NOTE: Issues range from 1996–2006. Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated. For current information, please contact the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 907-474-1902.
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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4 |
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Iñupiaq Region by Elmer Jackson:It is time for Elders, teachers and parents to guide and help students plan and organize their science fair projects. The Second Annual Native Science Fair will be sponsored by the NWABSD in November, 1998. Welcome again MOA partners: the Alaska Department of Education, Peggy Cowan and the Alaska Science Consortium, Nanci Spear, who are continuing work in curriculum standards and assessment. The North Slope Tribal College Consortium will be sponsored by Ilisagvik College. MOA partners, Kawerak, Inc., NWABSD and the Nome City School District, will participate in the Alaska Tribal Consortium to begin the planning process for the development of a Tribal College system in Alaska. Kawerak Inc., will prepare a higher education needs assessment for the Bering Straits region. The Bering Strait School District will work with the St. Lawrence Island Yup'ik Academy of Elders with a focus on curriculum development. The NWABSD will host a district-wide Academy of Elders and Teachers in a Subsistence Curriculum workshop. In this workshop, lesson units will be created for teachers. These units will reflect the subsistence practices of the Iñupiat people in the Kobuk River region. The knowledge gained and the way of teaching will be the focus on the development of these units. The Subsistence Curriculum workshop will be held in Kotzebue, October, 1998. MOA partners NSBSD, Nome City School District and BSSD will participate. Rachel Craig of the NWABSD will be working on a genealogy project. A workshop for bilingual teachers, focusing on "A Family Tree Gathering" will be held in October in Kotzebue. Reminding parents, teachers and students that the Second Annual Native Science Fair will be held in Kotzebue, November 1998. This is in association with the activities of the districts' American Indian Science and Engineering Society high school chapters. Students from schools in the Iñupiaq region will enter their science fair projects. Grand winners will participate in the nationals. Grand winners from the nationals will compete in the International Science Fair, 1999. Both locations are yet to be announced. Student participants have the opportunity to receive scholarship monies for future college careers. Welcome Iñupiat region MOA participants in the implementation of AKRSI goals. Welcome, also, to Frank Hill, new co-director for the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. Thank you Dorothy M. Larson for your guidance and direction. Taikuu! | |
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MAI KA PAE 'AINA O HAWAI'I, IA 'OUKOU A PAU, ALOHA KAKOU!:From the archipelago of Hawai'i, to all of you, greetings! Please join us for the 5th triennial World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education to be held in Hilo, Hawai'i from August 1-7, 1999. Na Po'e Hawai'i, the indigenous people of Hawai'i, invite you to participate in this unique assembly, dedicated to learning by traditional methods and stimulating discussions. Workshops and discussions are being planned around the Island of Hawai'i so you can meet our people and share in our rich history and perspective. E komo mai, come and be a part of this memorable event. Conference registration will be limited to 5000 delegates Contacts Phone: (808) 934-7722 Fax: (808) 969-7932 Web Address: http:// admin.hawcc.hawaii.edu/wipc E-Mail address: wipc@hawaii.edu Postal Address: P.O. Box 6159 Hilo, HI 96720-8923 Registration January 1-December 31, 1998 Presenter Proposals Due December 31, 1998 Late Registration January 1-April 30, 1999 No Registration After April 30, 1999 Check-in July 29-August 2, 1999 Pre-conference Workshop July 30-July 31, 1999 Conference Dates August 1-7, 1999 | |
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Revival of Unangax/Aleut Hatmaking: In Memory of Andrew Gronholdt by Jerah Chadwick:We know Being-Happy-For-His-Hat's name because he survived long enough to be counted in an early Russian census. We also know that the beautifully painted and adorned, full-crown bentwood hats were in great demand as trade items. Many such hats are prized possessions of museums throughout the world. However, no old, full-crown hats or open-crown visors remain in their Aleutian homeland. Much of the knowledge of how to make and decorate them had been lost, and only a few had been made in the last 50 years. Today, bentwood hats and visors are again being made, the result of a resurgence in Unangax culture and of individual artists reclaiming traditions. This process has been assisted by the contributions of scholars, such as Dr. Lydia Black, whose books Aleut Art and Glory Remembered offer examples and insight into the bentwood art. Andrew Gronholdt with one of his visors. Prominent among contemporary bentwood artists was Andrew Gronholdt, who died in March, 1998 at the age of 82. A Qagan Tayagux (Man of the Eastern Aleutians) from the Shumagin Islands, Gronholdt is largely responsible for the revival of hatmaking in the Aleutians. Gronholdt began researching construction methods in 1985, after the death of his wife, Elizabeth. This process involved extensive reading, consultations with experts such as Northwest Coast Art specialist Bill Holm, and hands-on examinations of visors and hats in museum collections. Drawing upon his background as a wooden boat builder, Gronholdt worked out the varying degrees of thinness required to bend flat boards into visors or full-crown hats. He also designed jigs and molds for forming short and long visors. Gronholdt's visors are featured in numerous collections, including those at the Anchorage International Airport, the Unalaska City School Percent for Art, the Shumagin Corporation and the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association. Gronholdt regularly shared his expertise. He was a featured presenter at the 1988 Bentwood II Symposium held at UAF. He demonstrated and displayed his work at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, and he taught high school and university classes in St. Paul, Sand Point, King Cove and Unalaska, as well as elsewhere in the state. Since Gronholdt's death, classes have been held in Akutan and Unalaska, taught by his former students, and in each class a picture of Gronholdt was placed to overlook the bending station. As a result of Gronholdt's work, a new generation of Unangax people have been inspired to create their own visors and hats. What was once an important badge of identity is making a comeback; and surely, Being-Happy-For-His-Hat would be pleased that, this time, many hats will remain in their Aleutian homeland. Some of the many visors and hats made by Gronholdt's students in Unalaska. | |
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Southeast Region by Andy Hope:The Southeast Native Language Consortium met in Juneau, May 5-7, 1998. Approximately 50 people participated. The consortium has circulated a comprehensive report on the meeting, as well as a preliminary community cultural database, a mailing list and an inventory of teaching and curriculum materials (Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida). The consortium is conducting a series of community language planning meetings in August and September and will host another regional planning meeting in Juneau on October 5, 1998. They are recommending that the Southeast Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium schedule their annual planning meeting to coincide with the regional language meeting. For information on the consortium, contact Shari Jensen at sajensen@alaska.net, phone (907) 463-4844. Ted Wright, President of Sealaska Heritage Foundation, and I traveled to Sitka in late May to make a joint presentation on the Southeast Native Language Consortium and Tribal College planning. We were joined by Jimmy Walton, a leader of the Tlingit Kaagwaantaan Wolf House of Sitka. Mr. Walton is heading up a volunteer effort to recruit the support of Tlingit Clan Leaders for Tribal College planning efforts. A number of Haida and Tlingit clan and clan houses leaders have signed petitions of support. Walton, Wright and I also traveled to Haines in late June to meet with Haines and Klukwan tribal and clan leaders. Rhonda Hickok (a Juneau-Douglas High School teacher), Esther Ilutsik (Ciulistet Research group and University of Alaska Bristol Bay Campus-Dillingham) and I presented a course on the cultural standards for the Summer Academy of Applied Research in Education in Juneau, June 11-12. Approximately 25 teachers and administrators participated. The Alaska Staff Development Center is in the process of developing a distance delivery course on the standards. Oscar Kawagley, Nora Dauenhauer and I traveled to Hydaburg in June to meet with Lisa Lang and Woody Morrison of the Hydaburg Cooperative Association to discuss the Tribal Reawakening project. Hydaburg was recommended as the tribal reawakening site for the 1998 program year by the AKRSI Southeast Region Elders Council. We discussed the logistics of starting the project. The purpose of the project is to document the tribal history of the chosen community. The Hydaburg project should get underway in the early fall. The revised Traditional Tlingit Country Map/Tribal List is in print. The poster can be ordered from Two Raven Gifts, P.O. Box 34482 Juneau, Alaska 99803, phone (907) 463-5305. I am looking forward to the regional planning meetings and wish all of our consortium partners well for the coming year. | |
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Students Sail Into Learning by Cheryl Pratt:Our trek brought us to Clifford Weyiouanna, a respected village Elder and resident of Shishmaref, Alaska who had agreed to meet us there. Beside him, resting upside down, was his large boat frame upheld three feet high from the ground on two driftwood stands. The wooden structure, about 16 feet in length and nearly 6 feet wide across the center is held together with nails and metal rings. The wood is notched in places to keep the joints tight. Hanging in small black strips from beneath the nails we found remnants of the skin that had been used to cover the frame, long ago cut away. The children ran their hands across the dark strips of wood and easily slipped under the nearly seventy year old upside-down skeleton. They peered through the openings and explored the underside touching nearly every part. Independently and in small groups, some children role played through their experiences of boating, hunting and fishing. Some quietly explored the surrounding area, comfortably exploring a small creek which ran beside the boat and last year's tall grass standing among the green spring shoots. After a short period of exploration the kids began to ask Cliff some questions about the boat. They wondered how it could ever float and what happened to the seats. Clifford did not answer their questions at first and smiled at the humor he found within them. He enjoyed watching them play while carefully giving attention to their safety. Clifford began by answering some of their questions and then using the questions to lead into further information and discussion. The children were interested and very responsive adding in comments of surprise and appreciation. Clifford described the covers that were used to wrap the frame. He spoke of the times he ventured out in the boat with his family as a five-year-old boy and showed the students the part of the boat that he used to sleep in near the bow. He talked about the number of people involved in the outings and the length of time they would stay out. He remembered the hunting, the work, the roles each person assumed. Cliff talked of oars, motors, metal, wood and skins as he told the children how his boat differs from boats of today. He described the importance and benefits of flexibility in a wood and skin frame. He stressed the amount of work and effort it took to construct such a boat and the costs of today's boats along with their pros and cons. Cliff told of how he has become the owner, having the boat passed down to him from his father and expressed his desire to someday restore the boat and take it out once again into the sea. He told the children that the boat belongs in the water and that someday he would like to see it again riding the waves, heading out for a hunting trip. The way in which he spoke made one feel as if the old boat would journey again someday. The boat had long pieces of wood laid through the ribs from one side to the other. Cliff showed them how these rods are used for drying racks in the summer and fall by placing a tarp over the frame to keep out the rain and the birds. The students had a few more questions for Cliff. They wondered if he wore his lifejacket and what he hunted for? They wanted to know when he was going to take the boat out again and if they could go with him? They wanted to know how to make a boat and asked me if they could try. The children told us about some of their boating experiences. They talked about their boats and their speed. Some of the children knew the brand and number of their motors. They spoke about fishing and camping and picking berries up the river. They talked about their fathers and uncles and grandfathers going hunting. After a time of more playing and exploring Cliff asked us if we would like a ride back to the school. We accepted and loaded in his long wooden sled pulled by his snow machine. He drove out onto the still frozen Chukchi Sea and we bounced along back toward town. We all thanked Cliff and told him good-bye. Back at school the children worked with different types of media to make boats out of wood, pipe cleaners, metal, foil, cloth, paper and clay. We tried some of the boats in the water table to see if they would float and used marbles to see how much they could hold. The day had proved to be very interesting and fun. Several days later, the children still discussed their new-found insights during conversation and continued to improve their model boats, enabling them to float better and to hold more weight. We enjoyed working with Cliff and appreciated the opportunity to incorporate more of the Native culture into each day as Clifford served as a vessel of knowledge on that special day. Left to right: Pearl Goodhope, Faye Okpowruk, Helen Marie Eningwuk and Gilford Iyatunguk looking toward the past. | |
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TCC Mentor/Apprentice Learning Program by Beth Leonard:A total of seven apprentices will be hired: three for Deg Hit'an and Holikachuk; two for central/lower Koyukon, and two for Upper Kuskokwim. Apprentices must take an active role in guiding the course of their learning. Mentors will work intensively one-on-one with their apprentice to help them develop comprehension and speaking skills (fluency) in one of the referenced Athabascan languages. For more information about this program, contact: Beth Leonard, Mentor/Apprentice Program Coordinator Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc. (907) 452-8251, ext. 3286 bleonard@tananachiefs.org | |
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Village Science: Back to School:I told the old man about my frustrations. "You have to know how," was all he said. A few days later, I was very tired, having worked at a mine all day and having fished all night. I spent more time wearily taking fish out of the net than I did with the net in the water. I always keep a wooden club in the boat to dispatch the livelier fish so they don't flop and tangle the net once it is hauled into the boat. I took the club and angrily pounded the dog salmon's teeth in abject frustration. To my utter amazement, the teeth easily fell off the jaw, and the net was released. Within minutes, club in hand, I removed the rest of the fish from the net. The next morning I told the old man of my discovery. He said, "That's how." His way of teaching didn't always include answers. He told me there was a way, but carefully avoided disclosing it. I had found the method, but wished the answer had come through reflective scientific thought rather than anger and frustration. Several months later his son, Antone, and I were getting driftwood from the huge piles that accumulate on the river banks and sandbars. We were quite pleased with ourselves. We were dead tired but in two days had rolled almost eleven cords of wood into the river, lashing and spiking them into a raft. We were using peaveys to roll the logs to the water. Farther back, the logs were drier, and of better quality, but the distance was becoming great between the driftwood pile and the river. One log took almost half an hour to roll to the beach. Later in the second day, the old man arrived in his little boat. He walked across the sandbar with his cane and a length of rope. He didn't say anything, but limped on arthritic knees up to the log. He wrapped the rope around the log. Holding the bottom of the rope in his left hand, he pulled the top of the rope with his right hand that also clutched the cane. The log rolled forward at least two feet. The old man hopped backward, shifted the rope, and pulled again. The log continued to roll. His method worked so well the log almost ran him over. He tangled the rope in his cane a few times, but, within five minutes, the log was in the water. Antone and I leaned on our peaveys, breathing hard, wondering why he had waited two days to arrive. As the butt of a log is bigger than the top, none of them roll straight to the water. When his log misaligned with the river, the old man placed a large stick in the sand directly in front of the log's center of gravity. He rolled it onto the stick and effortlessly pivoted the log straight towards the river again. Without a word, he went to the driftwood pile and started a fire. We got the hint, quickly packed water, and retrieved his grub box from the boat. We talked about the weather, the geese moulting and other matters, but never mentioned logging as we sipped tea and ate homemade bread. He packed up the grub box and left his three-legged tracks to the boat. Antone and I were tired, and a bit deflated. "Next year," we said, "we'll do it right." Mechanical advantage, leverage, friction, center of gravity, physics. They were always there, but their best application eluded us until he came. Since that time, over thirty years ago, I have several times stepped up to a log, wrapped a rope around it, and pulled the top end. The young guys look in amazement as I roll the log as fast as I can walk. My effort is less dramatic, as I lack the cane, yet the effect is still there. Village science is practical and transferable. | |
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Welcome Frank Hill, New Co-Director:Frank was born in Iliamna, Alaska to Katie Trefon (Denaina) and William Hill. He has spent most of his youth, adult and professional life in the Iliamna Lake and Bristol Bay region. Frank attended schools in rural Alaska and received his B.Ed from UAF majoring in high school math and science education. He taught those subjects in the Anchorage and Bristol Bay Borough schools for nine years. After receiving an Ed.M from Harvard Graduate School, he began his educational administration career with the Lake and Peninsula School District interspersed with a year of further graduate study at Montana State University. For the last ten years, Frank was the superintendent of the Lake and Peninsula School District retiring in June, 1997. Dottie and Frank have three children, and one grandson. Frank and his family have been and continue to be Bristol Bay commercial fishers. Frank hopes to utilize his education, professional and personal experiences and his dedication to improving education in rural Alaska in supporting AKRSI. He has been involved informally with the AKRSI since its inception, and has enthusiastically supported the project. "I am very pleased to become formally involved with AKRSI and will try to do as well as Dorothy M. Larson has done in supporting the efforts of the others working for the project." | |
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Yup'ik Region by Barbara Liu:Uksuarmi arcaqalriik piarkak qanrutekciqagka. Elitnaurviit ilait ilagauciiqut upluteng elitnaurateng kangingnaullerkaatnek yuut qaillun ilakellrat, nunam-llu cikiutai kangingnaurluki qaillun piullratnek, ilait-llu tayim nani nunallret uitaciit kangingnauryugngaluki. Nunameggni tegganret wall'u angayuqateng apqaurluki ukut ilaitnek piarkauluteng. Uksuaqu cali Amiirairviim nalliini quyurtaalriit pamani Kassiglumi cali ilagarciqanka. Calistet Tegganrit ayagyuanek ilaluteng quyurciiqut arcaqalriit paivvluki ciuqvaarni yuullrat watuam-llu nalliini ayuqucirput. Ayallruunga unavet Unalaska-ami Tegganrit ayagyuamegnek ilaluteng quyurtellriit paqlluki cali tayim piyunaqkuma qavatmurciiqlua Sleetmiunun. Tamaani qanemciit tapeani kuumalriit niicugniyarturluki nunallret-llu atritnek tamaani calilria yugtun ikayuqeryarturluku. Qaaritaami tangruskumta amaani AFN-aalriani atauwauciquq. Uumiku igaqumci tayim qaillun makut caarkat ayallratnek qaneryugngaciqliunga. Tua-ingunrituq, Mak Hello, it's the end of summer and getting close to autumn. Without any work travel since last spring, it's been great! With a new school year approaching, things are picking up. I recently went to an Assessment Institute in Sitka where teachers from all over the state worked on improving science standard assessment. Two important events coming up. The Family History Computer Training will be held in September with some regional schools. Teachers will participate on ways to incorporate exploring family trees, nature, mapping old sites with recordings of stories and photos, with their students. The second event is in September, where I will participate with the Calista Elders/Youth gathering up at Kasigluk where various topics will be compared ranging from traditional methods of living to present day. I attended the Unangan Elder and Youth Culture camp August 10-14 in Unalaska. A trip to the village of Sleetmute is planned, where I will listen to Yup'ik Elder documents and help with the Yup'ik orthography of historical sites in the Holitna River area. Hope to see you at the AFN Elder and Youth Convention in October. Until next time, Barbara | |
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Yupiit School District Yup'ik Immersion Camps by Sophie Kasayulie:In visiting the sites it was encouraging to see students at work learning about their culture, doing hands-on activities, stringing smelts to dry and listening to the teacher speaking only in the Yup'ik language. The Elders were the key people teaching students in the classroom and outdoors about the Yup'ik lifestyle. The Elders participating were John Peter, Elijah Napoka and Lucy Demantle from Tuluksak; Mary Ann Jackson from Akiak and Frederick George, Olinka George and Elizabeth Peter from Akiachak. The crafts made in Akiak were qaspeqs and headdresses made of felt and beads. The day we were in Akiak, the students were stringing smelts to dry and hung them at John Phillip's fishcamp. All the students were given willow strands tied together and then they proceeded to fill them with fish hooked through the gills. In Tuluksak the students made qaspeqs, sewing by hand and later finishing with sewing machines. The crafts made were displayed at the gathering of the students which was held in Akiak. In Tuluksak, the older boys and girls were taken to a campsite where they built a fishrack and smokehouse. The site of the immersion camp will be the permanent place for students to traditionally prepare fish for the cold winter days. Since the nets and the uluaqs were made last year, the nets were ready to be set and the older students learned the best fishing areas to set them. The Elders and instructors took the students on an excursion and studied local plants that grow around the area. They collected plants that are edible and medicinal. The main plant in the area, rhubarb, grows plentiful on the bluffs of the high ground of the tundra. Tuluksak brought a huge pan of rhubarb akutaq to the gathering feast. The medicinal plants were given to the Elders that came to the gathering of the students in Akiak on June 10, 1998. The students displayed crafts and served traditional food at the potlatch. Each site attending the gathering performed for the audience and listened to the Elders give speeches, telling students and parents how important our language is to our culture. Parents commented that they would like to speak more in Yup'ik to their children. The highlights of the program in Akiachak were collecting tundra plants and rhubarb from the bluffs on the Kuskowa River, making three five-gallon buckets of suluunaq (salted fish) for the school, and going to Mary M. George's fishcamp and actually cleaning and cutting fish. The students were given instruction on how to make tepa, fermented fish heads, a delicacy of the Yupiit. We also brought in dried fish to the smokehouse and put away half-dried fish for the school. Frederick George, an Elder in Akiachak, taught students to fish and learn about the actual fishcamp life. Mr. George taught survival skills before the students were taken on a trip to the bluffs. The Elders in each community were willing to share their knowledge and worked with the students as they learned more of their language and culture. One problem we encountered occurred in Tuluksak when we found out we were building a fishcamp on someone's Native allotment. In the future we will work directly with the corporation and land owners to establish fishcamp sites in each village. In order to reach all the students enrolled in the school we need to have an immersion school during the school year. I feel it is important for each student to learn about the culture and to learn more about the language. We included young parents with preschool children who came to help their children make qaspeqs and identify plants that were gathered from the field trips. We need to include more parents in the Immersion program and get them involved in their children's learning. I have learned with the students; I have become more appreciative of my surrounding and still want to learn more with them. How fortunate our students are in this time and age. I would like to thank the Elders for all their participation and time spent with the students, as well as the parents for letting their children attend the immersion camps. | |
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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 |
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1999 Native Educator's Conference:The Alaska Native Educator Associations and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network invite you to participate in the 1999 Native Educator's Conference Anchorage Sheraton Hotel o January 31-February 2, 1998 o Anchorage, Alaska Alaska Native Educators' have recently formed a series of regional associations to support initiatives aimed at addressing issues related to Alaska Native education. These associations will serve as the host for the 1999 Native Educator's Conference, to be held in conjunction with the annual Alaska Bilingual/Multicultural Education/Equity Conference. The Native Educators' Conference will provide an opportunity for people engaged in education impacting Native people to come together and learn from each other's work and to explore ways to strengthen the links between education and the cultural well-being of indigenous people. Information For a registration packet and further information, contact Lolly Carpluk, Alaska Native Knowledge Network, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 756730, Fairbanks AK 99775-6730. Phone: 907-474-5086 or 907-474-1902, Fax: 907-474-5208, e-mail: ftlmc@uaf.edu or ffrjb@uaf.edu | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley This fall, the AISES science fairs acknowledge Elders as the first teachers of their culture. Elders have valuable knowledge of life and the environment they have lived in. Through the AISES program of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, village students are learning that Elders' knowledge is relevant to science and makes valuable contributions to scientific research. Elders will be the judges in four regional science fairs. They will judge students' science projects in the following areas: * science project's capacity to maintain Native values of the region, * project's importance to Native culture, * its importance to village life, and * its contribution to the understanding of the land and assets of village and Native corporations. The teacher/scientist judges will evaluate projects on the scientific method, detail, and accuracy of the research, and the project's best possible use of food or equipment. Both sets of judges will award students first, second, and third place prizes. Students in Fairbanks Science Camp '98 held at Howard Luke's Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp along the Tanana river created at least five questions about their project from which to interview Elders. The camp had six Elders working as instructors. They were: Elizabeth Frantz from Barrow Elizabeth Fleagle from Manley Hot Springs Margaret Tritt from Arctic Village Howard Luke at home on the Tanana River Jonathan David from Minto Fred Alexander from Minto These Elders taught students beadwork, yo-yo making, cleaning and tanning skins, and traditional stories. The students included the knowledge they learned from the Elders on the background information of their project. For example, students learned about the eating habits of wolves, researched the potence of healing plants, and how to tell the caribou's age by his teeth. Prior to sending projects to the fair, every project must be evaluated by an adult sponsor, a science teacher/expert in the field, and an Elder in the village. The checklist for the evaluation included a list of values determined by a council of Elders in the region. The evaluator is to determine if the project maintains or does not maintain each value in the checklist. If you are interested in entering the fair, you will need to obtain the handbook with the guidelines and registration forms for the fair. Second Annual Arctic Regional Science Fair '98 Kotzebue, Alaska Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 1998 Contact: Ruthie Sampson 907-442-3472 Second Annual Interior Science Fair '98 Fairbanks, Alaska Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 1998 Contact: Dixie Dayo 907-474-5086 First Annual Kodiak Science Fair '98 Old Harbor, Alaska Nov. 18-20, 1998 Contact: Teri Schneider 907-486-9031 First Annual Pribilof/Aleutians Science Fair '98 St. Paul Island, Alaska January 1999 Contact: Debbie Bourdukofsky 907-546-2206 Two projects will be selected as grand prize winners from each fair. These projects will be sponsored to be entered in one of the following: Alaska State Science Fair 99 University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, Alaska March 26-28, 1999 Contact: Margaret Cowan 907-465-2826 Annual AISES National Science Fair 99 Albuquerque, New Mexico Contact: Karen Gomez 505-646-7740 | |
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Alaska RSI Regional Contacts:Amy Van Hatten Athabascan Regional Coordinator 5230 Fairchild Avenue Fairbanks, Alaska 99709-4525 (907) 474-0275 email: fyav@uaf.edu Andy Hope Southeast Regional Coordinator University of Alaska Southeast School of Business/PR 11120 Glacier Highway Juneau, Alaska 99801 (907) 465-8776 email: fnah@uaf.edu Elmer Jackson Iñupiaq Regional Coordinator PO Box 134 Kiana, Alaska 99749 (907) 475-2257 email: fnej@uaf.edu Barbara Liu Yup'ik Regional Coordinator Box 2262 Bethel, Alaska 99559 (907) 543-3467 email: fnbl@uaf.edu Leona Kitchens Aleutians Regional Coordinator P.O. Box 921063 Dutch Harbor, Alaska 99692 (907) 581-5472 email: snowbank@arctic.net | |
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Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and : | |
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Aleut Region by Leona Kitchens:For the village science initiative, the St. Paul and St. George schools held an AISES science camp in St. George followed with a regional AISES science fair. The Pribilof Islands Stewardship camps included AISES activities in their summer camp programs. Students on St. Paul did research on seal entanglement and halibut stomach contents during the summer. St. Paul students visited St. George in October. During the time students were in St. George they worked on projects that included tanning fur seal hides. The focus of the Pribilof Islands AISES science fair is the local environment and the traditional ways of the people. This fits in well with the Islands' stewardship programs, with their emphasis on the science and tradition of the Pribilofs. Students in the St. George camp worked on seal throat baskets, grass baskets, papermaking using recycled paper and local vegetation, and preparing fur seal hides for drum making. They continued their study of seabirds and fur seals. The St. Paul camp continued to work on entanglement and traditional ways of living. (Written with help from Betty Taylor from St. George.) The "Living in Place" initiative was the focus for Camp Qungaayux that the Unalaska City School held in cooperation with APLA and the Qawalangin Tribal Council. Moses Dirks is currently working with students to incorporate the interviews about living in the Unalaska area onto the CD-ROM that contains interviews of Elders from the region. The contents of the CD-ROM are available on the web. If you would like to see them, give me a call at (907) 581-5472 or e-mail me at snowbank@arctic.net for the password. Again, we would like to thank everyone who helped to make the camp a success, especially those Elders who took the time and energy to teach our children their traditional heritage. The Association of Unangan/s Educators formed an interim committee to work toward the adoption of a mission statement, goals, and bylaws for the organization. Several audio conferences have been held to begin the formalization of the teachers' association. The organization plans to meet during the Native Educators' Conference this January/February. Best of luck to this group of wonderful people who are so important in bridging the gap between our Elders and the children in our school system. Teachers from the Unalaska City School have begun to write a unit that focuses on this region's cultural heritage. Moses Dirks, Kari Brown-Herbst, Mike Duhan, and Tony Baylinson are working on a comprehensive unit about sea mammals. This unit-building team is part of a statewide effort to incorporate Native knowledge with Western science in the curriculum. The unit-building teams across the state are supported by Alaska School Districts, Alaska Department of Education, and the Eisenhower Math & Science Education Program. Wishing all of you happy holidays and looking forward to the coming new year, Leona Kitchens. Students work on fur seal skin projects at Camp Qungaayux, August 1998. | |
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Alutiiq Region by Teri Schneider:In cooperation with the Kodiak Area Native Association, Afognak Native Corporation, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the Kodiak Island Borough School District hosted the Second Annual Academy of Elders Cultural Camp in conjunction with the First Annual AISES Science Camp. Once again this event was held at Katenai on Afognak Island. During two six-day camps, held July 26-August 8, a total of 74 Elders, teachers, students, community members, as well as "Dig Afognak" staff and other observers, participated in various activities including talking circles, Alutiiq dance/singing, language classes, scientific inquiry, swimming, beachcombing, and lots of eating! The only schedule that we had was that of our cooks, Mary and Sven Haakanson, Sr.: breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The agenda was simple: bring together Alutiiq Elders, youth, and other community members, including Native educators, at a location that "had everything" and learning and good things would happen. Actually, GREAT things happened! With the help and guidance of Alan Dick, I gathered materials to take to camp, in case of rain or "bored" students . . . neither occurred! Students were extremely resourceful, gathering most of their needed materials from the beach, or not far from it. Instead of using the wood I brought in boxes, "just in case," Sven Haakanson, Jr. and Dennis Knagin shared their skills of identifying and collecting the various driftwood that comes ashore at Catcher Beach. By the end of the first camp, most everyone had begun a carving project. Traditional bows were carved from yellow cedar, models of boats immerged from chunks of red cedar, and faces began to appear on the bark of cottonwood. Students were asked to come with a question regarding their environment, Native culture, or history. During camp we helped the students to focus on their question and formulate a science project. For some children this meant testing various bait with squirrels, eventually leading to a feast of squirrel stew. Others spent most of their time exploring the tidepools and formulating hypothesis regarding animal behavior and habitat, while a small group worked with the insulating qualities of the various furs still used in our area. Still others explored the various qualities of driftwood, testing samples in the smokehouse, in the fire pit, and as floats. Three visitors from Alutiiq villages on the Kenai Peninsula were able to attend: Sperry Ash, Lydia Robart, and Feona Sawden. Each carried with them a gift that they generously shared. Martha Randolph, a Kodiak community member, expressed that their contributions "expanded our knowledge and awareness of our heritage and language." An open invitation will always be theirs, and to other Sugpiaq/Alutiiq, as we plan for future camps. Next year's plans are being made to continue the science focus, but also include more opportunities for language and curriculum development. Interested Alutiiq should contact Teri Schneider at 486-9031, 486-2455 or email tschneider@kodiak.alaska.edu "I learned from the youth-their willingness to share their thoughts during the talking circles. Their inquisitive minds and the knowledge they're gaining in their young years-they will have much to pass on to others as they grow and mature. They have opportunities which weren't available to . . . my generation." -Martha Randolph Alutiiq community member "Being a small part of encouraging and teaching our youth the importance (of) investigating our past can only enhance our future. The more exposure I get to this way of thinking and remembering instills pride and determination in achieving my own goals." -Susan Malutin Alutiiq artist/community member "This camp was the most rewarding thing I've been involved in in many years, surely above and beyond anything I expected." -Otto C. Mahle Alutiiq community member | |
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An Alliance Between Humans and Creatures by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:Basic philosophical questions are raised in the course of observing and questioning people with respect to notions of inquiry, explanation, technology, science and religion as they relate to particular lifeways. Accordingly, world view as discussed here will attempt to answer the questions deftly set out by Barry Lopez. Lopez refers to "metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics and logic-which pose, in order, the following questions. What is real? What can we understand? How should we behave? What is beautiful? What are the patterns we can rely upon?" (1986:202). Added to the above list will be "ontology:" Why are we? Is there something greater than the human? Lopez goes on to point out, "The risk we take is of finding our final authority in the metaphors rather than in the land. To inquire into the intricacies of a distant landscape, then, provokes thoughts about one's own interior landscape, and the familiar landscapes of memory. The land urges us to come around to an understanding of ourselves" (247). The concept of "worldview" is very closely related to the definitions of culture and cognitive map (Berger, Berger, & Kellner 1974:148). A worldview consists of the principles we acquire to make sense of the world around us. These principles, including values, traditions and customs are learned by youngsters from myths, legends, stories, family, community and examples set by community leaders (Deloria, 1991, Hardwick, 1991). The worldview, or cognitive map, is a summation of coping devices which have worked in the past, and may or may not be as effective in the present (Netting, 1986). Once a worldview has been formed, the people are then able to identify themselves as a unique people. Thus, the worldview enables its possessors to make sense of the world around them, make artifacts to fit their world, generate behavior and interpret their experiences. As with many other indigenous groups, the worldviews of the traditional Alaska Native peoples have worked well for their practitioners for thousands of years (Kawagley, 1995). Native ways of knowing imply action, states of knowing that entail constant flux of doing. The universe and Mother Earth are constantly changing. If we are looking at and trying to make sense of the world in which we live, we must speak of it as an active process. So our Alaska Native words describe pieces of activity (Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner, 1992 ). The Native words are sound symbols garnered from nature which then lend themselves to reality defining itself. The English words used to describe nature merely define nature and supplant reality. The scientific objectivity allows looking at "things" in nature and then as commodities to be used and exploited without regard to its habitat and niche in the ecological system. The institutions of higher learning teach us to look at "things" for in-depth detailed knowledge in a fragmentary approach. It allows us to develop technology to hasten our extraction of minerals, deforestation and agriculture. We are not mindful of the carrying capacity of the land and its ability to regenerate. Our affluence as industrial nations is merely a borrowed affluence. Borrowed from countries like Ghana, Philippines, Columbia, China, and India to name a few. Our technological prowess and its concomitant concepts of growth and development and that the "whole is the sum of its parts" (Mills, 1997) has brought us to the brink of disaster. I quote the following poem from Elisabeth Hermodsson (Mills, 1997): once upon a time we were to be pitied we were in mortal fear we believed in spirits, gnomes god and other kinds of superstition now we feel safe for we know everything control everything we have rational explanations for everything we make use of matter's minutest particle for our purposes and we are much to be pitied more than ever before never has space been closer never has responsibility been greater never have we known more fear and we do not believe in good or evil powers nor in gods and other superstitions we believe in ourselves and never has space been wider and never have we had greater power and never have we been more powerless we believe in progress and never has catastrophe been so close We certainly have a totalitarian and dehumanizing technological system. And most certainly, as a Native people, we have been unable to evaluate our satisfaction with the technological gadgets and tools that have been given or forced upon us by this all consuming giant. Its technocratic society questions the maintenance of our Native languages, subsistence, ways of knowing and Native rights to an education befitting our worldviews. But it espouses, through lip service and pronouncements, multiculturalism that many of its members deem evil. I don't remember the source of the following quote but: "Too much think about white man, no more can find dream." We have become aware of the materialistic and scientific sophistry with its inherent ability to obfuscate who we are, what we are and where we are going. After this vitriolic attack, I now get to the subject of my talk. I have enclosed a diagram which I call the tetrahedral metaphor of the Native worldview. I have drawn a circle representing the universe or circle of life. The circle represents togetherness which has no beginning and no end. On this circle are represented the human, natural and spiritual worlds. There are two-way arrows between them as well as to the worldview at the apex of the tetrahedral. These two-way arrows depict communications between all these functions to maintain balance. The Yupiat say "Yuluni pitalkertugluni," "Living a life that feels just right." One has to be in constant communication with each of the processes to know that one is in balance. If the feeling is that something is wrong then one must be able to check to see what might be the cause for unease or disease. If the feeling of being just right comes instinctively and this feeling permeates your whole being, then you have attained balance. This means that one does not question the other functions intellectually, but that one merges spiritually and emotionally with the others. The circle brings all into one mind. In the Yupiat thought world, everything of Mother Earth possesses a spirit. This spirit is consciousness, an awareness. So the wind, river, rabbit, amoeba, star, lily, and so forth possess a spirit. Thus, if all possess a spirit or soul, then all possess consciousness and the power that it gives to its physical counterpart. It allows the Native person the ability to have the aid of the spirit to do extraordinary feats of righting unbalanced individual psyche, community disease or loss of communication with the spiritual and natural world through irreverence toward beings of Nature. Harry Robinson (Robinson, 1992) calls this "'nature power,' the life-sustaining spirituality." Dr. Grof refers to "power animals" (Grof, 1993) which gives its possessor the power to "communicate with them, adopting aspects of their wisdom or power and re-establishing links with them when the connection has been lost through negligence or lack of reverence, or by offending either the animal spirits or one of the greater spirits of the natural world." These are not available through Western scientific research methods but through the ancient art of shamanism. From this you can see that when we rely on Western means of research only, it is a limiting factor, and this is what our institutions of higher learning teach. All areas of social and scientific research teach only one way of trying to learn and understand phenomena. Our technological and scientific training imprison the students' minds only to its understandings, much to the detriment of the learners who enter the mainstream Western world to become its unerring members of progress and development. (to be continued in the next issue of SOP) | |
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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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Elder Highlight: Atsaruaq Louise Tall by Barbara Liu:She's able to recall and share many stories of which she often gives credit to her deceased mother and grandmothers. Atsaruaq's mother was Kaviaq/Cimiralria whose mother was Nanugaq and father, Paanertulria. Atsaruaq's father was Nassiryuaq whose mother was Atsaruaq and father was Usugan-all from Qissunaq, near Chevak. Within the past few years she's been the most active through her storytelling and is always willing to travel on AKRSI-related activities. Whenever she participates, she seems comfortable and willing to tell stories. She also spends some of her time selling her art of precious handmade dolls that portray her experiences. She has simple faith with no remorse and seems hardworking for her great-grandchildren. She likes to laugh and makes you feel at home by her kindness. In a few short years, I've gained a grandmother I never had growing up. She's filled many hearts through her example and by giving stories, believing when she dies that her stories will live on. Her memory of unrecorded history is phenomenal. She sews for her family but her favorite pastime is making Yuguat (dolls) that almost look like her. One day, I was hurrying by while she sat with her dolls. I stopped to chat and she asked me to watch her dolls for a few minutes. She was back in no time and before I continued on, she handed me one of them. She is truly a special "Grandmother" strongly connected to the land and her people. In my visits with her, she's open to give advice. One day as my two boys (four and six years) played near her, she said, "With the help of their father, they are ready to shoot a bow and arrow." My only visual memory of bows and arrows took me back to cowboy and Indian movies, but I knew Atsaruaq was speaking from experience. When I first heard her telling pre-contact stories, I really worked hard on listening and mentally picturing the setting, season, characters, props, voices, and how far back in time she was bringing me. Now it is much easier for me to follow her Chevak dialect as I grew up with mainland Akulmiut dialect. My mother's grandparents were both raised in Chevak/Hooper Bay vicinity and that generation was born mostly along the Bering Sea coast before moving on to other parts of the region. Atsaruaq's qulirat stories start from her home area off the Bering Sea to Nelson Island (once surrounded by water) to the headwaters of the Kuskokwim and over to the Lower Yukon side as well as from Nunivak Island. Many of her stories are non-fictional based on Y/Cuuyaraq. She opens up authentic ways of teaching. I think an orator and teacher such as Atsaruaq can bring all five senses alive through her seasoned life experiences. There are three AKRSI-sponsored events where many others like myself have had the opportunity to listen to her. One was a circle of ten Y/Cup'ik-speaking teachers who signed up for an Elder academy with KUC's associate professor, Cecilia Martz, June 30 to July 4, 1997. A statement was made by this group and published by Alaska Native Knowledge Network with a vision. Y/Cuuyaraq Wangkuta Y/Cup'igni qanruyutet aturluki anglituukut. Ilakuyulluta, ukvertarluta, pingnatuuluta. Nallunrilamta Yuuyaramteni piciryarangqerramta nutemllarmek. Qigcikiyaram aturtai taringumaut ellam iluanelnguut elpengqellrit nunuliutengqellrit-llu. Qanruyutem aturtai umyuartuluteng, elluatuuluteng, nuuqitevkenateng yuuluaqerciqut. Another opportunity for teachers to hear Atsaruaq tell a few stories took place in Anchorage with 40-50 Native teachers attending the State Bilingual Conference, February 1997. The 90-minute session I facilitated with her was very well attended as a Y/Cup'ik-speaking-only session, with simultaneous translation provided. The only drawback was that the sound system of the ballroom didn't work very well. In each story she gives credit by name to all the storytellers that she heard it from either at the beginning or end of each story. She remembers a few bedtime stories up to a certain part because as a little girl she fell asleep while her mother, Kaviaq, or Cimiralria was telling the story. The intent has always been to share stories with children in Y/Cup'ik. Currently, Atsaruaq is in a fall class Cecilia Martz offers through KUC with several Elders; there are 22 enrolled. She has told about nine hours of stories-some from the first academy as well as many new titles. This has provided a form of Cup'ik immersion for adults like myself, Oscar Kawagley, and many others. Following is a short story she told about herself. Louise Tall's first name, Atsaruaq, is after her paternal grandmother at birth. While a baby, she became ill and her parents asked a healing doctor (Angalkuq) for help. The following is translated (as best as possible) from the original Cup'ik version. One fall season, I was still a baby and became very ill. My mother and father called a doctor for help because they were afraid I would die. The doctor told them he would bring back life for me from the land of the bearded seal and left. At bedtime, my parents put me next to them and as the doctor told them; they also put a seal skin under their bed. In the middle of the night, my mother was awakened by a crying child to find me on top of the sealskin; both puzzled as to how I got there. After that, I got well. When I was growing up each spring, my skin would flake and my father would say that it was that time for bearded seal to do the same. Later in her life, it stopped and she added it was when she changed her beliefs. In an unrelated story she talks about the legendary long-armed little people who could grant wishes people made when they met them along the way. They are called Egacuayiit, and Atsaruaq laughs jokingly as she finishes this story that if she met one of those little guys today, she would wish for a healthy life. Thank you for the opportunity to highlight an Elder from my region. There are many Elders who participate in AKRSI events and each one has contributed alot. Atsaruaq's independence and focus gets right to the point. When she was a girl, she never entered a public school. Her education came from traveling seasonally with her grandparents, parents, and siblings. Atsaruaq's mother also married twice and raised 13 children. Atsaruaq grew up as the fourth child with two older brothers, an older sister, three younger brothers, and one younger sister. Their mother had more children with her second husband, adding four more brothers and a sister to her family. Today, her two younger brothers and two adopted brothers and sister are living. They all grew up in Chevak/Hooper Bay area. Atsaruaq also married twice and raised 13 children. Today, she has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She lives in Bethel most of the year now with her youngest son and returns home to Chevak and Hooper Bay regularly. Many thanks go to Atsaruaq and Cecilia Martz for making it possible to get to know our neighbors. Tua-ingunrituq, Piurci. Cup'ik Elder Atsaruaq Louise Tall | |
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Howard Luke: My Own Trail:In this book, Howard tells his story of early childhood experiences, the influence his mother had upon him, and people and events that shaped his adult life as well as his vision for a bright future. While this book is enjoyable reading for everyone, it is a valuable resource for people who consider the Tanana Valley their home. Through Howard Luke's eyes and words we see the land and the people who inhabit it in the context of a personal history that is in some ways unique, while in others, universal. He offers us an opportunity to gain a deeper sense of meaning of this place to the people for whom it is home, not by choice but by birthright. Howard Luke: My Own Trail comes with a foldout 18" x 24" map of the area between Fairbanks and Nenana that Howard calls home. It can be ordered from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Contact Dixie Dayo at 474-5086, fax 474-5208, email fndmd1@uaf.edu for information. | |
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