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 Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated.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 1, ISSUE 5 |
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Native Science by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:Jonathan David instructs students in the art of canoe building at the Cross-Cultural Orientation Camp at Old Minto this summer. * Within our Native mythology and stories are the sciences and within the Native sciences are the mythology and stories. * Native Science is concerned with asking the right questions to learn from nature and the spiritual worlds. * Native science is centered on studying natural phenomena requiring long and patient observation-a matter of survival. * The Native empirical knowledge of habitats and niches is conducive to intuition which may originate from the subconscious, natural or spiritual worlds. The way of knowing is qualitative and is conservation-based to ensure sustainability. * Native ways of knowing are holistic or holographic that recognizes relationships in place and influences to processes in the ecological system. * A belief in everything having a spirit establishes a sense of spirituality which is inseparable from everyday life. This spirituality is embedded in respect which gives honor and dignity to all things. "We are biologists in our own way." * Native science deals with all aspects of life: health (healing plants), psychology, weather prediction, earth science, shamanism, animal behavior according to seasons, stars and constellations, reincarnation, natural permutations, rituals and ceremonies to maintain balance and many areas of life. * The Native scientist checks on past history and events to see and understand the present situation. Ideas on assessing educational change process in Native language acquisition and learning of Native cultural and modern lifeways: * Is the study based on natural phenomena? * Is the inquiry logical and meaningful? * Is the historical (mythology & stories) data available? * How was the conclusion arrived at? * Does the data gathering process include holistic thought? * Does the process use the five senses and elements of intuition? The canoe begins to take shape under the careful direction of Jonathan David. PHOTO BY OSCAR KAWAGLEY PHOTO BY OSCAR KAWAGLEY | |
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Native Ways of Knowing and the Frameworks by Peggy Cowan:The State of Alaska's Department of Education has developed voluntary academic standards in ten content areas. These standards describe what all Alaska students should know, be able to do and be committed to at the end of their school experience in Alaska. Many districts are basing their school improvement work on these standards. The Department of Education has developed Framework documents, kits, CDROMs and a Web page to assist school districts in designing programs that enable students to meet these standards. Through the inspiration of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and the hard work of its staff, the Department of Education has added a section on indigenous curriculum organizers to the Frameworks' products. Purpose of the Indigenous Section Indigenous ways of knowing are based upon customs, beliefs, behaviors and world views that are different from the learning systems established by Western educational institutions. This new section provides a framework to help districts design compatible indigenous and non-indigenous learning systems that allow for and support multiple world views. This section of the framework provides district curriculum committees with tools to: * increase the awareness of curriculum committees of the similarities and differences between indigenous and Western world views and how these affect beliefs about knowledge and schooling, * provide suggested design processes and models of indigenous curriculum categories for the consideration of district curriculum committees, * link indigenous curriculum categories to state standards and assessment schemes and * encourage curriculum that is relevant to locales and students' lives and futures. Assumptions The work of the indigenous Framework section is built on a number of assumptions about curriculum in Alaska: * Many curriculum categories exist that are sympathetic with Native Alaskan ways of understanding the world that can be used to organize school curriculum. * The indigenous curriculum categories complement and overlap organizers established by Western educational institutions. * The curriculum categories will vary by Alaska Native group, region and sub region and they could be chosen by local schools or school districts when they do curriculum design and revisions. * The indigenous concepts are embedded in the language so that many of the categories for district bilingual programs could be applied to a broader curriculum context. Samples Ten sample curriculum organizers in the Framework reference kits and notebooks are included as models for local curriculum committees to consider. In general, these examples share the deep cultural knowledge-an instructional process that develops higher level thinking in students, and a sequence that invokes spiritual and cosmological values. | |
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North Slope Regional Activities:Alaska RSI/Annenberg Coordinator The Ilisagvik College is coordinating closely with the North Slope Borough School District (NSBSD) in the implementation of the 1996 activities centering on "village science". The college stresses the need to incorporate science concepts which are meaningful to the region, especially those that are related to the environmental sciences. This fall, the Ilisagvik College staff and the NSBSD staff plan on traveling to several sites to help organize the North Slope Science and Engineering Clubs. The Ipalook Elementary School is excited about the development of their K-5 science and engineering club and we look forward to assisting them in their efforts. In the discussion of the American Indian Science and Engineering chapters (AISES), the North Slope region expressed concern about the term "American Indian" since the Inupiat do not consider themselves to be "American Indian" and felt that the term is exclusive of Inupiat and other ethnic groups. At the meeting held on the sixth of September, it was decided that the Inupiat region AISES clubs would choose their own local names but will be affiliated with the national AISES organization. On the North Slope, we are looking for volunteers in the science and engineering community to "adopt a school" and be willing to be a role model, to encourage science and engineering careers, and to assist teachers in their science programs. We also look forward to the development of an Inupiat Science Exploritorium to celebrate our students' science projects in the region. One of the plans is to showcase science projects in the 50th Anniversary of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, an event being sponsored by the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium and scheduled for August 1997. Arva Carlson and Tim Buckley are co-teaching a high school course on Arctic Science and the college has been assisting their efforts through membership in the Arctic Science Consortium of the United States. We encourage North Slope high school science teachers to incorporate the Inupiaq perspective in the sciences and draw attention to the Inuit Circumpolar Science Initiatives and local science research policies that call for indigenous participation in research projects. As the Ilisagvik College expands its science education program, we look forward to offering additional courses in the sciences designed to reflect the blending of knowledge systems. For example, a course is being developed and proposed for the spring of 1997 on the topic of Bowhead whales through a cooperative partnership with the North Slope Borough (NSB) Wildlife Department. The Ilisagvik College also anticipates an Inupiaq research focus in the development of educational programs in the North Slope Cultural Center scheduled to open in 1998. We are assisting Alan Dick in the development of the publication North Slope Village Science and Chip McMillan in the development of a "northernized" Science Nuggets book. Also under production is the NSB Wildlife Department's curriculum project on Fishes of the North Slope. We support curriculum development projects that are focused on conceptual Inupiaq knowledge, in other words, projects that delve into Inupiaq perspectives and not just "at the tip of the iceberg." PHOTO BY LOLLY CARPLUK | |
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September Meeting Enriches Staff by Gail Pass:Working groups important to the Alaska RSI were formed and interested members were assigned to a working group. Topics of the working groups are: Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights, Native Educators Network, Indigenous Curriculum Framework, Formulation of the Regional Cultural Atlas, Control of Educational Systems and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network Publication Review. A recap of last year's initiatives followed. The annual report was reviewed as well as the Alaska RSI strategic plan for year two. A brief discussion took place about implementing the Annenberg Rural Challenge MOAs and the effects on staff roles, including new additions like Harold Napoleon who has been hired to direct the Reclamation of Tribal Histories. A work plan with the initiatives was formulated by each region for year two. The remainder of the meeting welcomed the newly-founded board members of the Alaska First Nations Research Network, a division of the Mokakit Research Association in Canada. Dr. Oscar Kawagley presided as director and planning began for hosting the Mokakit Conference in Anchorage on February 10-11, 1997. Overall, the staff meeting rejuvenated everyone into the shift of regional initiatives, the addition of Annenberg Rural Challenge and the new school year. Moses Dirks, Amy Van Hatten, Barbara Liu and Elmer Jackson present the Alaska RSI to attendees of the 46th Annual Arctic Science Conference in Girdwood this fall. PHOTO BY LOLLY CARPLUK | |
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Southeast Regional Report by Andy Hope:I started work in late December 1995. In mid-January of this year, I met with the Southeast consortium partners for the first time: Sidney Stephens of the Alaska Science Consortium, Peggy Cowan (science specialist) and Nancy Spear (math specialist) of the Department of Education, and Richard Dauenhauer of Sealaska Heritage Foundation. We discussed possible strategies for addressing the initiative for the first year-Culturally-Aligned Curriculum Adaptations. PHOTO BY LOLLY CARPLUK The Sitka and Chatham teams will participate in a Native science and math curriculum guide workshop in November. This workshop will assess curriculum resources currently available in their respective districts and draft guides for a Tlingit math book, calendar and map. I was able to secure office space at the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau campus, thanks to Marshall Lind. The first major event of the year was the Native Curriculum Workshop that took place in conjunction with the Third Conference of Tlingit Tribes and Clans, March 28-30 in Ketchikan and Saxman. All consortium partners were present for this workshop. The participants in the Ketchikan workshop laid the groundwork for the Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association. The Southeast Regional Elders Council also organized in Ketchikan. Elders council members include: Arnold Booth of Metlakatla (chair), Isabella Brady of Sitka, Joe Hotch of Klukwan, Charles Natkong of Hydaburg, Lydia George of Angoon and Gil Truitt of Sitka. In April, the Sitka and Chatham School Districts signed MOAs to participate in the project. Oscar Kawagley and I traveled to Sitka and Angoon in the spring to meet with district and community representatives. The Southeast Native Educators held another organizational meeting in early June. The Southeast Elders Council also met in early June. All of the elders council members (also Jackie Kookesh and Pauline Duncan of the Southeast Native Educators) served as presenters at the Summer Teacher Academies Multicultural Education course in Juneau. The Alaska Science Consortium and the Alaska Department of Education co-sponsored a Native Science Curriculum workshop in late June in Juneau. A group of four teachers worked with Sidney Stephens and Peggy Cowan to draft a science unit based on Tlingit knowledge, addressing science standards and using appropriate teaching and assessment strategies. Another Native Science curriculum workshop took place in Sitka in early October. The workshop was hosted by the Alaska Science Consortium and the Department of Education. Teachers from ten districts from throughout Southeast Alaska participated, with emphasis on teachers from Chatham and Sitka School Districts. Chatham and Sitka teachers designated working teams and team leaders to work with the Alaska RSI project. The Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association also formally organized at this time and elected officers: Isabella Brady of Sitka and Jackie Kookesh of Angoon were elected co-chairs; other officers include Evi Fennimore of Wrangell, Ruth Demmert of Kake, Mary Jean Duncan of Angoon, Phyllis Carlson of Juneau and Rocky Eddy of Juneau. The Sitka and Chatham teams are committed to coordinate their Alaska RSI efforts in the future. The Sitka and Chatham teams will participate in a Native science and math curriculum guide workshop in November. This workshop will assess curriculum resources currently available in their respective districts and draft guides for a Tlingit math book, calendar and map. The workshop will be facilitated by Jackie Kookesh with support from Alaska RSI and Richard and Nora Dauenhauer of Sealaska Heritage Foundation. A data collection/archive workshop will also take place in November. Participants will include the Sitka and Chatham district teams, Sitka Tribe of Alaska staff, Sheldon Jackson Library staff and Egan Library (UAS) staff. The workshop will be facilitated by Jana Garcia, a Haida archivist. | |
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Village Science: Good Stew by Alan Dick:As we develop science curriculum based on the local environment, we must acknowledge that it takes time to come up with good questions as well as good answers. Some ideas turn into dead ends. Perhaps my dirt road with potholes is such a venture. It is hard to tell at this stage. The last work I did in developing curriculum based on village life came to me over a three-year span. I was working on the roof when an idea came. I climbed down the ladder to make note of it. As I was driving a boat or cutting wood, ideas came. Usually they come in the middle of an activity. Writing them down before they drift away takes a conscious effort. New ideas are fragile and need to be handled very gently. They are easily lost. They are often overcome by discouragement. However, I have found that "making a stew" of relevant ideas, allowing them to simmer in my mind, and finally bringing them forth when they are complete is one of the most satisfying processes of my life. Good stew simmers well on the back of the cook stove, the ingredients mingling in a way that each one compliments the other. Our intent now is to simmer the ingredients of Western and indigenous science, allow them to mingle and compliment each other. The composite will be far more savory than the ingredients in isolation. As we develop the new ideas, we must be careful to allow them the necessary time for formation. If we do, they will endure. | |
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What's in a Name? by Rachel Craig:Naming of our children is something that we as Inupiat have taken for granted. Everybody has to have a name, right? If we run out of Inupiaq names of people we like, then we ask our mothers or grandmothers or other close relatives for names that they would recommend from earlier generations or other kinfolk that we were not aware of. It pleased them to know that we would turn to them for assistance in something as important as the naming of our child. This is one of the times that they rehearsed our family trees to us and wonder why certain names did not get used from either side of the family. As prospective parents of the new namesake in the family, we also got a glimpse of the depth of feeling that our grandparents had for those early forebears and what some of our ancestors' characteristic traits were. This lesson in our ongoing genealogy brought the generations closer together. It gave our generations thoughts and glimpses of our forebears that we knew nothing about. It gave our informers the opportunity to remember their relatives that they had not thought about in a long time, plus giving them a time for a "teaching moment" to the next generation. Another custom of some of our people is that some elders single out a young child as their future mother or father. Aakaksrautiin (my future mother) or aapaksrautiin (my future father), the old people would call the child. Somehow they appreciated the qualities of that child with whom they wished their namesake to live. We didn't pay much attention to the words of the old people when we were in our primary ages, but those endearments are remembered at the time of childbearing age. Take, for instance, my maternal grandfather. I don't remember the exact circumstances one day when he let me know that he didn't want me to name any of my children for him because he said I was impatient. His namesake might be subjected to too much scolding, he said. It didn't matter to me at the time because I was too young to be thinking of children. Years later, I cared for my nephew when his mother was ill in the hospital. Unbeknownst to me, apparently my grandfather observed my "mothering." He said to me then, that if I should have any children, even an adopted one, that I should name one for him. His mother died while my grandfather was young and his father raised him and his two older brothers. Therefore, he would like to call her namesake his "mother." When the elders hear that so-and-so's name was bestowed on a newborn baby, the attitude of our elders then was that the person had "come home" through the new namesake. Even though I have worked with our elders for many years, I haven't yet figured out if the Inupiat believed in reincarnation when they made comments like this. Perhaps it's just a figure of speech that, in essence, the person has "come home" as a namesake in a new person. There are some individuals that our grandparents say do not merit naming our children after. From my understanding, it's not so much the discarding of the name but because of the negative character traits that the person had. If the baby is given that person's name anyway, words are spoken to the baby to the effect that the previous namesake used up all those negative qualities and for the new baby to pattern his life just the opposite way-the specific qualities that the baby was supposed to seek after were spoken to him. The thing that goes along with naming is that when you talk to a newborn baby, the child hears the words spoken to it and unconsciously internalizes them. Later on you see those traits just naturally exhibited by the child as he is growing up. To give the newborn child words of wisdom of the character traits in its first few days of life that you want him to live by the rest of his life is an important custom among the Inupiat. In later years, as the good qualities become evident in that person's life, sometimes the only explanation is that so-and-so had spoken to the baby in his infancy. That's why he is the way he is. Very strong medicine. Perhaps I'm the only Eskimo that many of you have seen, or will ever see. We very seldom call ourselves Eskimo, but because of the power of the printed word, that's how the world knows us. It was the Cree Indians of Canada that the explorers heard call us Eskimo meaning "eaters of raw meat" in their Cree language. Of course the printed word spread that name all over the world. But from time immemorial, the relationship between the Inupiat and the Indians has been pretty much like the Hatfields and McCoys, although there were some exceptions which ended in marriage. That is hardly the case now for us in Alaska since we have been thrown together and educated by the good old U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in boarding schools. We found out that some members of the other tribes weren't so bad after all. But our name for ourselves has always been Inupiaq which translates to an "authentic human being" or a "real person." In other words, a local Native person, one whose bloodlines are not mixed with other human groups. This does not implicate dislike for other ethnic groups. A Native mixed with Caucasian bloodlines would be Naluagmiuyaaq (mixed with people with bleached skin), one who is part black would be Taaqsipaiyaaq (one sired by a person having dark skin). I think we Inupiat have become notorious for marrying into all ethnic groups of the world. Back to naming. For most of my young years, I thought I was named for my maternal great-grandmother. My grandfather always called me Aakaan-meaning "my mother." It was much later when I was doing our family genealogy that I began to realize that my mother's younger sister had died in May and I was born the following December, so I was actually named for my aunt. My maternal grandmother used the same crooning words to me that she had used for her deceased daughter-my namesake. Our word in Inupiaq is "nuniaq" when you say all those sweet endearing words to the babies. It makes the baby smile and become coy and not know what to do. In Inupiaq, we say that the baby una. My great-grandmother, for whom we were named, was the favorite niece of one of her uncles. Whenever the uncle hunted, he would save his niece the choice piece of meat from the breast of ptarmigan or other fowl-savigutchaurat, we call them because they are in the shape of a knife. So my great-grandmother, whose name was Piquk, actually became known as Savigummuaq, a fractured Inupiaq word that was intended to mean "somewhat like a shape of a knife." Some members of my family sometimes call me "Savik" for short, meaning "knife." When they ask me how I am, I tell them that I'm sharp as ever. Actually, I have had some dull days, too. So as names go, Savigummuaq is actually Piquk, like Peggy is Margaret or Bill is William. I also have other namesakes like Quunnignaq (one who calms the waters), Kayuqtuana (root word is fox) and Kaluuraq (has something to do with a drumbeat.) These are the names that my grandfather, Piquk's son, told me about. Later on, I found out from other people that my atiins were also Sapiqsuaq, Taapsuk and possibly others. All my namesakes have treated me with the utmost kindness and best regard and I know that anyone of them would have helped me in any way they could as much as I would do for them. Being atiin with someone gives you a special relationship that makes you proud to be with them and uplift them as really good exceptional people. Our expectations from our namesakes are high and we would do any good thing for them and stick up for them. Two beautiful girls have been named for me. One is a beautiful teenager of Irish descent with beautiful blue eyes who has grown taller than me. She is the eldest of eight children. Another girl, from my extended family, is about four years old. She has a black father and she is equally beautiful in her personality and very much loved by her brothers. I have a special bond with these my namesakes. We really don't know how old our names are or how many generations have used them. There's no way we can do literature research, either, because all our history was oral until an orthography was developed for our Inupiaq language in the late 1940s. Inupiaq names are given to us regardless of gender. I have a friend who has a family of boys. She named one of them for her grandmother who raised her. One of my uncles named one of his sons for his mother. It is our understanding that if a male person is given a known female's name that somehow that person becomes a good hunter. My own mother bore her uncle's Inupiaq name. I hardly knew her since she died when I was five years old. However, she was known as a sharpshooter among her family. She could take a -25.35 rifle without an attached scope and the geese that are flying high that she aimed at would one by one fall to the ground. Her father used to take her seal hunting with him because of her shooting skills. And yet she was just as feminine as any woman who loved good clothes and was conscious of her femininity at other times. She also had a sister who was named for their grandfather. This sister was strong and drove a dogteam, brought home logs to burn for fuel, blocks of ice to melt for drinking water and did village-to-village freighting by dogteam like any man. But still she raised a large family of her own. Some members of my family sometimes call me "Savik" for short, meaning "knife." When they ask me how I am, I tell them that I'm sharp as ever. My mother's siblings that survived consisted of a brother (the oldest in the family), five sisters in the middle and, finally, another brother (the youngest.) The oldest brother was chosen by a local old woman to be her-new namesake because my uncle's three eldest siblings had died in infancy and they wanted this baby boy to live. In her day, the old woman was a known shaman and her instructions were that he should not be called her name while she lived. So one of his names became Atqiluaraq (one without a name) and he became Qinugan upon the elderly lady's death. To qinu is to desire something, so I imagine his name became your desired one. When we were growing up we just accepted people's names without wondering what they meant. It is only when we were exposed to the Western culture and began to be asked all kinds of questions including what our names meant that we started to think about our Inupiaq names in terms of meaning. Another custom of our people is that when one of the children dies, the parents bestow the same Inupiaq name on one of their younger newborn children. Then, for the record, two individuals bear the same name in the same family, except that one of them was born earlier but is deceased. My understanding of that situation is that whoever bestowed that name on the child loved the original namesake so much that they want to keep his name alive in the family. I don't think the Christian concept of resurrection of two members in the same family having the same name even figured into the practice. This is a practice that pre-dates the introduction of the Christian religion to the Inupiat and it is still practiced today even among people who have become good Christians. Another custom that is prevalent is that when an adult is recently deceased, a new baby is given that deceased person's name. It doesn't really matter that the deceased is not a blood relative. I believe it is considered an honor to have the privilege to name your child for that person to perpetuate his name and memory. I have given you real examples of how we are given our names. These are not theories, but situations which have developed in families and happened in real life. I hope they mean something to you. They certainly do to us Inupiat. | |
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Yup'ik/Cup'ik Regional Report by Barbara Liu, Yugtun "Makell":Waqaa, Camai-Y/Cugtun naaqiyugngalriani. Ciumek Qanrucuugamci caliamtenek Amiirairvigmi. Qula malrugnek cipluku tegganret quyurtellruut Mamterillermi pingayuni ernerni. Angayuqam ilagallruakut. Quyurtaqamta yugtarmi qanerturluteng Y/Cugtun augkut tegganret taillret nunanek waniug Kuinerraamek, Kassiglumek, Naparyaarmek, Cev'armek, Manuquutamek, Nanvarpagmek, Mamterrillermek-llu pillruut. Quyaviksugaput arcaqerluku Naparyaarmek temirtenrat ilagautellra taugaam cali tuingunrituurluku cam illiiniku tangrutenqigciiqngamta unitengravkut. Imiirat qanellrit wii caliaqciqanka. Cayarait arnat anguutet-llu allakaulaata avvluki piyugyaaqanka uumiku. Atam, ayuqestasiigutekluku melquliuyaram caliari amllertut. Angutet wall'u arnaungermeng pissutullruit. Caliaqellrit-llu pitat ayuqevkenani cayaralirluni taqellranun yaavet atuurkaurrluku. Uumiku pikumta avvluta angutet tegulallratnun piciqut. Arnat-llu pikata pitat caliaritnun amiilratnek, neqkiurluki, atuurkiullritnun. Augna tuai ayuqestassiigutekluku qanrutkaqa. Elitnaurutkanun ayagyuamta elicarcuutaitnun alngaqsugluki piinanemteni piyuutekluku. Cali maai uksuarumainanrani piyunarqekumta tegganret allaneqsugyaaqanka Mamterillermi Uivik tupailgan. Tua-i waten pitaunga. Uumiku pillerkangqerquma cali qanemciciqua. Ikayungcaquvet makut ciuliamta qanellratnun quyaciqua. Translation Hello readers, first off, I would like to let you know that the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative Yup'ik/Cup'ik Elders Council met September 3-5. Twelve elders met in Bethel for three days. Oscar Kawagley was with us. We met at the Yup'ik/Cup'ik museum conducting meetings in Yup'ik/Cup'ik only, with elders from Quinhagak (Andy and Elizabeth Sharp), Kasigluk (Teddy and Eliza Brink), Hooper Bay (Jonathan Johnson), Chevak (Joseph and Lucy Tuluk), Manakotak (Henry Alakayak and Anuska Nanalook), Illiamna (Gregory and Evelyn Anelon, Sr.) and Bethel (Lucy Beaver). We (Alaska RSI) would like to send a special thank you to the spirit of our eldest elder from Hooper Bay, Jonathan Johnson, ninety-four, who passed on September 16. It's not the end; someday we shall see each other again, though we part physically. I will work on the collected documents. Traditional male and female roles are defined separately, so I prefer to do the same when the elders meet. For example, care of an animal, particularly one that has been caught, is a step-by-step process to acquire an end product from the raw resource. Using this example, men and women in different settings share varying experiences of animal care. From this perspective, math and science activities will be tasseled (like on a parka tassel) onto educational materials and curriculum adaptation. This fall I plan to hold more elders' workshops, gathering oral indigenous knowledge in Bethel before the month of December. That's it for now. Next time, God willing, I will have more to share. If you need assistance with Yup'ik/Cup'ik elders documentation, I am happy to help in any way I can. Piurci. | |
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VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:Congratulations! The University of Alaska Fairbanks AISES Chapter has won the Zanin Award for the Most Outstanding Chapter of the Year 1996 at the 18th National AISES Conference in Salt Lake City, November 14-17, 1996. Ten UAF students attended: Sasha Atuk, Fairbanks Mark Blair, Kotzebue/Detroit John Henry, Stebbins Jason Huffman, Huslia Shay Huntington-McEwen, Galena Kim Ivie, Fairbanks Carleen Jack, Stebbins Patience Merculief, St. Paul Mike Orr, Bethel Stefan Rearden, Bethel Oscar Kawagley spoke about the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative on the Traditional Knowledge and Science Panel during the concurrent sessions at the conference. He attended a book signing at the career fair for his book, A Yupiaq Worldview: A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit. During the precollege teacher meetings Oscar gave a talk on Native ways of knowing and Claudette Bradley-Kawagley spoke on tessellation patterns in mathematics. In addition, four teachers from the Arctic Region AISES Professional Chapter attended the conference: Bernadette Alvanna-Stimpfle, Nome Edna Apatiki, Gambell Arva Carlson, Barrow Debra Webber-Werle, Noatak Everyone enjoyed the conference with its informational workshops, large banquet dinners and many inspirational speeches. The Arctic Regional AISES liaison teachers attended a workshop in Nome, November 8-10, 1996. Teachers wrote lesson plans for AISES precollege chapter/clubs. Chip McMillan of UAF School of Education will write a manual with the lesson plans and summary of the talks on Native Science. This manual will be distributed to every school in the Inupiaq region. The teachers planned for the science fair projects to begin in the spring. The data collection will occur during the summer months and students will assemble their display boards in the fall. The science fair will take place in a village of the Northwest Arctic School District November 20-22, 1997. The science fair will have an opening ceremony with Native dancing. The elders council will judge the projects as well as the teachers and scientists. Students will have two sets of awards: one given by the elders and one given by teachers and/or scientists. We hope students will have many projects dealing with issues of Native science and village science application. | |
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Alaska First Nations Research Network by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:The objectives of Mokakit are: * to foster higher education among First Nations, * to promote and enhance individual and group research initiatives, * to review and highlight current research information, * to organize and host conferences related to Mokakit concerns, * to conduct workshops and seminars in research methodology, * to provide a resource base for First Nations communities, * to maintain an inventory of research studies in Native education, * to identify critical areas for research in Native education which are not being addressed and * to encourage Native graduate students to address these areas in their research theses and dissertations. The objectives are certainly those to which we subscribe. As we embark on pathways to Native education, to include Native languages, ecosophy, spirituality and lifeways, and seek ways to incorporate English and the various disciplines from the Western world to the newly developed courses of study, calls for such an organization. Ecosophy is the seeking of wisdom from the ecological system in which one finds oneself. Nature is the university of the universe. Ellam Yua has placed many models of knowing within it, all we need to do is seek with mind and soul to get a sense of knowing and letting it work in our lives. For example, we get a message of wonder from the raven-it is never bored and it is constantly exploring its surroundings. Water has the ability to take the form of its container and yet has the potential of awesome power. From it, we learn patience and the practice of soft power. The objectives as recounted above are qualitative and comprehensive. They will help in setting ways to assess the change processes in Native language acquisition and learning of Native ways of creating identity, developing uniqueness, seeking natural models of knowing and getting a sense of accomplishment. Educators who are trained in research must begin to develop partnerships with teachers, aides, parents and elders in doing research. We realize that trained researchers are not the only ones capable of doing noteworthy and useful research. On behalf of Mokakit and AFNRN, I encourage anyone interested in education to join as we need all the expertise that is out there. | |
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Alaska Native Science Commission Update:(Excerpts taken from the Status Report for AFN Convention 1996) Highlighted Activities l. Project & grant awards received by the Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC) include: a. Social Transition in the North: Two multi-year projects to oversee completion, collect data and archive materials from Alaska and the Russian Far East. b. Alaska Native Science Commission: A three-year project to begin implementation of the goals and objectives of the ANSC and to develop plans for creating an independent organization. c. Arctic Contaminants Science Plan: A joint project of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute of Social & Economic Development and ANSC to augment Native involvement in assessment of impacts of contaminants on subsistence food harvests. 2. Inter-agency agreements between ANSC and agencies such as the Arctic Research Commission, Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and Environmental Protection Agency are in process to address issues of information, communication, opportunities, funding, cooperation and compatible goals. 3. Considerable effort has gone into developing ties with scientific and Native organizations involved in Arctic research. These linkages include the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Office of Naval Research, State Department of Fish & Game, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, National Research Council, National Marine Fisheries, State Department of Education, State Department of Health & Social Services, U. S. Arctic Network, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, American Public Health Association, International Union for Circumpolar Health, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, Canadian First Nations, Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, Eskimo Walrus & Whaling Commissions, North Slope Borough, RuralCAP, Harbor Seal Commission, Sea Otter Commission and the Indigenous People's Council on Marine Mammals. 4. The ANSC has conducted and participated in numerous conferences, meetings, panels and classes throughout Alaska, circumpolar countries and the U.S. to publicize the concept and creation of the Alaska Native Science Commission. Structure The ANSC solicited nominations from Native corporations and villages throughout Alaska to form the Board of Commissioners. The names of the seven commissioners will be released by AFN shortly and represent the following groups: * Alaska Native Education (2) * Arctic Research Commission * Elder * Natural Resource Manager * Scientist * Teacher For additional information contact: Patricia Longley Cochran, Executive Director Alaska Native Science Commission 3211 Providence Drive University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, Alaska 99508 phone: (907) 786-7704 fax: (907) 786-7739 email: anpac1@uaa.alaska.edu | |
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Alaska RSI Regional Contacts:Amy Van Hatten Athabascan Regional Coordinator (907) 474-5086 e-mail: fyav@aurora.alaska.edu Andy Hope Southeast Regional Coordinator (907) 465-6362 e-mail: fnah@aurora.alaska.edu Elmer Jackson Inupiaq Regional Coordiantor (907) 475-2257 e-mail: fnej@aurora.alaska.edu Moses Dirks (907) 274-3611 e-mail: fhmd@aurora.alaska.edu Barbara Liu (907) 543-3467 e-mail: fnbl@aurora.alaska.edu | |
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Alaska's First Tribal School by Patricia Wade:During the first summer, we held our school on Saturday afternoons. Katherine began to teach the Athabascan language, ancient legends (called ya ne dah ah), history, culture and beadwork. It was lots of fun and when falltime rolled around, the children decided, along with the parents, that they would rather go to a tribal school than back to public school. We asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for assistance, but all they did was condemn our dilapidated, old building. So we went ahead on our own, with volunteers for teachers, and put the children on correspondence courses. We have had as many as nine students in grades ranging from kindergarten to 11th. The morning hours are spent working on regular correspondence schoolwork. The afternoons are devoted to cultural activities. Students are currently making Athabascan dolls. Some of their activities include field trips into the woods to identify different markings, lessons in environmental care-taking of the land, our family tree and how we're all related, ya ne dah ah stories, and singing the old Indian songs while dancing and drumming. They have also made up some new Indian songs using Athabascan words. During the last ten or fifteen minutes of the school day, the students do janitorial work, washing dishes, sweeping, mopping and dusting. I work with the students on Tuesday afternoons to keep them updated on all of the activities of our tribe. As potential future Chickaloon Village leaders, they are benefiting from the Ya Ne Dah Ah School teachings. They are taught to respect the elders, the earth and each other. The ya ne dah ah stories have wonderful lessons and morals. Some of the characters are so outrageous they make perfect examples of someone you definitely don't want to act like! Although Alaska's only tribal school runs on a shoestring budget, it has been very successful in giving our children an opportunity to receive their education in a friendly, warm atmosphere where they are allowed to have pride in their heritage. | |
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Aleut Region by Moses L. Dirks:During our meetings, the elders in the Aleutian and Kodiak regions were asked which area of indigenous science they wished to concentrate on for fulfilling the Indigenous Science Knowledge Base initiative for this year. Following are the areas of cultural knowledge that the elders thought to be important to focus on for the first year's initiative: 1. weather forecasting 2. navigation skills and survival 3. foods-preparation and preservation 4. building and design (barabaras, baidaikas) 5. edible plants Once a final determination was made by the Aleut elders' councils, the memorandum of agreements (MOA) partners were asked to assist in developing a program compatible with goals of the elders. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History department and the Kodiak Area Native Association were involved. William Schneider and David Krupa of the Oral History department are presently helping us design the program for a regional cultural atlas on a CD-ROM for the region. Once completed, users of the database will be able to click on topics of interest and either a) hear elders discuss topics or b) go to an annotated bibliography concerning the topic. Included will be photos to give users an idea of the area and maps have been drawn up and scanned into the database to orient users as well. Kodiak Elders Council met again in November to review what was completed thus far on the regional cultural atlas. No significant changes were made by the elders council to the CDROM atlas. Funding restrictions and lateness of the start of the project hindered efforts to have the regional atlas reviewed by the Aleutians Elders Council. The regional cultural atlas is scheduled to be made available by the end of 1996. The success of this project comes not only from the participating elders in our region, but also from the efforts of people who took the time to prepare written transcriptions from tapes of the elders conferences held in Kodiak and Unalaska. Thanks go to Kathy Turco for recording the elders sessions, Barbara Svarny Carlson for transcribing the Unalaska (Aleut) elders conference tapes and Sabrina Sutton of the Kodiak Area Native Association for transcription of the Kodiak elders' conference tapes. Recognition and thanks go to those who compiled the bibliographic resources presently available that reflect the topic areas identified by elders' councils for the Alutiiq region: Dr. Nancy Yaw Davis, Elizabeth Williams and Connie Hogue. In the Aleutian Island region, Raymond Hudson, Suzi Golodoff and Sherry Ruberg provided assistance in the bibliographic search. The Aleut Region is getting ready for 1997 and its new initiative entitled Elders and Cultural Camps. Our plan is to work with regional organizations and school districts to form partnerships in the Aleut region. We are also hoping to form Aleut/Alutiiq Native Teachers Associations that will, in turn, help develop a program together with elders in the Aleut region. Teachers and elders will assist in curriculum development through this program. Regional elders who specialize in indigenous life and survival skills will be consulted as mentors and teachers in conducting cultural teachings and activities in the camps. Subjects from butchering seals, preparing fish and buildings barabaras will be some of the topics we intend to develop. The product will be a video documentation of elders' camp activities as well as school curriculum to be used in the Aleut region. This will be made available for future integration in schools once it is completed. If you know of anyone who is interested and has the facilities to work with us in conducting camps in this initiative, please contact me at the Alaska Federation of Natives. New to the program this coming year also is the Annenberg Rural Challenge (ARC). This project will provide the opportunity to focus on the social studies area and will optimize the Alaska RSI program goals of implementing additional aspects of Native ways of knowing into the school curricula. The 1997 initiative for the ARC will be Reclaiming Tribal Histories. Harold Napolean will be contacting local governments in the Aleut Region to determine which communities might be interested in participating in this initiative. Please contact Harold or me at the AFN office if you are interested in learning more about this project. We have started our rounds in visiting school districts and regional organizations to solicit interest in the Aleut region. The following preliminary contacts have been made thus far: Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Kodiak Area Native Association, Kodiak Island Borough School District, Afognak Native Corporation and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rural Education Department. All preliminary visits have been positive and helpful in the effort to develop Native Ways of Knowing in the Aleut region. If there are any questions, comments or suggestions concerning the Alaska RSI or the ARC projects, please don't hesitate to call on me. | |
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Angoon Elementary School by Mary J. Duncan:1. tléix 2. déix 3. násk 4. daax´oon 5. keijín 6. tleidooshu 7. dax. adooshu 8. nas´gadooshu 9. gooshuk 10. jinkaat The students write four addition and four subtraction problems. The number sentences will vary. Here are examples of the number sentences: tléix + déix = násk keijín - daax´oon = tleix gooshuk + tléix = jinkaat nas'gadooshu - tleidooshu = déix Once the students have their number sentences completed on paper then we will make a Tlingit Math Book. They write the number sentences and draw objects above each number, so that you can tell what the number is just by looking at the objects . This is one way to reinforce the language so that they hear it all the time. The finished product will be sent home so that the students can teach their relatives. | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:You will read in other articles about spirituality, harmony, sharing, love for others, coordination for mutual benefits and many priceless efforts made by Alaskans. Your eyes will follow sentences that are written to tell a story with an unknown voice to you but well known by someone as they remembered it. To me, it isn't just the echo of my parents' and grandparents' voices, but I can certainly identify with a portrayal of a more serene, pleasant way of life. "Long before I wrote stories, I listened to stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it's an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole." -Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginning, 1983 This is a story I see as a mutual relationship between the beavers' lifestyle and the Alaska RSI people. Beavers are important both spiritually and economically to the Athabascan people. I wanted to list some comparisons. Read it like you would be looking at the flip side of a coin. Have you ever heard the expression "busy as a beaver"? It is a true aphorism especially for beaver mammals in late summer and early fall. That is when they get ready for winter. Beavers probably got that reputation because they can gnaw at a tree until its down and store it for future use without much delay. Their survival is dependent on it. Through the Alaska RSI program our future generation is dependent on our joint admirable interests and vision for integrating indigenous knowledge with western knowledge. By nature beavers play an important role in ecology. Their behavior influences the local environment as they change the streams and sloughs into ponds by building dams. Their dams create an important habitat for themselves and for other animals-invertebrates, birds, etc. Today, from diverse backgrounds, we are pooling resources and building on our goals and objectives for our approach to rural educational systems. While networking for a historical change, we should not ignore one system or cast one out, but integrate them, using oral traditions with textbooks, not just textbook to textbook. Beavers are admirably suited for their habitat. Our rural elders are best suited as our guides, mentors and councils since they have experienced living with nature which we lack, to a certain degree, at the moment. Beavers have sharp teeth, like chisels. Our elders have sharp minds and wisdom of the environment, animals and human nature. Beavers have extended family responsibilities and are family oriented. Like them, we recognize the importance of treating one another as equals, extending a helping hand, and providing additional environments for learning, laughing and living a productive life. Beavers are busy, busy, busy in late summer and early fall. Like them, we are gathering data, recording, and documenting elder cultural activities. Beavers use their tail for balance. Like them, we know who to lean on and who can support our efforts in breaking new ground until we are strong enough to stand on our own. Beaver tails are made up of fat. That storage can be used to sustain the beaver until food becomes available during scarce times. Like them, we store information that we gather so it can be used extensively beyond the year 2000. It is important information that will overlap from time to time, from one area to another. Young beavers, after several years, head up or down stream to find mates, build dams and a lodge of their own. As Alaska RSI participants, we adopt new partners through MOAs and other initiatives that reinforce synergistic processes as a whole. Beaver lodges usually include an older, mated pair, young from the previous year and young of the current year living and working together. We are closely connected to encourage trying our new ideas while relating to people from the outside. Beavers are interesting and unusual animals, like some people. Beavers start families all over again. Like us. Welcome to our big family! Thank you. | |
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Best wishes to Bill Pfisterer:Best wishes to Bill Pfisterer on his retirement after 31 years of dedicated service to the education of our youth and teachers. Congratulations Bill! | |
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Cultural Innovation at Netsvetov by Ethan Petticrew:The highlight of our school is the dance group which was started several years ago. This group, Atxam Taligisniikangis, has made great leaps in the last year. It has built pride in our cultural self-esteem, created a greater awareness of what it is to be Unangan, revived ancient rituals and dances, and has spawned a hunger to learn as much about our ancestors as possible in this day and age by our students. The group has performed in many places around the state, and is constantly getting requests and invitations to perform all over the country. In the past, we have performed for Alaska Federation of Natives, the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church and last year we were selected to represent all of Alaska at the Arctic Winter Games. Each student at the school is required to take this class daily. It has replaced "traditional" physical education (P.E.) classes at the school. Students who want to do other P.E. activities are encouraged to attend open gym night. This is radically different than other schools who make Native dancing an extra curricular activity. Students attend dance class daily with enthusiasm. In fact, if the class is canceled for reasons related to scheduling, then our students are disappointed and on the verge of revolution. The group not only uses ancient dances, but also creates dances from traditional stories and from every day life in our islands. The use of the old stories in our dances has created a greater understanding of the natural and supernatural world as seen by our ancestors-something that was overlooked and scorned as useless by the Western educators of the past. Needless to say, dancing is back and very strong in the Aleutians. Now we are committed to revising our entire curriculum to reflect the practices and philosophy of our ancestors. The revival of dancing at Netsvetov School has overflowed into all other subject areas. Atxam Taligisniikangis members back row: Jimmy Prokopeuff, Crystal Swetzof, Ethan Petticrew and Debbie Prokopeuff. Front row: Tina Golodoff, Larisa Prokopeuff, Louise Nevzoroff, Lucinda Nevzoroff, Mary Swetzof and Nancy Zaochney. Not shown are Sally Swetzof, Jason Dirks and Annlillian Nevzoroff. The Unangan language class is currently engaged in building an ulasux. This is a traditional Aleut sod house. The applications for applying knowledge learned in the construction of this house are vast and not only do the students learn the Aleut terms for every part of the house, but it can also be tied into Aleut and Western math. It is wonderful to see the students so excited about learning language and, finally, math. This house will serve a number of purposes when it is finished, some of which are the launching and training area for the iqyax (kayak) project. This project will be completed within the next two years. Students are also looking forward to the day when we can hold a traditional dance in the house. In the past few years the school has also had a number of important cultural projects which took place. These include Aleut bentwood hunting hats, beaded headdresses and drum-making. All of these activities have incorporated traditional patterns and measurements with Western-style math. The primary grades spent a good part of last year studying the old patterns in both the traditional regalia and beadwork. We believe that this activity truly helped our students in understanding the concept of patterns, which made the transfer to Westernized math patterns much easier. Last year's high school history class spent a majority of their time studying traditional Aleut society. Topics included: Aleut tribes, social structure, kinship, laws and consequences, environmental factors, life cycles, gender roles and traditional religious beliefs. In the future we will be having school-wide classes in gut skin-sewing, sealskin pants sewing and construction of an iqyax. As a result of immersing our students in a strong cultural program and seeing the educational benefits and positive results, we are moving forward and committed to improving instruction in all areas of our curriculum. This has brought us to our present position in revising curriculum. Currently, we have begun work on our science curriculum. We have just finished aligning our benchmarks and standards with state and federal standards. The next step for us will be to define materials and activities in which to attain these goals with our students. It is our desire to incorporate the knowledge of elders in designing these activities and materials, so that we have a balance of Western and traditional Aleut influences. We hope to implement our science curriculum in the fall. This spring we will begin to revise our math curriculum in the same manner. Over the next three years we are hoping to have our entire curriculum revised and fully implemented in the daily learning of our students. This is a slow process, but then again, Western education has taken years to undo the educational practices developed by our ancestors over thousands of years. In the future, we hope our students will be better able to understand our unique cultural values and to make wise decisions in a modern world with all of its challenges. After all, when we look through the eyes of our ancestors perhaps our vision will be clearer. | |
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Culturally Aligned Curriculum : | |
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Funds for Professional Development Available from SMCNWS:The Science and Math Consortium for Northwest Schools has $45,000 available to provide partial funding for Alaskan projects that represent part of a sustained, systemic effort to improve math and science education will provide high-quality training for teachers and other educators include strong follow-up, dissemination and evaluation components and are in line with state and local standards for math and science. Applications must be submitted by teams of two or more educators and are due on February 3, 1997. If you have not received application materials, and are interested in applying, please contact Stephanie Hoag at 463-4829 or 463-3446 (fax). SMCNWS can also assist with planning, coordination, follow-up and evaluation of professional development activities. Note: As of publication date of this newsetter, funding is available for the Spring semester only. | |
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