disappear. That's what is happening right now, we don't respect, that our fish is disappearing. People, when they were fishing, all they want is eggs, the roe, they just take the roe, and just throw the fish out. That's not respect. That's what I mean, right now, if you were mistreated, you wouldn't go back there, would you? Well, that's the same thing with the animals and the fish and our ducks and everything, you see. Like I'm saying about the airboats, that they go out in the spring, they run over the eggs and all young ones, they run over them. We don't take care of our animals. We just don't care and that's the reason all our animals are disappearing, especially our ducks. Every year it's getting lesser and lesser. And that's what I mean. They're not coming back. I mean, if I was mistreated, I'm not going to go back too. Well it's the same way with animals. When I was brought up that's what they tell me about respect. Right now, just like, you bring moose head in house and there's a bunch of kids in house and the kids look at that moose head, the eye, and they play with that. They play with that, and that was against our nature. We always covered up because if you make fun of that animal, they tell each other, just like humans, same thing, humans that are dead. Their spirit is here and they tell each other and that's what our people used to tell us-not only my mother, but my uncle, people I used to hunt with. People always used to tell us that if you are skinning moose or skinning caribou you always try to stay away from the blood. Don't try to cut the veins they say. When you're skinning moose, you always take the brisket out first. Take the brisket, then you feel your way, you get by the throat, then you take the whole thing, the throat, you just pull it right out. The whole thing will just come right out. That's our way of doing it. That's the reason a lot of people used to lose their luck. But now, right now, we don't respect. They throw the head away. There is a lot of good stuff on that head there. This is what I want to teach the kids how to do things because if we don't show respect, our animals are going to disappear. When I went to New Zealand, them people down there, when they kill a cow, when they're going to have something going on, a potlatch, or something like that, they throw the head away. So when I went down there, I told them, gee, man, I said, there's a lot of good meat on this stuff. When we kill a moose, we never throw it away, we take the tongue, we dice it up, all the cheek, we dice it up and make a good pot of stew. So I did that. I taught them something and they started doing it. So that way we work with each other. We share with one another. That's my biggest thing right now is that I want to share with people. Especially young people. My big thing right now, when I'm laying down here, I think about these things that, gee my uncle, all my old people I used to go out hunting. I used to go out hunting with big Albert and John Silas and lot of old people down in Nenana. I use to go out with them, a big run of caribou. So I go out hunting with them because they give me some meat when I go out. When I go with them, they give us ribs or something like that. Even the little thing, you were so thankful for it. Right today, I'm so thankful right today, that what I went through, what my Mom taught me and the other people taught me-how to respect, take care of your things and always when you kill moose, they always say, you turn the head towards home and that way, the next moose you kill will be closer to your house, they said. So all them things, it make me think about it. But right now, we're going the other way, we're not going the right way. We always trying to make that cut off, just like we're going against nature. We want to get done with it right away. Just like if we go visit or something like that, we look at the time, well I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. And old people figure that oh no, that fellow he thinks I got nothing to say. We share with one another. That's my biggest thing right now is that I want to share with people. Especially young people. That's the reason why right now a lot of our people doesn't want to share with people because they do that and I tell my young people right now that that's not the way to act because people watch how you work-if you show respect. | |
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Athabascan Region: Cultural Orientation Program for New Teachers by Linda Green:* Work with community through local mentoring, * Identify cultural boundaries in those school districts and * Provide a culturally appropriate and supportive educational environment for all the students. Funding from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development will be used to provide seminars on an optional basis for new teachers, to be followed by a professional development course in collaboration with TCC's Interior Athabascan Tribal College. Alaska Native teachers and Elders from each community will be recruited to mentor new staff in their district in accordance with the new Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Orientation Programs. The seminars will include the following: Communicating Across Cultures (designated staff from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network/Lead Teacher and Interior Athabascan Tribal College) * Traditions, Language and Learning (Local Elders) * History of Education in Alaska * Utilizing resources such as the cultural standards and Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Orientation Programs The follow-up course will provide an introduction to the following: * Knowledge of local Alaska Native cultural practices and traditions * Value and significance of Elders as teachers. How to work with Elders * Curricular and instructional strategies that focus on place-based education and experiential learning * The role of indigenous languages, oral tradition and story telling * Native ways of knowing * Using technology in a culturally-appropriate way * Culturally-appropriate curriculum resources * Cultural standards * Guidelines for Respecting Cultural Knowledge * Native Educator Associations and other significant Native organizations. Mentors and Elders will utilize the Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Orientation Program to better orient the new teachers into school districts and communities. Mentors will meet with the new teachers weekly and will be responsible for the local orientation to the community as stated in the guidelines. Elders will meet with the new teacher at least weekly to clarify cultural questions and offer assistance. Please feel free to contact Linda Green at (907) 474-5814 or Reva Shircel at (907) 452-8251 ext. 3185. Letters of inquiries can be mailed to: Linda Green P.O. Box 756730 Fairbanks, AK 99775-6730 linda@mail.ankn.uaf.edu or to Reva Shircel Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc. Education Department 122 First Avenue, Suite 600 Fairbanks, AK 99701 | |
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Athabascan Region: Deg Xiq'l Xinatr'Iditl'ghuzr (Let's speak Deg Xinag) by Beth Leonard:The first three days of the gathering focused on teaching and learning the Deg Xinag language using immersion sets. We are very grateful to our Elder teachers Hannah Maillelle, James Dementi, Katherine Hamilton, Mary John, Agnes John, Edna Deacon and Mary Deacon. Language learners who participated included adults and high school students from Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Lime Village. On the first day, Betty Petruska, Mary Ellen Kimball and Ray Collins led an immersion workshop modeling a number of different activities (using Upper Kuskokwim) which were then practiced using Deg Xinag. Other activities during the three days included preparing breakfast and lunch, checking a fishnet and making fish ice cream. During these activities, speakers were encouraged to model and give directions using only Deg Xinag (which worked very well!) George Holly led a song and storytelling workshop for the high school students, teaching them a Deg Xinag welcoming song he had composed with several Elder speakers. Dogidinh! (thank you) to Angela Bain of the Iditarod School District for handling all the logistics and making most of the travel arrangements for this event. Special thanks to Evelyn Esmailka, principal of the Innoko River School for allowing use of the school facilities and Agnes and Allen John for use of their fish camp. Elder Marie Dementoff demonstrates caribou tufting to student Kelly Workman. Students pack moose meat up the bank to camp. | |
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Athabascan Region: Elder Highlight: Grandma Lillian Olin:Grandma Lillian Olin was interviewed by Negaltdenlebedze Amy Van Hatten and featured as our Elder Highlight in Sharing Our Pathways, Volume 5, Issue 3. This is a continuation of that interview. Amy: What does it mean for a Native person to have self-determination? Grandma Olin: Well, self-determination is how well you present yourself and the things you do, no matter where you go-out into the wilderness, out into the public, when you're applying for a job-it all takes self-determination. And this comes from the family values that we were taught as children. Always respect, and do your best. Don't say "I can't do it", but always just believe within yourself that you could do it, and do it just as well as anybody else. That's self-determination. And I think I've always believed in that because it came from being neat as possible and presentable, which is important, because the first impression is always an everlasting thing. That's what we were taught. I always did my best, to the best of my knowledge in doing things. I saw my mom and my dad and how other families spoke to their children-if we got out of line, we were corrected. There is a lot you observed while you were growing up and it kinda sticks with you. Back in those days, an elderly person would say, "Koy come here, sit down right here, I want to talk to you." She'd say, "What I'm gonna say to you is, I'm not gonna be scolding you, but I want to talk to you, because I want you to be a good person and always be presentable," and so they would give us advice, which was very important. To this day, I always value that, especially after I got married and Grandma reinforced what had been said to me. Not only Grandma, but also other members of the elderly people came and commented how well I presented myself and how well I took care of my family. And so it made me feel good and just thinking, you know, I must be doing something right. It gives you a great pride in being yourself and showing how well you are doing to other people. So that's a very important thing, and when I was teaching, that's one thing I really impressed on students-how our elderly people used to talk to us, speak to us, out of kindness and loving and caring. Amy: Did they speak in the Native language or in English? Grandma Olin: In their Native language and when they're sitting with us and talking to us, it's a broken language, you know, broken English, but you understood them because when they're talking to you, they're making motions, expressing their thoughts. They're talking with their hands as well as their mind and their mouth. So it had a lot of meaning and much loving and caring that was going on. When you listen, regardless of who you are, they'd say, "Koy, you have a good mind." You don't say, "Ah, that's old fashioned! That's a long time ago." The elderly said, "You have a good mind and you're going to do well." How did they know that and how did they predict it? I often wonder about it. I think that's where the family values come. I try to teach it to a lot of the kids and a lot of the kids really look up to me and say, "Hi Grandma, how are you doing today? Is there anything you want us to do?" So I must have done something good to reach out to those kids. They come and give me a hug, which is very, very touching. I say "Koy, just keep on being who you are, you'll go a long ways." Lot of times, that's what was said to me. So people were reaching out, and now I'm trying to do the very same thing, and some kids say, "Thank you, grandma, for talking to us." I tell the kids "Anytime you want to talk and visit, just come." I'm always home, I'm always available. It is always good. Amy: I have seen visitors pitch in and help do whatever chores you are engaged in, like in the smokehouse. Grandma Olin: They're just willing to help and learn. When you make something, like I'm sewing and making something, there's always the question, "How did you do that?" Where did you get your thoughts? How did it come to you?" And I said, "Well, while I was sitting I am a curious person and always searching, looking at things, like visiting an elderly person. Don't touch anything, but just look, look and see how all their working items are always stacked and clean in one spot. Nothing is out of order. Their working space is clean. The area is all clean and they just take pride in what they're doing and are thankful for the things they get. They do not let things fall on the ground where people walk, and that's a sacred thing-a very, very sacred thing. That's part of growing up." The times I had gone to the Lower 48 and talked with the different people and we got to talking about values, the family and the tradition, the culture and they'd say, "Well, our culture is very sane." You know, it was more so when we were children, but nowadays people have gotten very careless in how they do things, because the values are not being taught. They're trying to pass it on to the younger generation and they say they will keep on trying. They'll never give up. Amy: How did you hang on to your language? Grandma Olin: Well as a child, I don't remember ever speaking the language, but when I heard children speaking their own language at the boarding school, I just wished I had learned. When I came home I learned the language by listening. They'd be talking and laughing and I just kept listening and I wondered what they were saying. When there were some words I didn't know the meaning to, I repeated that word over and over, until I got it fluently. And then I'd ask my sister, "What does this mean?" She just found it so funny that I didn't say the word right and then I said "Well, sister, what does it mean?", and then she would explain it to me. Then it fulfilled my curiosity. But I was partial for another reason-I always liked to listen to them because you learned when you were visiting with them how they sew, how they're working, how they're cutting fish, just doing things. My step mom was bilingual. She spoke to us in the Native language and we understood her and what she was doing. After I moved back to Galena, there was Grandma Lisby, Grandma Eva, Grandma Lucy, Grandpa Bob-all the elderly people- and my aunties. They all spoke fluently; they were my teachers. Just listen carefully and listen to the word, how it's pronounced. And when you're alone, just repeat it over and over. See if you got it, you got it good. And when you get with someone when you're talking, and it just doesn't come out as plain, don't worry about it. People never laugh at you or make fun of you. Some of the girls that were at Holy Cross going to school, they came back and they didn't know how to talk. but now they're learning to speak the language. It's true, like they say, it's never too late to learn. Amy: Do you see anything missing today that would help people feel more tied to the land and help young people to find balance between the two worlds? Grandma Olin: It all depends on the parents. I see a lot of the children that's carrying on as the grandparents did-the values, traditions, self-determination. Then there's some that just go from day to day and I figure these are the children that were not really being taught or spoken to about the values and self-determination. Lot of times I blame the TV. A parent has to be really stern. It takes the people in the community to work together and set up goals and work towards it. Unity is a very powerful word. Try to express it and carry it out. That's the most valuable thing. In the spring every year, the younger children have a Grandparent's Day, the Elderly's Day where they make a gift for us and write a story. They interview us and then they write a story. With that type of thing, that's where the germination of the values comes in. Baasee' | |
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