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 Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated.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 2, ISSUE 2 |
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Village Science: : | |
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Young Navigators Explore South Pole by Joshua Lewis:Through special arrangements with the National Science Foundation, excitement built a strong momentum. As a North Star School teacher, I received a call from Antarctica at 1:00 A.M., November 25th informing me of the 48-hour timeline. Strategy was designed and implemented while students quickly took up the challenge to discover all aspects of life and types of research conducted at the Southern Pole. Diving headfirst into the Internet was seconded only to massive research through traditional means of articles, documentaries, books and encyclopedias. E-mail and phone calls flew across satellites as preparations continued. The Peterson fourth and fifth grade crews joined in the expedition through the efforts of teacher Ron Gibbs. One father reported that his son, Robert Rounsaville, had talked of nothing else since the Inter-Polar Conference had been announced. As Robert's second grade teacher, I remembered Robert had expressed dreams of one day discovering a new life form when he grew up. While scientists unwound descriptive stories of giant 170 lb cod so new no name has yet to be given, Robert was hard pressed not to climb into the speakerphone. I explained that the expedition via conference call was a long process come to fruition through the efforts of Earl Ramsey, a scientist currently conducting research at McMurdo Station. Ramsey, a lifelong Anchorage resident, has been working in both polar regions for the last six years. On his brief returns to Alaska, Ramsey has always made time to lecture to my students providing vivid images of research through stories and slide shows. In October, Ramsey visited the aggressive navigators in Kodiak. The teleconference was one step in furthering the ongoing relationship. Student questions to the team of scientists covered every aspect from animal life and vegetation to loneliness and isolation. The youngsters were surprised to learn how fragile the fresh water system is. Scientists explained they are consumed with the process of making fresh water at all times. Students were enchanted with the image of standing nose to nose with a huge penguin and also expressed concern about the ozone layer issues pertaining to global warming. In a followup e-mail, the McMurdo team stated they were very impressed by the caliber of inquiry by such young researchers. The one-hour teleconference stretched to nearly two, and as Ramsey stated, could easily have been three. As the questions and answers continued to fly, the sense of community and ownership was built across the phone line. At McMurdo, the scientists being interviewed were joined one-by-one by other research team members. The lead NSF scientist, Dave Bresnahan, sat quietly listening as the room at McMurdo filled to capacity. The North Star classroom, stuffed with 60 intrepid explorers frantically attempting to capture the moment with extensive notes, diagrams, sketches, videography, photography and maps were joined by reporters, parents and teachers silently slipping into the room to catch a few moments. Tension was high until students felt assured everyone would have their moment to ask a personal question. The most recent and last communication from McMurdo station, Ross Island, Antarctica was placed by the head of communications. Students were informed Ramsey would no longer be in direct contact with them. He had begun his extensive traverse across Antarctica to continue research on ice core samples. The samples unlock such secrets as oxygen levels pertaining to air quality thousands of years ago. As Earl begins his traverse, so continues the story as the young navigators follow in his footsteps. Students Robert Rounsaville and Joseph Carvalho of North Star School in Kodiak discover the world through school without walls. | |
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Yup'ik Region by Barbara Liu:The Yup'ik/Cup'ik regional initiatives in 1997 are Culturally-Aligned Curriculum Adaptation and Language/Cultural Immersion Camps. We will be working with * Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), * Kuskokwim Campus (KUC), * Yupiit School District, * Kashunamiut School District, * Lower Yukon School District (LYSD), * Saint Mary's School District, * Bristol Bay Campus (BBC), * Southwest Region School District (SWSD) and * Lake and Peninsula Borough School District. The KYUK/ARCS MOA involves developing a documentary showing some of these schools. Maa-i caarkat matumi allrakumi elitnaurutet yivriumaciqut. Elitnaurvigni calilriit tungqurluki caliciqua maani Kusquqvagmek LKSD-iit, Yupiit SD-aat, KUC-iiq. Cali-llu Qissunamiut, Kuigpagmek LYSD-iit, St. Mary's SD-aaq, Iilgayam nuniinek BBC-iiq, SWSD-aat-llu, Nanvarpagmek-llu Lake and Peninsula SD-aat. KYUK-iiq-llu tangercetaaliciquq elitnaurvignek elluarrluteng taqutellernek elinaurutkanek. Thank you Esther Ilutsik, Cecelia Martz, Charles Kashatok and Greg Anelon, Jr. for seeing through the first year of what seemed like a monumental project to me.Through your help, we can focus on specific activities this year. New representatives from other districts will be on board and I look forward to working with all of you under this project. Quyana-llu Arnaq, Tacuk, Ac'urun, Greg-aq-llu ikayurlua caarkat caucillemteki augumi allrakumi pellullermi. Maa-i allanek elitnaurvignek ilaluta piqcaarciqukut, piinanemteni elitaqucaurciiqukut caarkaput-llu patagmek taqsugngariluki. Recently, with the help of others, I met with invited MOA school representatives and individuals on February 24 and 25, 1997 in Bethel, Alaska. The theme of our meeting was Integrating Yup'ik/Cup'ik Knowledge in Education. School representatives are an integral part of this project in sharing ideas, brainstorming and planning ways we can integrate Yup'ik/Cup'ik language, culture and knowledge in contemporary science, math and other classes. Quyurtellerkiullemteni quyana ikayurlua ernerkiurluta mat'umi Kepnercim nangyartullrani Mamterillermi. Quyureskumta elitnaurutkanek yivririciqukut Yugtaat aturluki. Wani elitnaurvigni calilriit caliameng ilii maniluku, umyuangcarluteng caarkanek taquciiqut elilnauruteksunarqellrianek qaneryaramteggun, yuucimteggun, qanruyutet elitnaurutkani alaitengesqelluki. The project initiative begins by focusing on activities that inspire the elders, teachers and students in integrating Yup'ik/Cup'ik language, culture and knowledge with Yup'ik/Cup'ik science and math curriculum development. Secondly, brainstorming to solicit ideas to integrate Yup'ik/Cup'ik language, culture and knowledge with science and math curriculum from an indigenous perspective. Finally, a planning session to establish tangible goals for the project and set calendar dates for the year. Caliaput ayagniutengqertuq yivrirluki elitnaurutkat atuugarkat tegganret, elitnauristet elitnaurat-llu piliarit paivvluki qaneryaramteggun, piciyaramteggun, qanruyuutetgun atuulrianek watua. Nutaan-llu taqumanrilnguut alairrluki atuuyugngalriit nutem wangkuta yugni piciryaraput aturluku una aipaimta elitnaurilauciat ilaluku piyuutevcenek. Nutaan, taqucugngaukut caarkamtenek, taqlerkiurluki-llu caliamta piyuuti maliggluku. The role of the regional elder council is to advise us on regional issues such as from the indigenous perspective. To facilitate this perspective, we would need to gain consensus on some of the regional issues under this project. Tegganret calilriit qanrutnarqaakut caliamta qilertellerkaanek ellaita piyuutiit maliggluku, cali-llu wangkuta umyuallgutekluta tegganemta qanellrit maligtaquluki. *Yup'ik translation in Akula dialect. Mumigtelqa Yugtun Akulmiucetun pimauq | |
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Yupiaq Mathematics: Pattern and Form in Space and Place by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:For Yup'ik people, according to elders Joshua Phillip and Fred George, the various parts of the body were their measuring instruments. The outstretched arms became the measure for the length of a fishing net. The closed fist defined the opening of the blackfish trap. Other units of measure, such as one arm's length, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the index finger, the span between the thumb and index finger extended, stepping off to mark the diameter of the qasgiq and various combinations of these became the units of measure for tasks such as making clothing, tools and shelter. Consequently, the clothing people wore and the tools needed for hunting and trapping were made precisely to fit the dimensions of the user. The women used precise patterns for making parkas and mukluks. The parka required the maker to look at the body of the person for whom it was to be made and to visualize proportions in body form (including bone structure and musculature) and size in order, for instance, to determine the number of ground squirrel skins needed. In sewing together the skins, the sewer is reminded of the family history of the patterns, tassels, decorative designs, and the use of various furs, taking advantage of their beneficial qualities. The Alaska Native people also had a numbering system (Lipka, 1994). For the Yupiat people, their numbering system used a base of twenty. Ten fingers and ten toes are needed to make a complete person. The digits are attached to appendages which are in turn attached to the body. The counting system was necessary for determining the number of furs needed to make an article of clothing. For example, it takes 45 squirrel skins or six otter skins for a man's parka. For netmaking, special wooden measuring tools were constructed, again using body parts to determine the width for different species of fish. However, there was no need to count the precise number of dry fish to last the whole winter. This was done by estimating how much storage area needed to be filled with fish to feed the family and dogs, provide for ceremonies and share with others. Always, they had to have food supplies beyond the immediate needs of the family. Sharing and reciprocity were key to their preparations. Thus, for the Yupiat people it was not necessary to quantify in precise numerical terms, but rather in proportional terms relative to size of family, time until next food supply would be available, weather conditions and nutritional uses of various foods. The Alaska Native people had many geometric designs in the things they made such as utensils, fishtraps, weirs, clothing designs and ceremonial paraphernalia. Again, it was not necessary to quantify in terms such as surface area, degree, angle, volume and other numerical dimensions. Such information alone would be considered insufficient knowledge for you were also required to know the history of the design, its replication of a natural or spiritual form, the meaning of the color and the story behind the artifact. The Alaska Native people also had no precise measurements for distance such as feet, meters and miles. Rather, distance was calculated qualitatively-measured more in terms of time and terrain than distance. The Yupiaq person would consider the mode of transportation, weather conditions, topography over which he would have to traverse, history of various sites that one would encounter along the way where food is available and, if traveling a great distance, where logical and safe rest areas were located. In considering the above, one can see that units of measure for distance alone would have rendered their knowledge incomplete and unreliable as a basis for moving from one place to another. The all-important knowledge of place would be lacking in the details that are necessary for the landscape to merge with the mindscape. Space and time were thought of differently too. Space was a multidimensional place that the human, spirit and nature occupied at the same time. The self or consciousness was considered to be time and timelessness at the same time. One accomplished what needed to be done at the right time. There was a place and time for everything. Timing in drumming and singing was important, however there was no need for a metronome because it was implicit in the act itself. To pay attention to such a device would detract from the sacredness of song, beat, motion and story. The circadian rhythm of the universe was the sacred timepiece of the Native people. Western mathematics and sciences, because of their emphasis on objectivity and detachment, introduce us to an abstract and lifeless world that has a tendency to set us apart from the rest of our relationships in the universe. However, with fractal geometry and the new sciences of chaos and complexity, the Western thought-world seems to be shifting from the quantitative and impersonal study of tangible "things" and is becoming more attuned to the qualitative dimensions as more and more of its members recognize the importance of inter-relationships (Capra, 1996). Western scientists constructed the holographic image which lends itself to the Native concept of everything being connected. Just as the whole contains each part of the image, so too does each part contain the makeup of the whole. The relationship of each part to everything else must be understood to get the whole picture (Wilber, 1985). We are finally getting there. There are many bright Native people who would make excellent elementary or high school teachers. Many of these students have problems understanding mathematics, in part because teachers don't themselves recognize it as another way of knowing with a language and logic of its own. We present mathematical abstractions as though the purpose was to practice the virtuosity of the human mind and its creativity and we lose sight of its practical applications. Native students often have trouble visualizing abstract mathematical constructs and their application to real life. Perhaps, we can overcome this problematic academic gatekeeper by introducing Native students to recognizing and understanding the patterns and forms in their own world through which they can visualize the problems and then move from qualitative to quantitative explanations. From the tangible we can go slowly into the intangible. The interest that such an approach can spark is evident in the work of the Inupiaq students from Kaktovik, who have created their own system for representing Inupiaq numerals (Bartley, 1997). We are in a modern world which was described ably by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" New information is bombarding us from all quarters with entropy setting in and the decay of knowledge brings about confusion. It behooves us then to slow down and see what knowledge and information will help us to build the kind of world that we would like. What aspects of mathematics and the sciences will help free us from the obsession with self and materialism? We can learn from the way our ancestors made sense of the world and used keen observation of patterns and form in relation to space and place to maintain balance between the human, natural and spiritual worlds. You see, our problem is a crisis of consciousness. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Society is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty of the eater." We experience resistance to making change in the world, but our efforts must continue with spirit and determination. References Capra, F. (1996). The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Doubleday. Lipka, J. (1994). Culturally Negotiated Schooling: Toward a Yup'ik Mathematics. Journal of American Indian Education, 33(3), 14-30. Lopez, B. (1986). Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Wilber, K. (1985). The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes: Exploring the Leading Edge of Science. Boston: New Science Library. Bartley, W.C. (1997). Making the Old Way Count. Sharing Our Pathways, 2(1), 12. (Available from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network) | |
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VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 |
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Active Reality Research, Part I by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:For the Yupiaq people, culture, knowing and living are intricately interrelated. Living in a harsh environment requires a vast array of precise empirical knowledge to survive the many risks due to conditions such as unpredictable weather and marginal food availability. To avoid starvation they must employ a variety of survival strategies, including appropriate storage of foodstuffs that they can fall back on during the time of need. Their food gathering and storage must be efficient as well as effective. If this were not so, how could they possibly hope to survive? To help them achieve this balance, they have developed an outlook of nature as metaphysic. The Alaska Native world views and technologies are conducive to living in harmony with the universe. Their lives, subsistence methods and technology were devised to edify their world view. After all, the Alaska Native creator is the raven. So, how could the human being be superior to the creatures of Mother Earth? How could their hunting and trapping implements be made of offensive materials to animals that they have to kill in order to live? Thus, their tools were fashioned from resources which were not refined, but formed and shaped using the natural materials. Their tools, housing and household utensils had to be with and of nature. Harmony was the key idea behind this practice. They believed all plants, creatures, winds, mountains, rivers, lakes and all things of the earth possessed a spirit, therefore had consciousness and life. Everything was alive and aware, requiring relationships in a respectful way so as not to upset the balance. The four values of honor, respect, reciprocity and cooperation are conducive to adaptation, survival and harmony. The Native people honored the integrity of the universe. It is a whole living being. As it is living, all things of the earth must be respected because they also have life. The Native people had the ability to communicate with all things of the universe. This is called reciprocity. From observing nature, the Alaska Native people learned that the earth and the universe are built upon the premise of cooperation. Researchers must implement these tour values to advance knowledge and expand consciousness. The constructs and understandings of the Alaska Native people must be honored for their integrity on the level of the modern scientific holographic image. The holographic image does not lend itself to reductionism nor fragmentation. Reductionism tries to break reality into parts in order to understand the whole without realizing that the parts are merely patterns extant in a total web of relationships. The Native world views do not allow separation of its parts as each part must be understood in its relationships to all other parts of the whole. Respect for the Native people who formalized this view must be practiced. The Native people have transcended the three-dimensional, quantifying and sensory constricted studies of nature practiced by the modern world. It behooves that there be cooperation between the researcher and Native people. The researchers must forget about human superiority to things of the universe and to people considered primitive and backward. The Native people must be treated as equal human beings with powers of observation, critical analysis and a gift of intuition and the magical. Following are some examples that make the practice of the four values difficult or impossible from the perspective of the modern world for doing research in a Native world. The tools of mathematics have given us some ideas about patterns and forms as well as abstract and esoteric formulae that sometimes leave us confused and questioning the use to which they will be put. For example, when will the hunter need to know the exact distance across a river using trigonometric functions? However we agree with a lot of mathematical and scientific theories and concepts, such as the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; that a circle is a line that keeps falling in toward the center; that the radii in a circle are equal length; that the circle has no beginning and no end; and so forth. These are common sense ideas that indigenous people can readily subscribe to. Part two of this article will appear in the fall issue of Sharing Our Pathways. | |
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AISES Corner by Claudette Bradley-Kawagley:The AISES summer camp, for students entering grades seven through nine, starts July 14 at the UAF campus for ten days and continues for eleven more days at the Howard Luke Camp, five miles from Fairbanks on the Tanana River. The camp objectives are to: * Stimulate interest in mathematics, sciences, and engineering among Alaskan Native students. * Increase student's confidence and knowledge in mathematics and science. * Prepare students for cultural challenges away from their traditional environment. * Incorporate Native values with western mathematics and science. * Encourage parents of students to support the academic pursuits of their children. * Spend ten days on campus with rural educators and UAF professors. * Spend eleven days in an Athabascan camp located on the Tanana River just outside of Fairbanks. * Learn first hand from Native elders with hands-on projects relative to rural survival. Students will have an opportunity to work on their science fair projects with teachers, scientists and elders employed by the camp. They will have use of the Rasmusen Library and other university facilities and begin their experiments and the collection of data. All projects will be completed by the student either during the camp or in his/her home village. Students will develop their display boards with village teachers during the fall and enter their region science fair to be held November 20-22. The regional science fair will be in Fairbanks for Interior students and in Ambler for Inupiaq students. | |
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AISES Update: Barrow, Alaska by Carla Willetto:The llisagvik chapter began hosting a lunch-time lecture series which entailed an invited speaker giving a twenty-five to thirty minute presentation on a science or engineering topic. College students and staff, as well as the public, were invited and encouraged. Speakers have included the North Slope Borough veterinarian who spoke about rabies and a local borough administrator, also an amateur astronomer, who presented information about the comet Hale-Bopp. These lectures were very well attended. Through the Inupiat Research Institute at Ilisagvik College, one student was able to arrange for the AISES StarLab to be brought to Barrow. The StarLab is a portable planetarium and was shared with the K-12 schools in Barrow where it was a big hit with the students. The chapter was also represented by a student who helped judge the Barrow High School Science Fair in March. The highlight for several members was the AISES Region I Conference at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The college was represented by four student members and keynote speaker, Richard Glenn. They thoroughly enjoyed the tours, sessions, Career Expo and fellowship with new friends throughout the conference, as well as the concurrent Festival of Native Arts. They returned to school armed with notes, ideas and souvenirs. Plans are underway to implement a weekend activity every month that would be open to all Ilisagvik students as well as pre-college AISES students. They also intend to assemble recruitment displays to take to community events to increase AISES visibility and attract more members. The chapter has been supported and encouraged by various factors of Ilisagvik College-faculty advisors, administration and the Inupiat Research Institute. Support like this is crucial for the success of a young organization and speaks highly of those who support the participation of Native students in science and engineering. | |
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Aleut Region by Moses Dirks:Thus far we have all but one MOA signed; once that is completed in the Aleut Region, we will proceed with the 1997 initiatives. Elders and Cultural Camps Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Area In the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands area the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and the Annenburg Rural Challenge will be working closely with two newly signed MOA partners: the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association and the Unalaska School District. They will assist in the following capacity: * Identify Alaska Native elders and their specialty and who will be willing to contribute their expertise to educational and scientific endeavors. * Prepare a half-hour video that will foster the use of cultural camps in a natural setting, especially those related to local cultural traditions and indigenous science practices. * establish guidelines and some process for the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights of Alaska Native people as they make their traditional knowledge available to others. The Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. will be hiring a graduate assistant who will assist in the formation of the Aleut Academy of Elders, the Aleut Teachers Association and an Aleut cultural camp in the region. The Unalaska School District will assist in the development of multimedia curriculum materials and also assist in the formation of a Native teacher association in the region. Alutiiq Area Kodiak Island Borough School District will assist in the development of an Academy of Elders, Alutiiq Teacher Association and an Alutiiq Cultural Camp. The Kodiak Area Native Association has once again hired a graduate assistant. She will be assisting in the development of the Alutiiq Academy of Elders and the Alutiiq Cultural Camp on Kodiak Island. Sabrina Sutton, graduate assistant, is an MOA partner from Kodiak Area Native Association working on the Elders and Cultural Camps initiative. Reclaiming Tribal Histories/Alaska Native Reawakening Aleutian/Pribilof Area The Aleut Region will implement a new initiative connected to language arts or social studies. The initiative is entitled "Reclaiming Tribal Histories/Alaska Native Reawakening Project." The participants in the Alutiiq/Aleut Region will consist of the following: * Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative: Moses Dirks will assist Harold Napoleon in the development and implementation of the Alaska Native Reawakening Project/Reclaiming Tribal Histories. * Alaska Federation of Natives: Harold Napoleon will be coordinating the project. * Unalaska Public School: Students and teachers will be actively involved in the implementation of the Alaska Native Reawakening Project/Reclaiming Tribal Histories. Alutiiq Area The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and the Alaska Federation of Natives will be doing the same thing as the Aleutian/Pribilof area with their initiatives. Harold Napoleon of AFN will be the coordinator of the Alaska Native Reawakening Project. * Kodiak Island Borough School District: Students and teachers will be actively involved in the implementation of the Alaska Native Reawakening Project. * Alutiiq Community: One community from the Alutiiq Region to participate in the Alaska Native Reawakening Project/Reclaiming Tribal Histories. Lastly, the Aleut Region is closing out on its first initiative: Indigenous Science Knowledge Base. We are waiting for a few more signed release forms from the elders. If you have any questions concerning Annenberg Rural Challenge or the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, please call Moses Dirks or Harold Napolean at (907) 274-3611. | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:The AISES Gaalee'ya Spirit Camp will be recruiting 42 rural students, six to seven people for each of the following divisions: teachers, Native elders and college students as resident advisors. A contact person from each school district will distribute the applications to interested students. It is scheduled for July 14 through August 5, 1997. The latter part of the camp coincides with the Fourth Annual Association of Interior Native Educators Conference. It is our hope to have the AISES students show their science project achievements during that time and to be an integral part of the conference. Project WINGS has an article following mine. Now that program took off the ground right away. I think it was because of the very interesting components it concentrates on. It has a fall schedule of October 5-19, 1997. There will be two cultural geography camps in the summer months. The geographic area is the Minto flats with students from Minto. They will be researching place names through talking with their respective elders, parents and other stake holders of the community. Consultation members will be involved with curriculum development on compact disc with a guide book that would contain the Athabascan and English names for places, land forms, descriptive information for each name, stories and anecdotes from the elders about life and activities in the Minto Flats. Other Tidbits Students in Shageluk are interviewing students in New Hampshire on the internet who in turn are sharing with students in Delaware. Shageluk student's Iditarod race updates are a hit in New England. The most pleasurable time I've spent recently was listening to speakers for the Native history of the Fairbanks area before Creamer's Field days. Speakers were Howard Luke, Robert Charlie, Clara Johnson and Jim Kari. They shared information they've gathered from elders and research on the Chena Athabascan people and their historical contributions before Creamer's Field Dairy Days. The sponsors of the meeting were the Friends of Creamers. The meeting was also a training session for new volunteers. I think it pleased them very much when Jim Kari said their educational site was the first and only place that used Athabascan translations in identifying places. I will close on this high note. | |
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Bering Strait Region: Our Vision for the 21st Century by Bernadette Alvanna-Stimpfle:A group of Bering Strait School District and Nome City Schools teachers met on April 3-5 to discuss the formation of an association and to make recommendations to focus on. A large part of each day was spent on brainstorming recommendations. The recommendations focused on the imbalances in the educational system and were made to begin to address solutions to the imbalances. Some of the recommendations were: * to begin to make aware to the general public, governing bodies and employees of school districts of the imbalances that exist within the school and communities; * to design integrated cultural activities inherent to the communities into the basic curriculum and * to encourage parent involvement and to begin work on implementing a Native language immersion program. On the afternoon of April 4, Esther Ilutsik, Ciulistet Native educator from Dillingham and Henry Alakayak, Ciulistet elder consultant from Manokotak gave a great presentation on the beginnings of the Ciulistet Research Group (CRG) (see Sharing Our Pathways, Vol 1, Iss. 2). Esther demonstrated some of the educational materials that were developed by CRG that stem from traditional Yup'ik knowledge base rather than translating Western educational materials for use in the classroom. On the last day we made a list of possible names for our group and decided on "Kii" Educators Association (KEA) which means "go" in Inupiaq and the acronym shows the "KEY" to Native education. However, it is only a temporary name. I will be sending another list of names for the Native educators and participants to choose from and keep everyone updated on our progress. | |
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Inupiaq Region by Elmer Jackson:Goals for Native Ways of Knowing * To incorporate Alaska Native ways of knowing into the pedagogical practice (teaching methods) of schools in rural Alaska in such a way that knowledge can be drawn from the local culture and physical environment. * To identify strengths that Alaska Native teachers and parents bring to their teaching and to create an educational environment that capitalizes on those strengths. * To integrate appropriate Alaska Native pedagogical practices into the pre-service and in-service preparation of teachers for rural schools. Benchmarks: (Year 1) * All teachers have integrated some form of experiential learning activity into their planning each week. * All participating school districts have reviewed their teacher evaluation procedures, taking into account local culture variations in successful teaching practices. * All schools report a significant increase in parent interest and involvement in school activities, including a ten percent increase in attendance at parent-teacher conferences. o. Native student enrollment in teacher education programs has increased by ten percent. * The proportion of time in in-service programs devoted to cultural issues associated with teaching has increased by twenty percent. ANCSA and the Subsistence Economy The North Slope Borough School District, Northwest Arctic Borough School District and the Bering Strait School Districts' goals and benchmarks for ANCSA and the subsistence economy are: * To achieve a balanced and thorough treatment of the role of cash-based and subsistence economies in rural communities through a comprehensive and culturally-aligned curriculum design adaptable to local circumstances. * To develop a curriculum structure that takes into consideration the context in which learning occurs and makes use of local resources. * To form a coalition of organizations associated with resource management and related economic issues to coordinate curriculum resources and technical support for rural schools. Benchmarks: (Year 1) * Each participating school district has an articulated curriculum design that integrates the study of issues associated with ANCSA corporations and the subsistence economy and lifestyle. * Students in all participating districts are actively engaged in activities associated with the everyday life of the community. * A coalition of organizations and resources have been drawn together in each region to provide curricular support for rural schools in teaching ANCSA and the subsistence-related issues. The following organizations will participate in the implementation of the goals and benchmarks: the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, the Alaska Native regional and village corporations, the Indigenous Peoples Council for Marine Mammals, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Eskimo Whaling/Walrus Commissions, the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, the Alaska Natural Resources and Outdoor Education Association, the Alaska Society for Technology in Education, the Alaska Association of Economics Education, the Alaska Association of Social Studies Teachers, tribal colleges, school districts and the rural campuses. "The Inupiaq region will also serve as the initiator for the first of a rotating annual meeting of representatives from all resources, technology and economics education-related professional organizations throughout the state, to promote the incorporation of ANCSA and subsistence-oriented issues in school curricula in culturally appropriate ways." The North Slope Borough School District, Northwest Arctic Borough School District and the Bering Strait School District will hold subsistence curriculum development workshops. If everyone works together, the tasks will be easier to accomplish. I will keep you updated on planning meetings and other events. Charles Kingsland and Elmer Jackson at the ANREC meeting in Sitka April 23 and 24, 1997. | |
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My Sitsu (Grandmother) by Judith F. Evans:The people-what does that mean in today's world? I want to write my memories and beliefs as I feel with an Athabascan heart-young, strong and proud. At times I really wish I could go back to that house by the creek that gently flows by and whispers secrets that no one can understand but the woman that lived in the house-my grandmother, Kitty Evans. I write these words to share my memories and give as a gift to the youth and my brothers Paul Jr. and Robert Evans. I want people to know how great my grandmother was and will always be. Someday I wonder when we ourselves will be looking through books to find our identity that was lost as we said our good-byes to our passing elders and buried their knowledge and tradition with them. I weep for each one and everything that they were and represent to me as a young Athabascan woman struggling to find my place in this modern world. I remember the times I spent back at my Grammy's house as a child, from the feel of her skin to the strength of her hands, the way she gently scolded, burnt bacon, her closets cluttered with everything from plastic bags to bolts of cloth (which my sister and I explored in child-like wonder), to the time she called me, Bee Sne E whoa which means "we tell her but she never listens." My name from grandmother-it means more to me than I can express in words. Just feel what I feel and maybe you will get a glimpse of where I come from. My grandmother never let me down; her heart never quit giving and still gives even though she is in another place. I feel it everyday; I see it in some of the things I do. I feel her love as I walk outside and look around and see the Yukon River and the land that shaped and put forth the necessities for my grandmother to forge her life as an Athabascan elder. As I am older, when I think back and I see my grandmother's eyes staring at me, I see in those eyes all the knowledge that I wish I could have known. If only, if only, if only . . . but that does not take away the regret I have in my heart. If only I would have learned or listened a little harder, been more attentive and put away all those modern ideals that engrossed my mind at the time and reached for what was in front of me all along. No money, no college, no one can bring her or what she had to teach me back or change my regret. But what I do have are the memories that I am blessed with and I carry them with me everywhere I go. Appreciate and utilize the time you have with your elders. If only I would have learned or listened a little harder, been more attentive and put away all those modern ideals that engrossed my mind at the time and reached for what was in front of me all along . . . | |
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New Pathways to Excellence by Florence B. Kuzuguk:Students who succeed in practicing the arts of their culture are those who have a role model from a member of their family, an outstanding citizen of the community or an inspirational teacher. Just as you make up a part of your family, school and community, they are a part of you. Your ability to become a better part of your family, school and community is limited to your motivation to succeed. With a little encouragement, skills, talents and knowledge can become treasured possessions. As a member of the community, people develop culture that is shared by the students. From the hunting skills passed on from generation to generation, students are taught how to live off the land. The skills students learn are important to the community because they preserve the culture as well as make the community stronger. By learning the skills from the elders of the community, students develop their own individual ways of doing things. Our cultural beliefs became a very important part of the community and these beliefs go on through the community's history. The key to passing along our culture is in the family. Without our culture people would have a hard time functioning in the community. We live in a community that has a culture of its own. And its own unique way of doing things. Our culture is a source of pride for many families and communities. Every family's cultural heritage is valued. Whether a student decides to give up or not is his/her choice. And many things affect that choice. Communities are made up of families and neighbors who help each other out. Once a student has been honored for any achievement, the community does many things to show how proud they are of that student. Once one student achieves excellence, more students are eager to participate. Until children are 16 years old, they are forced by the law to go to school. But the next two years of school are optional. And when a student stays in that last two years of school, it indicates that the family and the community have made the student what they are. What drives students to get up every morning to get to school is their family's encouragement and their own desire to learn. When children do badly in school, the family encourages them to do better. When the community sees a family who doesn't care, the community can guide that family and do its best to help the family out. The opportunity to achieve excellence is also provided by the school. What you are to become is thought of long before you grow up. Many students in the Native study classes offered throughout their preschool to senior years became great sewers and carvers and are able to speak their language and learn more about their cultural traditions. When you graduate the next thing you want to do is go to a good college or become involved in some program. After that you want to go into a line of work that you enjoy. You make this happen by first graduating from school. The knowledge and skills you gain transfer to the larger part of the world. In time you will be able to take all that you have learned about where you come from and use it when you are on your own. Within the family you grow and develop and discover the kind of person that you are and that you need and want to be. Students who know family togetherness, community involvement, school participation and their cultural tradition are the ones who will excel in whatever they want to. To find the new pathways to excellence you have to want to look. Don't expect anyone to look for the pathway for you. You make who you are and who you want to be. Find yourself, and when you look back, you will have achieved excellence. You will also have found new pathways to look forward to. Students who know family togetherness, community involvement, school participation and their cultural tradition are the ones who will excel in whatever they want to. To find the new pathways to excellence you have to want to look. Don't expect anyone to look for the pathway for you. | |
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Noatak Science by Deborah Webber-Werle:Junior and senior high school students were awed by aurora photographs taken from the space shuttle Challenger. "Many high school students don't know about the research being done at the Geophysical Institute," said Ms. Bertram. "This information is so new that it isn't even in their textbooks yet." "I think the students learned that science is happening today," said Stan Van Amberg, junior high and senior high school science teacher. "It was great that the science was from their own element. These kids see Northern Lights all the time." Mr. Van Amberg also thought the students were impressed by the information about the Sprites and Jets, a new form of colored lightning that shoots upward from some thunderstorms. This phenomena was recently discovered by researchers at the Geophysical Institute. The Scientist-in-Residence program promotes student interest in science by bringing working scientists into the classroom. | |
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Project Learning Tree by Susan Rogers:This interdisciplinary curriculum introduces tree biology, forest ecology and people's inter-relationship with their environment through hands-on, cooperative activities. Lessons also relate to air, water, soils, pollution, ways of using land and how people interact with parts of the natural and man-made environment. Developing problem-solving skills and creative thinking are emphasized. The curriculum framework for PLT's education program leads students through awareness to knowledge and concept building with opportunities for action projects. There are lots of chances for students to use visual arts and to write and talk about the activities while they are doing them. Many activities are designed to be done outdoors. Students at camp, in 4-H or ecology clubs could use the activities easily. Because the curriculum is used in all fifty states and U.S. territories and six other countries, activities can easily be adapted to a local setting. For example, to give an Alaskan focus to two activities concerning products we use from trees-We All Need Trees and Tree Treasures-examples of Native Alaskan tree products such as canoes and paddles, birch-bark baskets, masks and bentwood boxes are included. Because one of the major themes of PLT is building awareness of diversity of kinds of organisms, points of view and uses of the natural environment, there are examples of Native American culture written into the existing lessons. One activity, The Native Way, focuses on Native attitudes toward the environment and is just right for adaptations from regional education coordinators or other interested people. Workshops to obtain the material can be set up for an individual school or district in-service, or for any other group in a village. Any community member is welcome to attend the daylong workshop. After some activities are led by the facilitator, participants work in groups to present other lessons. For more information or to schedule a workshop in your area, call the PLT coordinator, Susan Rogers, (907) 269-8481, fax (907) 561-6659 or write to Alaska Division of Forestry, 3601 * Sreet, Suite 1034, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5937 | |
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Project WINGS by Dee McDonald:Project WINGS is an educational program for Native high school freshmen and sophomores from villages in Interior Alaska. The goal of the project is to introduce young people to scientific knowledge and skills related to Fairbanks and their home villages and integrate this with traditional Native values, knowledge and skills so youth may become well informed decision-makers and leaders. After moose season, 12 youth will be invited to fly to Fairbanks to learn the following: Political Science How federal, state, and tribal governments work; how political agencies in town make decisions that affect their life in the village; how to write a political resolution. Health Science How traditional and Western ways of healing are used to cure and prevent illness. Local elders will be asked to speak about traditional medicines. Museum Science How to maintain and preserve cultural artifacts. Elders explain how hunting tools, cooking utensils and other objects were made and used. Fire Science How to protect structures in the village from wildfires; fire safety in the home; the effects of fire on moose habitat, small game and berries and how elders used fire to improve local conditions. Jeannie O'Malley-Keyes, elder Rita Alexander and Rita Dayton at the Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium held April 23 and 24 in Sitka. Air Science What elders know about the weather, the moon and the stars; how to use telescopes, build model airplanes and learn what it takes to keep planes flying to and from the villages. Environmental Science How to build a water treatment plant; how technology impacts the village environment; solid and hazardous waste management, fish, wildlife and lands. Youth will visit a local post office, spend a day at a high school in Fairbanks, visit the Alaska Native Language Center and a local radio station. There will be dinners with elders, swimming lessons, talking circles and drum-making. Boy, are we going to be busy! Classes will be taught by Native instructors and elders. A booklet will be produced at the end of the project's first year describing the activities and outlining content areas. This booklet will be sent to schools throughout the Interior, allowing districts the opportunity to award high school credit to students who have completed the program. Your continued support will strengthen the educational quality of this program, and ensure an even better education for the students and leaders of the future. | |
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Publications Available Through AFN/ANKN:To order, photocopy or clip this form below and mail to: Alaska Native Knowledge Network P.O. Box 756730 Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6730 Please make checks, money orders and purchase orders out to the Alaska Federation of Natives. Quantity Description Amount Total Shipping: $2 first copy, $.50 for each additional copy Total Amount Due: Purchase Order # Gwich'in Native Elders $ 6.00 Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being $ 5.00 The Gospel According to Peter John $ 5.00 A Yupiaq Worldview $ 10.00 Gwich'in Native Elders by Shawn Wilson Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being by Harold Napoleon A Yupiaq Worldview by A. Oscar Kawagley The Gospel According to Peter John by Peter John, edited by David Krupa | |
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