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 Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated.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 3 |
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Southeast Region by Andy Hope:The first day of the ANREC meeting featured presentations by Southeast Region partners with panel discussions on implementing standards/assessment in rural Alaska schools and developing the Tlingit Sea Week handbook. I traveled to Hoonah and Angoon on April 22 with representatives from the National Science Foundation and Ray Barnhardt, one of our co-directors. Chatham School District (headquartered in Angoon) is in its second year as an ANREC partner. Hoonah School District recently signed on as a partner. In early April I coordinated teleconferences to develop plans for implementing the Cultural Atlas initiative. This initiative will involve developing compact discs for use by the partner districts in our region. It is likely that the participants will draw upon the recently completed Tlingit Math Book/Curriculum Guide and the Tlingit Place Name project for source material. The Tlingit Place Name project is being administered by the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission. See my report in Sharing Our Pathways Vol. 2, Iss. 1 for information on the Tlingit Math Book. Jimmy George, Jr. has been hired to coordinate the Cultural Atlas project. Jimmy is a member of the Raven moiety Deisheetaan clan of Angoon. He is currently working at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Bay campus. Mary Larson of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Library will be providing technical assistance to Jimmy and the participating districts for the Cultural Atlas project. Mary presented a training session in Sitka April 24-26, with two representatives from each participating school expected (Hoonah, Angoon, Klukwan and Sitka). I would like to thank Della Cheney of Sheldon Jackson College for her recent contributions to our project. Della has provided organizational support for the ANREC and SEANEA meetings and the cultural atlas training. I am in the process of helping plan the start-up of other initiatives in our region, particularly the Axe Handle Academy and the Alaska Native History Text. More on these initiatives in the next issue. Lydia George speaks at the recent ANREC meeting in Sitka. | |
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Tatitlek Students Work with Smithsonian on Alutiiq CD-ROM:Arctic Studies Center, Alaska Region Office Through a project carried out last spring by the Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center (Anchorage) and the Chugach School District, students at Tatitlek Community School explored their culture, learned new computer skills and produced an interactive computer program that features color photographs, Sugcestun language terms and information about a variety of objects made by the Alutiiq people. To create the HyperStudio program, high school students Kelly Kompkoff, Jo-Ann Vlasoff, Jason Totemoff and Marcia Totemoff first talked with elders in the community and studied extensive documentary materials prepared by Arctic Studies Center researcher Dee Hunt. With the guidance of teacher Dennis Moore and Chugach School District consultant Mel Henning, they then scanned in photographs, prepared texts, and programmed a computerized "exhibit" that lets viewers learn about masks, clothing and other beautiful and interesting museum pieces that were made in Prince William Sound, Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula more than a century ago. The 20 objects studied by the Tatitlek students now reside at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., but will be coming to Alaska in 1999 as part of a traveling exhibition called Looking Both Ways: History, Culture, and Identity of the Alutiiq People. The exhibition is being planned by the Arctic Studies Center in partnership with the Alutiiq Museum and Native organizations throughout the Alutiiq region. The Tatitlek project was fun, exciting and interesting for the four students, and gave them a chance to learn more about what goes into the production of multimedia for computers. In accordance with the Arctic Studies Center's educational and research mission, I am interested in working with the Rural Systemic Initiative and individual school districts to consider similar projects elsewhere in Alaska. In addition, a much larger educational CD-ROM, which will include more than 250 Alutiiq, Yup'ik and Dena'ina objects purchased by Smithsonian collector William Fisher between 1879-1894, is currently under development at the Arctic Studies Center in Anchorage and will be available within two years for nonprofit distribution to schools, cultural centers, museums and libraries. Chugach School District assistant superintendent Rich DeLorenzo, who has presented the Tatitlek project at statewide educational meetings, supported the program as a way to help village students connect not only with their cultural traditions, but with the fast-changing world of computer technology. In-kind support from Mark Standley at Apple Computer is gratefully acknowledged. | |
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Teaching/Learning Across Cultures: : | |
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Village Science by Alan Dick:A display of beautiful wood finishes in Anchorage had a large sign, "Do Not Touch." I had to put my hands in my pockets. The desire to touch the fascinating wood surfaces was too great. The sign was a strong indication that I wasn't alone in my desire to feel the grain under my fingertips. I wondered why funeral services often include individuals walking by the grave site and gently throwing a handful of dirt on the coffin. It seemed a strange custom until I experienced a few funerals. The ones where we individually put dirt on the coffin were far more real than the ones where we didn't. I realized the importance of handling the dirt. The person's passing became a reality. Denial was impossible. Handling a worksheet and a pencil are not the same as handling a slimy fish, a jagged rock or feeling the pressure on the rope of a block and tackle. Sticking a couple of toothpicks into a carrot top and suspending it in and over a glass of water is hardly hands-on science, but at least there is some physical interaction with the reality of the event. Touching, handling, feeling and sensing are unmeasurably important to processing science content and concepts. Do we know the difference between physical education and history class? In physical education we are physically active. In history class we read about other peoples' activities. It is important to learn about the science other people have done as a model for our own experiments and efforts. But that is history! If we want to promote science that stays alive and remains a reality in students' minds and hearts, we must recognize the difference between history and discovery, then honor the student's right to personal explorations and conclusions from touching, handling, feeling and sensing every possible aspect of the science event. | |
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Welcome Jeannie O'Malley-Keyes!:Jeannie (Creamer) O'Malley-Keyes was born in Fairbanks and grew up with parents, grandparents and six brothers and sisters on a dairy farm outside of Fairbanks that is now a wildlife and migratory waterfowl refuge. Jeannie is currently a part-time student with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, working towards a degree in sociology and human services technology. She has one daughter, Kirsten O'Malley-Keyes, who graduated from UAF in 1994 and who is now happily teaching in a rural, mountainous area in Japan. Jeannie brings to the ANKN project many years of experience as an administrator for various Fairbanks organizations and UAF departments. Memorable projects include scheduling local and national visiting performing artists into the local schools and communities, working on Claire Fejes' manuscript, The Villagers, being one of the pioneer women to help build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and initiating and helping bring about the Chena Athabascan culture and history exhibit at the Creamers' Refuge Visitors' Center. Jeannie's passions are drawing and painting, hiking, canoeing, cross country skiing, berry picking and gardening. "We have much to learn from the ways of the Alaska Native people who lived and survived (and continue to survive) in Alaska" says Jeannie. "If we had listened to them, we wouldn't have houses and buildings sinking into the permafrost, people getting lost, starving and freezing to death in the woods or a radioactive Amchitka. We would know and protect the plants that are good for food and medicines and know better how to survive physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually on this part of the earth. I am honored and happy to be a part of the Alaska Native Knowledge Network and am looking forward to learning more about Alaska Native cultures and doing whatever possible to be of assistance to those involved in promoting and preserving the Native ways of knowing. I feel the survival of humanity depends upon it." | |
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Yup'ik Immersion: A Student Perspective by Danielle Dizon:The Yup'ik Immersion program began here in Bethel two years ago. The planning started nearly eight to nine years before the program began. The plans started with parents, community members and teachers who were interested in offering something more than what the regular program offered which was 30 minutes a day in Yup'ik for elementary students and 50 minutes a day optional for high school students. Greg Anelon, Mary Ann Lomack and Barbara Liu at the recent ANREC meeting in Sitka. Last summer, I attended a World Indigenous Peoples Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A workshop I attended was "The Evolvement of Maori Education in a Predominantly White School." The presenter was Mihi Roberts, principal for the Forest Lake School in Hamilton, New Zealand. It took them 14 years of planning to reach long-term development plan for Forest Lake School which now offers enrichment, partial immersion and total immersion in the Maori language and culture. Their total immersion program now owns their own property, personnel and curriculum. The community helped renovate a building that they now use. The personnel are all Maori speaking from their principal, teachers, janitor, cook and resource people. Their resource people work right in the school developing their teaching curriculum. The philosophy of their school is based on Te Wheke Waiora, which embodies total well-being. For the past eight years attending all three Bethel schools, I have taken Yup'ik classes taught by our full-speaking Yup'ik teachers 30-50 minutes per class day. The basic words I learned in Yup'ik are Waqaa, Camai, Cangacit, Assirtua and Piuraa. I was taught these same words every single year. Besides these, I have learned numbers up to 10 and basic commands such as stand-up and sit-down. My brother who attends kindergarten at the Yup'ik Immersion school since August of 1996 knows more Yup'ik now then I've learned in school the past eight years. He continues to learn our Yup'ik language. I think the Yup'ik Immersion program is working and is doing a great job, so far. I also think the school needs to have 100% Yup'ik speaking faculty like principals, teachers, janitors, cooks, etc; more hands-on curriculum like going and exploring our land, maybe going on a ice-fishing field trip for the older ones, go and sight-see our land animals and birds such as the ptarmigan in Bethel. By doing that we would be doing more hands-on things instead of just seeing it on paper. It took the Yup'ik Immersion program almost a decade to get going in Bethel. It has been a positive change for Bethel's young students. I think it may take a decade to make our program 100% Yup'ik but if we put our heads together and start planning toward it, it could happen. | |
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Yup'ik Region by Barbara Liu:The elders conveyed their formal schooling experiences. We learned through them that there were many interesting aspects of the school. The most significant parts of territorial schooling were that the teachers were bilingual in Yup'ik and English and taught in both languages for a period of time. The students were around puberty age. Prior to attending school, the language skills, traditional values and customs were taught by parents and elders. Despite the lack of formal education in science and math, the parents and elders inherited the role as teachers in teaching their children through events in their daily life. This home teaching environment continued to nourish until the development of schools. The elders who did not attend this year's Bilingual Multicultural Education Conference relived their traditions in parenting by the speech of elder Clarence Irrigoo. The emphasis given by Mr. Irrigoo was that parenting should begin before children reach puberty age. The elders also voiced their recommendations in working together on the cultural and intellectual property rights issue. Unfortunately, the coordination of the regional MOA activities were not discussed due to time constraints. I hosted two additional teleconferences since the February meeting to address the coordination of regional MOA activities. MOA representatives were all invited to join the teleconferences and the outcomes were positive. A curriculum planning meeting took place in conjunction with the Department of Education initiative in the first week of May in Dillingham. Quyana. | |
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VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4 |
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A "New" Old Way of Understanding by Joe Slats:The here and now Y/Cup'ik people were brought up in Western schools with Western thought. When we listen to our elders speak, we listen with our Western ears and use our Western analogies to attempt to comprehend what our forefathers did. Stories told to the class by our elder professor Louise Tall, and our responses to them, are an example of how we as Y/Cup'ik people attempt to translate and comprehend these old Native thoughts and customs. In order to understand some of the concepts and ideas behind our ancient traditions and customs, we had to try to set aside Western thought processes. We found this to be difficult. One of the ideas was that of rewards from the gratitude of orphans and elders. This gratitude is said to be strong or to have power. There is a relationship between the decisions one makes when young to help those in need and the rewards one may reap as an older person. This is the power of the gratitude of the orphans and elders one has helped in the past. The linear thinking of the Western world makes this a difficult concept to comprehend. Another story Louise Tall told was about the idea of "pretend husband and wife." She told how some young Yup'ik males and females created a "pretend husband or wife." These young individuals would see a person entering through a window to be with them. They would begin to keep themselves clean and to look forward to the evenings with their pretend spouse. They would carry on conversations with this "imaginary" person and not pay attention to other human beings around them. It is said that one female took off to the tundra with her non-being male mate. She was not seen or heard from again until a young bow-and- arrow hunter found her next to a lake. She had a drying rack with telleqcaraqs (small swimming birds) and augtuaraqs (red water birds) carefully skinned and drying. These birds had been caught by her pretend husband and in her mind they were loons. Therefore she had skinned them and hung them to dry. At one time an individual used ayuq (Labrador tea) to tepkegcaq (smoke herself as perfume) prior to the evening visit of her pretend husband. The male non-being arrived and "Ayurutaanga" (to block the way or entrance). It was learned that smoke was to be used to block the way of non-beings. Other human beings heard the non-being say "Ayurutaanga." After hearing this story, the class attempted to analyze and comprehend it. With our Western ways of thinking we concluded that perhaps the young adults in the story were suffering from some form of mental illness. Louise also discussed shamanism through a number of stories. It became apparent that the shaman played a very important role in the lives of the Yup'ik people long ago. After the arrival of the missionaries, shamanism came to be referred to as "Satan's agent." Western thought has turned what used to be a very important tradition and religion into an unaccepted and evil practice. Here and now Y/Cup'ik people, raised with Western thought, must struggle to make sense of ancient practices and customs. In a short discussion regarding whether shamanism would ever return to the delta, it was felt that perhaps it is too big of a leap for the church community to accept. The elders within the church community are still struggling with the concept of allowing Eskimo dancing to enter their villages. The group felt that a return to some of the shamanistic ways is an important idea and that it will be too late if it must wait for the elder community to accept its reintroduction. The knowledge will be lost or kept from being handed down. As modern day Y/Cup'ik people living in the 1990s, we have been taught Western ways of thinking and looking at things. If we are to truly understand the lives, stories, thoughts and wisdom of our elders, we must relearn the skills of hearing with Y/Cup'ik ears and seeing with Y/Cup'ik eyes. | |
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A Gathering: Growing Strong : | |
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Active Reality Research, Part II by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:With infringements of new people from other parts of the world, came a weakening of the self with all its strengths of what to be and how to live. At first the circle remained strong. However, with the encroachment of missionaries from various Christian religions, traders, trappers, miners and explorers came diseases unknown to the Native people. Following this came a calamity surmounting any experience that the Native people have ever had. Many elders, shamans, parents, community members and children died as a result of these unknown diseases. With the loss of so many people, especially the shamans who until this time were the healers, left the Native people questioning their own spirituality. Was it really the work of the devil and his evil allies that the Native people subscribed to and believed in as the missionaries pointed out? This dealt a crushing blow to a people who had direct access and communications with the natural and spiritual worlds through their shamans. The first rent to the circle of life was in the spiritual realm (Fig. 2), and we have been suffering from a spiritual depression ever since. Alaska Native spirituality can in no way be wholly replaced by orthodox Christian religions, Eastern or other ways of knowing about a spiritual life. Where the break occurs, one side of the curved line becomes more linear to reflect confusion. Through this break occur leaks for new ideas, values and ways of life that cause much doubt about their own world and beliefs. A maelstrom of values, beliefs and traditions result causing a confusion of what to be and what to do. The sense of self becomes weakened, thus its drawing force is weakened causing some original and traditional ideas of life to be lost. The turmoil, like that of a tornado, continues. The amalgamation of Western and other cultures from throughout the world are mixed with Native traditions. Although the Alaska Native people did not readily accept modern education and religions and gave initial resistance, breaks eventually occurred. If conditions had been different, the Alaska Native people could have controlled what was allowed into their world view. But such was not the case. The encroachment of various peoples and their cultures overwhelmed the Native people. Not only did these new people come with new ideas, but with new species of dogs, plants, domesticated animals, bacteria and viruses. This not only caused turmoil for the human beings but also caused ecological havoc. Armed with their new technological tools-hunting, trapping and fishing devices-along with the need to make money to buy these "needed" items, the newcomers battered down sacred ideas of harmony in many Native people. The next onslaught was in the emotional realm (Fig. 3). Not feeling good about themselves because of the message being told them by the missionaries, teachers, miners, trappers, traders, federal agents and so forth, they became emotionally depressed. They had been told that their languages and cultures were primitive and had no place in the Western or modern world. The educational system was established to dissipate and destroy their languages, spirituality and cultures. The barrage came in many forms from institutions of the colonial hegemonic force. The once proud hunter/provider and successful homemaker now felt little worth living for in their ravaged world. There was nothing promising left to allow them to feel good about themselves, have confidence for self-governance or self-reliance. Only despair was left. The intellectual arena was the next rupture to occur in this circle of life (Fig. 4). Rationality and empiricism coupled with intuition had been the Native peoples' forte´. Nature was their metaphysic and thus they lived in reality. They had successfully devised their world view to allow them to live life with all its difficulties but developed coping tools and skills to deal with the hard times. Now with their spirituality and emotions on a downward spiral, the people became intellectually dysfunctional. They became docile and robot-like, expecting everything to be done for them. Their original clear consciousness or awareness was now unclear, as if being viewed through a stigmatized and scarred corneal lens. Things were dim, shaded, with some channels opaque and confusion followed. A framework for assimilating new experiences no longer existed. The last fissure occurred in the physical well-being whereby the Native people in their demoralized state became susceptible to diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, cancer and many nutritional deficiencies and psychosocial maladies (Fig. 5). The foundations upon which a whole person was produced by the culture was now broken asunder with a new fragmented culture, a mix of many cultures represented by newcomers, producing fragmented Native youngsters susceptible to new ideas, diseases and yearnings. The ruptures allowed some aspects of Native characteristics to flow out or become modified by allowing new fragmented ideas, ways of being, thinking, behaving and doing to seep in. This has caused much confusion among the Native people. The Native ways of science have always been multi-dimensional to include the human, natural and spiritual worlds. This was a conscious effort to keep in balance. Everything on earth, including earth and self, was endowed with a spirit, therefore life. And because of this spirit or energy from the Spirit of the Universe (Ellam Yua), the Native people must do things in ways that no harm nor disrespect happen to life on earth. It then required that the Native people come up with elaborate rituals and ceremonies to pay homage to all, to maintain or at times to regain balance in one's life or that of the community. They had transcended the need for quantifying and establishing laws of nature. Much of the subject matter in the schools' curricula is one-dimensional because it is linear. The vaunted mathematical and scientific disciplines and their offspring, the technologies, are often one-dimensional. These tools have the wonderful capacity for new discoveries in other worlds but because of the Western society's need to learn to control nature they lead to confusion and a feeling of being weaned from the life force and its inherit relationships. They are bereft of the values extant in the indigenous societies which open doors for new world discoveries. Western mathematics, sciences and technologies have values, however, they are proscribed to ambition to learn in depth and greed to use this knowledge for gain. This is arrogance, a senseless and meaningless ambition, leading to the disintegration of the human experience. Through them, the more we know, the less we know about life. This says to me that Western mathematics, sciences and technologies have been superficial, never getting to the meat of things. What has been missing from the great potential of these and the other disciplines? Part III of this article will appear in the next issue of Sharing Our Pathways. | |
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Alaska Native Science : | |
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Alaska RSI : | |
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Alaska RSI Project Coalition by Peggy Cowan:The coalition includes organizations and agencies from around the state who are currently working with school districts in math or science education. The membership includes the Alaska Science Teachers' Association, the Alaska Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Alaska Natural Resources and Outdoor Education Association, Alaska Science Consortium, Alaska Math Consortium, Science and Math Consortium for Northwest Schools, Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Project WILD, Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Project Learning Tree, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Alaska Cooperative Extension and the Imaginarium. The coalition will build on the work of the curriculum alignment and village science groups using this work and examples from coalition participants as samples of approaches the organizations might take. The coalition used two meetings to develop plans to individually and collectively accomplish the goal of assisting multi-graded schools with Native students in strengthening their math and science programs and assisting students in understanding the science and mathematics identified by the state standards. You've read about some of the opportunities for AKRSI memorandum of agreement (MOA) partners in earlier Sharing our Pathways, including Susan Roger's article on Project Learning Tree, Stephanie Hoag's article on the Science and Math Consortium for Northwest Schools and Robin Dublin's article on Project WILD. Other coalition activities are modifying existing instructional material programs to be culturally aligned and teaming with AKRSI MOA districts to provide professional development of teachers, administrators, aides and youth. Also, supporting people exchanges between MOA district teachers and teachers in coalition organizations' projects. A new activity that will initiate this fall is an invitation to AKRSI MOA organizations and districts to join coalition members in unit-building workshops. Coalition members will facilitate teams of Native and Non-Native educators to develop units that are culturally aligned, locally relevant, teach the content of the state standards and model research based practice. For most regions, we plan to have these workshops either before or after this fall's regional consortium meetings. We hope to assist groups that are already working on units by providing a time and a place for them to work and by contributing resources and lesson ideas from coalition members. If you or your organization are interested in participating in the workshop in your region please contact Peggy Cowan, Alaska Department of Education, 801 W. 10th St., Suite 200, Juneau, AK 99801-1894, 907-465-2826 (phone), 465-3396 (fax), pcowan@educ.state.ak.us (e-mail). | |
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Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools by Ray Barnhardt:In an effort to provide some guidelines for communities and schools that are attempting to implement the various initiatives of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and Rural Challenge, we have begun to spell out the underlying principles from which we are working and have put them in a "standards" format for consideration by Native people around the state. At this point, we have drafted cultural standards for students, teachers, curriculum and schools. The following cultural standards attempt to capture what we have learned over the past two years and thus provide some guidelines against which schools and communities can examine the extent to which they are attending to the cultural well-being of their students. The cultural standards for teachers, curriculum and schools will be included in later issues of Sharing Our Pathways. We emphasize that these are draft standards and invite extensive discussion and comments to help us refine them and eventually put them out for general use throughout the state. If you have any suggestions, please forward them to any of the AKRSI staff. DRAFT: Cultural Standards for Students A. A culturally balanced student is knowledgeable about the history and cultural traditions of the home community. Students who meet this cultural standard understand: 1. their role in relation to the well-being of the cultural community and their responsibilities as a community member; 2. their own genealogy and family history; 3. the place of their cultural community in the regional, state, national and international political and economic systems; 4. their stewardship responsibilities to the environment in which they are situated; 5. the cultural values, traditions and language of the local community and the role they play in shaping everyday behavior and interaction with others. B. A culturally balanced student is able to function effectively in any cultural environment. Students who meet this cultural standard are able to: 1. perform subsistence activities in ways that are appropriate to local cultural traditions; 2. make constructive contributions to the governance of their community and the well-being of their family; 3. sustain a healthy lifestyle free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco; 4. enter into and function effectively in new cultural environments in a variety of rural and urban settings; 5. interact with elders in a beneficial and respectful way that demonstrates an appreciation of their role as culture-bearers in the community. C. A culturally balanced student is able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning. Students who meet this cultural standard are able to: 1. learn deep cultural knowledge through intensive interaction with elders; 2. participate in and make constructive contributions to the learning activities associated with a traditional camp environment; 3. gather oral history information from the local community and provide an appropriate interpretation of its cultural meaning and significance; 4. identify and utilize appropriate sources of cultural knowledge to find solutions to local problems. D. A culturally balanced student exhibits an awareness and appreciation of the interconnectedness and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them. Students who meet this cultural standard exhibit: 1. a deep understanding of the inter-relationship between the human, natural and spiritual realms in the world around them as reflected in local cultural traditions and beliefs; 2. a deep understanding of the ecology and geography of the bioregion that they inhabit; 3. an understanding of the relationship between world view and the way knowledge is formed and used; 4. an ability to relate the ideas and concepts from one knowledge system to those derived from other knowledge systems; 5. an understanding of how and why cultures change over time; 6. an understanding of the changes that occur when different cultural systems come in contact with one another; 7. an understanding of and respect for how different cultural values and beliefs interact and impact the relationships of people from different cultural backgrounds; 8. a strong sense of identity and place in the world. E. A culturally balanced student is able to build on the knowledge and skills of the home culture as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life. Students who meet this cultural standard are able to: 1. acquire knowledge and skills from other cultures without diminishing the integrity of their own; 2. demonstrate mastery of established state academic content standards and perform academically on a par with all other students nationally; 3. utilize the knowledge, skills and ways of knowing from their own cultural traditions as a basis to learn what they need to know to succeed throughout life; 4. identify appropriate forms of technology to solve local problems while minimizing the negative consequences of their use; 5. make judgments regarding the long-term consequences of their actions. | |
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Aleut Region by Moses Dirks:In 1996 the Aleut Region launched its first initiative entitled "Indigenous Science Knowledge Base." A series of meetings were held with the newly formed elders councils in both Kodiak and in the Aleutians. Meetings were held in Kodiak and in Unalaska to gather information on Aleut/Alutiiq Indigenous Science Base Knowledge. As a result of those meetings the Aleut Region produced a cultural atlas on CD-ROM-an interactive cultural atlas of both the Alutiiq and of the Aleut Region. Our memorandum of agreement (MOA) partner responsible for this program was the Oral History Department of the University of Alaska Fairbanks under the directorship of Dr. William Schneider. The Aleut/Alutiiq elders have requested that the CD-ROM not be put on the ANKN web site since formal guidelines are not yet drafted which address cultural and intellectual property rights. As soon as it is formalized, the Aleut region coordinator will inform the public of those guidelines. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the making of the CD-ROM for the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Cultural Atlas. If you are interested in obtaining the atlas, please contact the Aleut region coordinator at (907) 274-3611. Most of all, we need to acknowledge the elders councils from the Kodiak Island area and from the Aleutians/Pribilof Islands. Without their input and knowledge of the region, the information gathering would not have been possible. The following is a summary of the 1997 Aleut/Alutiiq Region initiatives: Elders and Cultural Camps An elders-in-residence program and associated cultural camps will be established in the schools and at the University of Alaska rural campuses as a vehicle for integrating Alaska Native expertise into the educational and scientific programs and services offered throughout the state. A roster of recognized experts will be assembled and made available through the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Guidelines will be established for the protection of the cultural and intellectual property rights of Native people in areas of knowledge, tradition and practice. Native people will be responsible for defining such rights and establish mechanisms for legal protection and redress where those rights are not respected. Unalaska Public Schools and Kodiak Island Borough School District are assisting in the development of multimedia curriculum materials and also assist in the formation of a Native teachers association within the regions. Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association Incorporated and the Kodiak Area Native Association are hiring graduate assistants to help organize the formation of an Aleut Academy of Elders, Aleut teachers association and an Aleut cultural camp program. Reclaiming Tribal Histories/Alaska Native Reawakening The Reclaiming Tribal Histories/Alaska Native Reawakening Project will be coordinated by Harold Napoleon of AFN with assistance from the Aleut regional coordinator. Two communities in the Aleut/Alutiiq region will be selected, preferably one community from the Unangan's Region and one from the Alutiiq Region. Once this reconstruction is complete, related villages would have the opportunity to share all they have been through. For many, it will be the first time things long held in their hearts and minds will have been bared. They will have a clearer understanding of themselves and will begin to make sense of the sometimes insensible things that have happened. They will also gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the strengths and accomplishments of their people, along with clearer ideas on what to do to begin solving the problems. In conclusion, I am indebted to the Unangan/Alutiiq people for giving me the opportunity to work with them for this short time. In August of this month I will be taking a teaching job at Unalaska City Schools. The co-directors are in the process of filling the regional coordinator position. I wish to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. I wish you all luck and success. | |
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ANKN Welcomes Indigenous : | |
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Athabascan Region by Amy Van Hatten:I would like to share some thoughts expressed by Interior teachers and students this past year. First, I will include a few samples of poetry written by Galena teachers after a Project WILD field trip in minus 27 degree weather last October. Following is a short essay about elders written by a Galena City School fourth grader last April in response to stories about local weather patterns, subsistence foods, games and observations. Animal Poetry by Jenny Pelkola Didn't see you bird but I knew you were near How did I know, you ask? I know-because Since the beginning of time This has been your natural home What made you stay away On a beautiful day like today? Perhaps it was my intrusion On your beautiful homesite Or perhaps, you were just a flying about. Red Poll Reflection by Charlaine A. Siefert Blue sky Soaring undisturbed above my head Feathered ice crystals reflecting gold in winter air Alone The bird and I Caught in a circle of time Pause to reflect on Infinity He, with a red cap that matches my nose I, with a hunger that matches his song Red Poll Elders by Harold Warner I am writing about elders when they were kids. I am writing about myself. These are some things that the elders eat: moose, bear and rabbit. These are things that I eat: fish ice cream, chicken and fish. These are things that the elders did. They used to slide down the bank. They used to throw a ball back and forth over the roof. I slide down and cut wood for fun. I try to make a fish wheel. Now I am done writing about myself and the elders. Thank you for your valuable time. Happy trails. -Mike Marshall, fourth grade, Galena | |
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Correction:Correction: In the previous issue of Sharing Our Pathways (vol.2, issue 3), we mistakenly identified the photo on page 14. The photo is of Mary Beth Duncan of Angoon. Our apologies to both Mary Beth and Sabrina Sutton for the mistake. | |
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Dig Afognak by Sabrina Sutton:The Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) is in its second year of Spirit Camp. There are two sessions where registered children are flown out to the Dig Afognak site and spend about a week at the camp. KANA has cultural activities that include local Native artists, dancers and elders. It has been a success. The Alutiiq Academy of Elders Cultural Camp was held at the Dig Afognak facilities on Afognak Island. This was funded from the Kodiak Island Borough School District (KIBSD) and the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. The participants included Kodiak school teachers and Alutiiq elders. The dates of the camp were August 10-August 16. The KIBSD coordinator is Teri Schneider. Teri was encouraged to do this camp after experiencing the Old Minto Camp held outside of Fairbanks. Now you can see that life on the little island is more than just a tourist stop during the summer. | |
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Iñupiaq Region by Elmer Jackson:Ambler will host the first regional Native Science Fair. Many students in the Iñupiaq and the Athabascan regions will enter Native science fair projects. These projects will have Native science themes. For example one student's project might be the study and development of a scale model of a mudshark (tiktaaliq) fishtrap. In the fall, after freeze-up, the Kobuk River people build mudshark traps utilizing long spruce poles. The poles are formed into a circular, square or diamond shape that serves as the trap or holding area for the trapped fish. The Inupiat key to the successful fishing technique is the trap: a one-way entrance made of willow. Once the fish enter, they cannot get back out. They remain in the holding area. Other science projects might be the process of tanning muskrat skins or the study and research of traditional medicines. The list of possible science fair projects are numerous. The students will need many research questions answered. We ask for help from the elders and parents to teach the children in the Native way of knowing and teaching. We do not realize that we are involved in science in our daily subsistence way of life. Whether it be trapping, fishing or hunting, science is present in all of the parts. The Iñupiaq translation of science, according to Rachel Craig, is supayaat kaniqsisautaat. It translates simply, "everything that the Inupiat understands or knows." Indigenous knowledge is a precious source of information for survival in the Inupiat subsistence way of life. Presently our elders are the bearers of that indigenous knowledge. They will share their knowledge during the districtwide subsistence curriculum development workshops. This documented information will lead to the development of curriculum for use in the classroom. The school districts that will participate in the development of indigenous Inupiat curriculum are the North Slope Borough School District, the Northwest Arctic Borough School District and the Bering Strait School District. The school districts will participate in the regional Academy of Elders during the district-wide subsistence curriculum development workshops. Every aspect of the Inupiats' subsistence practices will be documented. Another objective is to involve the Native educators and to establish a Native teachers association whose membership will include the bilingual teachers. This association will create and develop lesson plans that will be shared with other teachers in the Iñupiaq region. The Bering Strait School District will also implement St. Lawrence Island Yup'ik and Iñupiaq studies materials documentation. Ilisagvik College and Kawerak, Inc. will provide support for the documentation of Iñupiaq Ways of Knowing and Teaching. The documented information can serve as the basis for the teaching of all subjects in the schools. The college will participate in the development of a prototype curriculum framework based on Iñupiaq cultural precepts and principles which will be shared with the other districts in the Iñupiaq region. The North Slope Inupiat Educators Association which will provide guidance for the implementation of an Iñupiaq Academy of Elders, drawing on the support of the Ciulistet Yup'ik Teachers Association and the Association of Interior Native Educators. If you have any questions, please call. You can reach me in Kiana at (907) 475-2257 or fax the AFN office at 276- 7989. Thank you. | |
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