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Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit as a Foundation for Education by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:Modern science studies that which is visible using many technological devises to refine their observations. Theories are constructed, used, modified or discarded as new information and findings warrant. The task of modern science has been to simplify Nature, learn of its underlying logic and then use that logic to control Nature (Briggs, 1992:14). Indigenous societies study that which is invisible to temper the development of technology and guide its association with Nature. The Yupiaq society deals with trying to understand the irregularities of Nature which is underlain with patterns of order. Many unseen forces are in action in the elements of the universe. To begin to understand these phenomena, Yupiaq science education must begin with the five elements-earth, air, fire, water and spirit. The sacred gifts of each must be understood, as well as the human activities which contribute to the despiritualization and reduction of these life-giving gifts. In order to be holistic, the activities must include Yupiaq language and culture, language arts, mathematics, social studies, arts and crafts and sciences. All must be interrelated as all of earth is interrelated. For example, in dealing with the element air, the teacher could select the sacred gift of weather. And what an unpredictable choice! Like many Yupiaq myths, weather is so very dynamic, ever changing, and, like the myth, very mystical. The wind has irregularities of constantly varying velocity, humidity, temperature and direction due to topography and other factors. There are nonlinear dimensions to clouds, irregularities of cloud formations, anomalous cloud luminosity and different forms of precipitation at different levels. There are patterns, however tenuous, such as the path of a jet stream or fronts to be studied. The Native students' visual acuity and memory for detail could be used to advantage. There is very little in this universe which is linear, in a grid or in a two-dimensional square or three dimensional cube. The weather's dynamic is that the part of its part is part of a part which is a part of another part and so on. The local Native elders could explain how they were able to predict weather based upon subtle messages given to them by the sun twenty-four hours before it happened. This involves the language of feelings of the inner world coupled with the language of reason. Being inclined to the spiritual, the Native was able to understand and accept the unpredictable permutations of weather. The Native people had learned certain general predictable patterns of weather connected to the seasons and moons. Yet, the Native student could get acquainted with some more predominate tools of the meteorologist such as the thermometer, barometer, anemometer, hydrometer, satellite pictures and other tools to give the elders' knowledge depth, detail and a broader view. Introducing students to the notion of irregularities and anomalies of form and force (chaos and fractals) necessarily introduces them to holism. The key idea is for the students to understand the interconnectedness of all things in the universe. Of utmost importance in using the five elements of life to teach science is assuring that the students understand that the sacred gifts of each is a gift to the life-giving forces of the living earth (or Mother Earth). The teacher must be careful to explain what those gifts are absolutely necessary for life on earth to continue. All these five elements' gifts make possible for creation on earth to continue. The Yupiaq honored and respected these gifts in the rituals and ceremonies. Take for example, the Nakaciuq or the "Blessing of the Bladders." The Yupiaq people believed that when the seal or some other sea mammal gave itself to the hunter, that the spirit of the seal entered its bladder upon giving up its life. This required that the people take care to remove the bladder, inflate it to dry and save it for the winter Bladder Festival to honor the sacred gift of the element, spirit. In this way the Yupiaq people honored and showed respect for the gift of the element earth for giving birth to animals upon which they depended for survival as a people. During the festival, the bladders were reinflated with life-giving air and hung on poles for the duration of the activities. In the qasgiq were placed two three-to-four foot stout poles in front of the place of honor for the elders. The honors seating was located at the rear of the community house. On the flattened upper end were placed two earthen lamps with wicks which were *then filled with seal oil. The wicks were lighted and the lamps kept burning during the entire festival. One or two people were given the responsibility of keeping the lamps going. The gift of the element fire was used to light and give some warmth to the community house. To purify the air and the participants in the house, wild parsnips were burned. Another gift of the element earth, the parsnip plant was used to create purifying smoke with the transforming gift of the element fire. Fire, with the gift of air, transformed the seal oil to heat and light. At the conclusion of the Bladder Festival, the bladders were taken down, deflated, and carried to the ocean or river where an opening in the ice had been made. With collective mindfulness of all the Yupiaq participants that the spirits of the animals were happy and satisfied with the care and careful execution of the required rituals and ceremonies, and that they would return and give themselves to the hunters, the bladders were returned to the sacred gift of the element water, the womb of creation. A multi-disciplinary and -sensory study of the elements can be undertaken for the entire school year. The students would begin to understand that the experience of knowing and making the place a friend takes time. The students can be helped to fine tune their endosmotic sense-makers through carefully planned and executed lessons of observation that incorporate their Yupiaq language of feeling with the language of reason. The ultimate gift is that of the element spirit. This gift is, through the Yupiaq language, mythology, rituals and ceremonies, the students are taught the "correct lifeway, a lifeway appropriate to place" (Mills, 1990:159). The modern schools are not teaching students how to live a life that feels right. Rather, the schools are giving a lot of information to the students without also showing them how they can transfer the information into useful knowledge for making a living. Another step is to individually and collectively as a people see how the usable knowledge could be transformed into wisdom to make a life. The students now look at an innovative teacher who refuses to use existing curricula, syllabi, lessons plans, media presentations, photocopied materials and so on, as not really teaching. They expect to be given a lot of information and to be entertained. The many machines, modern tools and the vaunted computers are not enough to teach a lifeway that feels right. It is more important that we use the Yupiaq values and culture well interspersed with imagination or intuition from within and the element spirit to make the new lifeway that feels right. During the years which this activity is being done, the participants will explore, plan and implement ways to make the Alaska Native mythology as a teaching tool for the sciences as well as the humanities. Within the humanities (mythology) are the sciences and within the sciences are the humanities. Kindergarten through third grade could possibly talk about the five elements generally. This is what earth does: it provides homes for people, animals and plants. Air is what you breathe. Fourth through the sixth grades can begin to talk about certain gifts that each element gives to earth to make it good and beautiful. They can begin to talk about the water cycle and begin to see how it is affected by the sun, water, land, air, plants and people. The junior high grades can begin to talk not only of the gifts, but how the activities of the human being affects the life supporting gifts of the five elements. The high school students can begin to discuss and research the five elements' gifts and how people and pollution reduce the life supporting role of the gifts. They can expand their knowledge of the Yupiaq peoples' perceptions and behaviors to the natural and spiritual worlds to keep them sustainable. The teachers and teachers-to-be must be taught that the world is nonlinear and that, as a result, science will never understand everything about the universe. They must also realize and appreciate that in modern scientific and technological endeavors, mathematics, science and technology are interrelated as are all other disciplines. It behooves that science education and teaching in general become aligned to the common philosophical thread, or the "distant memory," as it is called by N. Scott Momaday, of the ecological perspective. All peoples of the earth began from this vista, and therefore such a perspective makes it more probable and possible for attaining a new consciousness for a sustainable life. References: Briggs, J. (1992). Fractals the patterns of chaos. New York: Simon & Schuster. Mills, S. (1990). In praise of nature. Washington, D. C. and Covelo, CA.: Island Press. | |
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Education and Cultural Self-Determination by Paul Ongtooguk:Presentation to the 2003 AFN Youth and Elders Convention Thank you for the privilege of sharing in this meeting in which we have all been gathered to consider the great challenges facing us as Alaska Natives. The issue of this conference of the Alaska Federation of Natives is central to the future success of Alaska Native peoples. Tommy Ongtooguk Our very existence as distinct peoples within Alaska-the very existence of our communities-rest on how we answer the challenge of this conference: education and cultural self-determination. For the last thirty years we have avoided the heart of the dilemma about being Alaska Natives in this world at this time. Our political leaders in the 1960s were caught up in the conflicts and threats resulting from federal and state governments and many other people taking Alaska Native lands - lands and waters we had been living on for countless generations. We accepted our life on these lands and waters as blessings with enough hard challenges to press the very best efforts from us as people. Many of the Elders here today are offering to share with us all the lessons of our ancestors and what the land, the waters and the animals have to share with us. The world is more than money and there are lessons we can best learn as a part of the world our cultures have grown up within. Our schools were originally intended to break the connection we had to our lands and waters and to break the spirit within us that keeps us nurtured as Alaska Native peoples. Schools tried to cut out of our minds our distinct understanding of the world and our place within it. Schools tried to erase Alaska Native cultures from the world. Most tragically, schools tried to erase being Alaska Native from the hearts of our young people. Fortunately for us and for the world, the heart of being Alaska Native could not be erased. In many places our Elders and some very tough parents ignored the falsehoods put forward in schools about Alaska Natives being primitive or savage. Our young people learned very different lessons at home, at fish camps, at hunting camps, at pot-latches, around traditional feasts and during ceremonies. Some of our young learned from the lessons of traditional dances and even from within the folds of some culturally friendly churches. Most of all our young people learned through the lives of Elders who demonstrated the importance of giving to the community as more important than gathering for oneself. The best Elders taught with their lives the value of sharing as more important than taking. The Elders also taught there was more to life than others would have us learn. The lesson of developing what one Elder, William Oquilluk, called the power of imagination (www.alaskool.org) has been essential in allowing us to exist and grow as Alaska Native peoples. We must learn again to imagine more than what is taught in our schools and on TV. We must again reject the lesson of ignorance about being Alaska Native. The challenge of cultural self-determination will not be won by the Native corporation with the biggest bank account. A good future for the next generation of Alaska Natives will not be established on winning some lawsuit. A political win will not produce cultural victory. Success in business, in politics and in the courts is important for Alaska Native people to exist with dignity in this world today, but while these are necessary they are not sufficient. With the creation of Regional Education Attendance Areas (REAAs) Alaska Native peoples won the promise of some measure of self-determination and control over the education of rural Alaska Native young people. This was a new and uncertain task 27 years ago as Alaska Native communities began to take over our schools. We, as Alaska Native communities, were so happy that our young people might not have to leave anymore to acquire an education, we just wanted our young people to be as happy as we were at simply being together. For years many of our Alaska Native communities had not experienced having young people living within our lives all year round. In some ways we seem to have forgotten how to help young people learn about their responsibility in contributing to the community. I think some of us expected the expert teachers to raise our young people as boarding home schools had raised us. We live in the midst of this challenge today. It's been 27 years since the REAAs were formed and 37 years since the Alaska Federation of Natives was formed, and finally the issue has been raised about Alaska Native education and cultural self-determination. I think we can put this issue into some direct questions for our communities, our schools, our teachers and most importantly ourselves. By the time our young people graduate from school what will they be expected to know about our cultures? What will Alaska Native young people learn about us? What should Alaska Native young people learn about us? For schools and teachers and communities that think they are doing pretty well on this issue consider these questions: How many of our Alaska Native high school graduates will have read any-ANY-Alaska Native author? Most current Alaska Native graduates will not have had a single essay, speech, novel, short story, legend, oral history, piece of poetry or anything written by an Alaska Native during their 12 years of schooling. How many Alaska Native young people can name an Alaska Native leader and what that leader fought for on our behalf? How many Alaska Native young people know their Alaska Native organizations and why they were created? Too many of our young people are not being given the chance to learn about us. The shame is not theirs-it belongs to all of us. As youth and Elder delegates you can stand up and say this is wrong. We must reverse the direction of schools. Schools and communities must come together and ensure the opportunity to learn about our own history, Alaska Native leaders and oral traditions that, in some cases, Alaska Native organizations have spent millions of dollars preserving and yet the lessons of our Elders still remain silent in most of our schools. I think the Youth and Elders Convention should ask the business and tribal delegates to address the theme of this year's convention first before they get lost for another year in the politics and money issues that so often preoccupy them. We need commitment to change. I suggest a new resolution asking the other delegates to begin answering the questions: "What should Alaska Native young people learn about us? What organizations, leaders, legends, poetry, stories, oral history, political and social issues should we learn about as young people? No professional educators can answer these questions for us, nor should they. We, as Alaska Natives, together should begin to ask and then answer the questions ourselves. We have young people in Bethel who do not know who Jackson Lomack or Chief Eddie Hoffman was. We have young people from the Interior who do not know who Morris Thompson or Rosemarie Maher were. We have young people from Southeast Alaska who do not know who Elizabeth Peratrovitch was. We need a resolution to ensure that education does not come up every ten years or so but sits at the core as a central focus of the Alaska Federation of Natives. In this regard I recommend a resolution calling for a vice-president of education within the Alaska Federation of Natives. We need a resolution asking AFN to seek funding to coordinate the learning opportunities of the Youth and Elder Convention in ways similar to what Close-Up has done for learning about federal and state issues. We need a resolution coordinating what is taught at cultural camps and after-school programs, changing what is taught in schools and changing what teachers learn about Alaska Natives. There are many other parts of this issue that must be addressed. We should have a resolution that supports web sites as places to learn and share about our regional and statewide cultures, organizations and issues. We need a resolution to support Alaska Native young people who live outside the state to learn about us. These young people who live outside the state now number in the thousands. While they may be living out-of-state, they have not left our hearts nor have they left the purpose of the AFN Youth and Elders Convention. We have too many young Alaska Natives who do not feel nor do they learn any sense of connection to our Alaska Native communities. We must ensure that our young people learn key ideas about being Alaska Native, about our communities, about our issues, about our challenges, about our leaders, about heroes, about the tragic parts of our histories and about things for which we can all be rightfully proud. This is not happening. This must change. Our Alaska Native young people must know that we want them to learn about our rightful place in this world, about the challenges we have faced as peoples and the opportunities they will share. Most of all, our young people must know we care about who they are as well as what they know. We must love and respect our young people enough to share our greatest riches with each one of them. We must share our heritage so they can contribute to it, as well as to each other's and the world beyond. Education and cultural self-determination are one and the same. | |
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EDUCATION INDIGENOUS TO PLACE:NSF Rural Systemic Initiatives • Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative • University of the Arctic NSF Tribal Colleges and Universities Program • Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education Invite you to join us for a celebration of EDUCATION INDIGENOUS TO PLACE A week-long series of events for the intrepid educator May 15–19, 2004 Hess Conference Center • Pike’s Waterfront Lodge • University of Alaska Fairbanks Thursday and Friday, May 13–14: Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education Annual Meeting Saturday, May 15, Day 1: Indigenous Higher Education Colloquium The first day will provide an opportunity for representatives from indigenous-serving higher education institutions and the Governing Council for the University of the Arctic to address issues of common concern (e.g. joint programs, distance education, collaborative research, accreditation, etc.) to be followed with the development of an action plan that will be reviewed for adoption during the Part II session on Wednesday, May 19. Sunday, May 16, Day 2: Indigenous Curriculum Fair Day 2 will focus on issues around developing culturally-responsive curriculum materials and teaching strategies, with participants invited to bring examples of culturally responsive curriculum resources to be put on display and shared. Displays will be in the form of posters, interspersed with presentations around curriculum themes. Monday, May 17, Day 3: Rural Systemic Initiatives PI/PD Meeting Day 3 will be the first of a two-day national RSI PI/PD meeting addressing issues specific to the Rural Systemic Initiatives. Tuesday, May 18, Day 4: RSI PI/PD Meeting Day 4 will be the second of a two-day PI/PD meeting addressing issues specific to the Rural Systemic Initiatives. May 19–23: International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences The remainder of the week will consist of workshops and symposia associated with the tri-annual International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, including the symposium listed below. Further details are available at http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/icass5sessab.htm. Symposium on “Integrating Indigenous Knowledge, Ways of Knowing and World Views into the Educational Systems in the Arctic” Abstract: The symposium will provide participants with examples of work that is currently underway in the circumpolar region to assist schools and universities in integrating indigenous knowledge, ways of knowing and world views into all aspects of education, with a particular emphasis on using the local cultural and physical environment as a laboratory for learning. Presentations from each participating country/initiative will include a description of the epistemological basis for the initiative, the organizational structure being utilized, the role of Elders, and the cultural documentation process involved, as well as the implications of indigenous-based education for curriculum development, teaching practices and support structures for schools serving indigenous peoples. | |
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Education Specialist II Position Announcement:The Alaska Department of Education is recruiting an Education Specialist II, position ID number 05-1637, effective immediately. This is a fulltime, permanent, range 21 position. Starting bi-weekly salary $2,204.50 located in the TRS retirement system. Taken from the Workplace Alaska, Division of Personnel website, http://notes.state.ak.us/ Admin/DOP/WorkplaceAlaska/postApps.nsf, the position description follows: The incumbent is responsible for providing statewide leadership, program planning and implementation, evaluation of programs related to bilingual education and limited English proficient programs in Alaska. The incumbent works closely with staff in school districts involved with state-funded bilingual education programs. Additionally, the incumbent administers the department's federal Title VII Bilingual Education grant. This position will be connected to the federal Title I Disadvantaged and Migrant Education programs, specifically in the area serving limited English proficient (LEP) students. General duties for this position within the Bilingual and Title I/Migrant I LEP areas include, but are not limited to the following: * Review and approve school district bilingual education plans; * Provide technical assistance related to bilingual and LEP program implementation and instructional strategies; * Research and identify programs with evidence of effectiveness in serving these populations; * Provide or arrange for direct training and/or staff development for bilingual and LEP instructors and administrators; * Provide technical assistance on standards based instructional models and * Appropriate assessment systems and instruments. | |
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Elder Highlight by Amy Negalt Denlebedze Van Hatten:As soon as we arrived in the area that used to be low-income housing called Birch Park, she started reminiscing about the people who used to live there. Besides the Olins, there were other families including the Mayos, Carrolls, Solomons, Silas', Alfords, Nollners, McQuestions, Ahnupkanas and others. It was common to share whatever Alaska Native food they brought in from their home villages. In a substitute way, Birch Park was similar to a rural village. They spoke their Alaska Native languages and participated in cultural activities around town. They even initiated some of their own since they got to rent the recreational center on site. In addition, when a villager came to visit they invited their neighbors over to snack on dry fish and drink tea while they listened for news or stories about home. With a dignified tone, Mom Olin said that the Salvation Army, located in a barn near Wendell Bridge, allowed her to exchange labor for her family needs. According to her, this enabled her to get her Alaska Native foods for her table. A steady exchange of Native foods, second-hand clothing, seasonal gear and accessories had the value of being freshly harvested to meet consumers' preference. Reciprocity was and still is a vital key for survival, no matter where one chooses to live. Accordingly, it was one of the most important cultural values carried on from early upbringing in bush Alaska surrounded by extended family members. In 1970 Mom Olin moved to Galena so her younger children could benefit from village life. Besides, the pipeline boom was raising her rent and her modest income was not enough to stay in Fairbanks. After her move, her late Aunt Madeline Solomon became one of her most memorable mentors and Elder /teacher for a traditional way of life. Eventually she became Auntie Madeline's successor as the bilingual/cultural educator for the Galena City School District. Currently she is retired from the working world but remains a teacher to many friends and relatives and is doing it with immense joy. It tickles her when her great-grandchildren and adopted local teachers (who are far away from their real families in the lower 48) try so hard to learn and then succeed. Mom Olin is thankful for those humble days when they were all happy to make do with what little they had. It has always been her wish for the younger generations to learn and appreciate the basics that are most important to survival and a sense of well being. In closing she thanked her ancestors of long, long ago who have not been forgotten. Interviewer's comment: I thank Mom Olin with immeasurable gratefulness for all she has shared with me. | |
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Elder Highlight: Atsaruaq Louise Tall by Barbara Liu:She's able to recall and share many stories of which she often gives credit to her deceased mother and grandmothers. Atsaruaq's mother was Kaviaq/Cimiralria whose mother was Nanugaq and father, Paanertulria. Atsaruaq's father was Nassiryuaq whose mother was Atsaruaq and father was Usugan-all from Qissunaq, near Chevak. Within the past few years she's been the most active through her storytelling and is always willing to travel on AKRSI-related activities. Whenever she participates, she seems comfortable and willing to tell stories. She also spends some of her time selling her art of precious handmade dolls that portray her experiences. She has simple faith with no remorse and seems hardworking for her great-grandchildren. She likes to laugh and makes you feel at home by her kindness. In a few short years, I've gained a grandmother I never had growing up. She's filled many hearts through her example and by giving stories, believing when she dies that her stories will live on. Her memory of unrecorded history is phenomenal. She sews for her family but her favorite pastime is making Yuguat (dolls) that almost look like her. One day, I was hurrying by while she sat with her dolls. I stopped to chat and she asked me to watch her dolls for a few minutes. She was back in no time and before I continued on, she handed me one of them. She is truly a special "Grandmother" strongly connected to the land and her people. In my visits with her, she's open to give advice. One day as my two boys (four and six years) played near her, she said, "With the help of their father, they are ready to shoot a bow and arrow." My only visual memory of bows and arrows took me back to cowboy and Indian movies, but I knew Atsaruaq was speaking from experience. When I first heard her telling pre-contact stories, I really worked hard on listening and mentally picturing the setting, season, characters, props, voices, and how far back in time she was bringing me. Now it is much easier for me to follow her Chevak dialect as I grew up with mainland Akulmiut dialect. My mother's grandparents were both raised in Chevak/Hooper Bay vicinity and that generation was born mostly along the Bering Sea coast before moving on to other parts of the region. Atsaruaq's qulirat stories start from her home area off the Bering Sea to Nelson Island (once surrounded by water) to the headwaters of the Kuskokwim and over to the Lower Yukon side as well as from Nunivak Island. Many of her stories are non-fictional based on Y/Cuuyaraq. She opens up authentic ways of teaching. I think an orator and teacher such as Atsaruaq can bring all five senses alive through her seasoned life experiences. There are three AKRSI-sponsored events where many others like myself have had the opportunity to listen to her. One was a circle of ten Y/Cup'ik-speaking teachers who signed up for an Elder academy with KUC's associate professor, Cecilia Martz, June 30 to July 4, 1997. A statement was made by this group and published by Alaska Native Knowledge Network with a vision. Y/Cuuyaraq Wangkuta Y/Cup'igni qanruyutet aturluki anglituukut. Ilakuyulluta, ukvertarluta, pingnatuuluta. Nallunrilamta Yuuyaramteni piciryarangqerramta nutemllarmek. Qigcikiyaram aturtai taringumaut ellam iluanelnguut elpengqellrit nunuliutengqellrit-llu. Qanruyutem aturtai umyuartuluteng, elluatuuluteng, nuuqitevkenateng yuuluaqerciqut. Another opportunity for teachers to hear Atsaruaq tell a few stories took place in Anchorage with 40-50 Native teachers attending the State Bilingual Conference, February 1997. The 90-minute session I facilitated with her was very well attended as a Y/Cup'ik-speaking-only session, with simultaneous translation provided. The only drawback was that the sound system of the ballroom didn't work very well. In each story she gives credit by name to all the storytellers that she heard it from either at the beginning or end of each story. She remembers a few bedtime stories up to a certain part because as a little girl she fell asleep while her mother, Kaviaq, or Cimiralria was telling the story. The intent has always been to share stories with children in Y/Cup'ik. Currently, Atsaruaq is in a fall class Cecilia Martz offers through KUC with several Elders; there are 22 enrolled. She has told about nine hours of stories-some from the first academy as well as many new titles. This has provided a form of Cup'ik immersion for adults like myself, Oscar Kawagley, and many others. Following is a short story she told about herself. Louise Tall's first name, Atsaruaq, is after her paternal grandmother at birth. While a baby, she became ill and her parents asked a healing doctor (Angalkuq) for help. The following is translated (as best as possible) from the original Cup'ik version. One fall season, I was still a baby and became very ill. My mother and father called a doctor for help because they were afraid I would die. The doctor told them he would bring back life for me from the land of the bearded seal and left. At bedtime, my parents put me next to them and as the doctor told them; they also put a seal skin under their bed. In the middle of the night, my mother was awakened by a crying child to find me on top of the sealskin; both puzzled as to how I got there. After that, I got well. When I was growing up each spring, my skin would flake and my father would say that it was that time for bearded seal to do the same. Later in her life, it stopped and she added it was when she changed her beliefs. In an unrelated story she talks about the legendary long-armed little people who could grant wishes people made when they met them along the way. They are called Egacuayiit, and Atsaruaq laughs jokingly as she finishes this story that if she met one of those little guys today, she would wish for a healthy life. Thank you for the opportunity to highlight an Elder from my region. There are many Elders who participate in AKRSI events and each one has contributed alot. Atsaruaq's independence and focus gets right to the point. When she was a girl, she never entered a public school. Her education came from traveling seasonally with her grandparents, parents, and siblings. Atsaruaq's mother also married twice and raised 13 children. Atsaruaq grew up as the fourth child with two older brothers, an older sister, three younger brothers, and one younger sister. Their mother had more children with her second husband, adding four more brothers and a sister to her family. Today, her two younger brothers and two adopted brothers and sister are living. They all grew up in Chevak/Hooper Bay area. Atsaruaq also married twice and raised 13 children. Today, she has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She lives in Bethel most of the year now with her youngest son and returns home to Chevak and Hooper Bay regularly. Many thanks go to Atsaruaq and Cecilia Martz for making it possible to get to know our neighbors. Tua-ingunrituq, Piurci. Cup'ik Elder Atsaruaq Louise Tall | |
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Elder Highlight: Tribute to Oscar Nictune Sr. by Bob Maguire:The following tribute was prepared by Bob Maguire. Reprinted from Spirit of our Ancestors, a publication of Denakkanaaga. Oscar Nictune, Sr. was truly an extraordinary person-someone I feel very privileged to have known. When I came to the Koyukuk River country for the first time in the mid-1960s, Oscar was one of the first people I met. I was immediately struck by his intelligence, his openness to share his life experiences and his ever-present sense of humor. Later in 1968 I married my wife Cora-herself a granddaughter of Oscar Nictune Sr.-and I received the honor of having a grandpa myself for the first time in my life. During the following years it was my privilege to share many stories and adventures with Grandpa Oscar. Born in 1901 he was the last living person to have experienced the gold rush era in the Koyukuk country at the beginning of the last century. Most of us are left to only imagine this era of steamboats, miners, pigs, horses and gold discoveries. There are few signs of the towns such as Bergman, Arctic City, South Fork and Peavey or of the 10,000 people who clamored over the countryside. Oscar took in all this activity and was influenced directly by it when he was recruited to attend school in Old Bettles in 1905 at the age of five. It was because of this experience that he received his name Oscar. Having only his Eskimo name, Qayak, he was given the name of the outside teacher's youngest brother! Later, at the age of 12, he would haul loads of frozen fish by dog team from Alatna to Bettles, Coldfoot, Wiseman and the other creeks to sell to miners eager for fresh food supplies. Soon thereafter he was employed as a cabinboy and deckhand on the steam-powered paddlewheelers that plied the waters of Interior Alaska. Later in life he married Grandma Cora-the daughter of Duvak and Dinook-and together they had nine children. Then the most tragic event of his life happened when his wife died during childbirth while delivering twins. Grandpa must have loved his wife Cora immensely for he never remarried saying that "when my love died, loving died too." I think that he felt he could never find another person like his love, Cora, so he chose to raise his family alone. He lived the next 56 years as a widower! Sheep hunting was his favorite passion, especially in his later years. He learned to hunt sheep at an early age with his father Peter Nictune and others like Duvak, Nuylayek and Johnny Oldman. He loved the upper Alatna River country and the many creeks that run into it-creeks with names like Milchetah, Nahduk, Pingaluk, Gaduk and Unakserak. He had many stories of sheep hunts in the earlier times when there weren't other big animals such as moose in the country. Most of us who are privileged to travel there today still refer to it as "Grandpa Oscar's country." His greatest pleasure in his later years was still being able to accompany the younger grandsons to such places as Unakserak River and be the camp boss. When I had my airplane in Allakaket in the mid-1970s, Grandpa Oscar and I took many trips together. He was the boss of that too and would often come across to Allakaket and announce to me, "Today we are going to Wiseman!" or wherever. He loved to visit his sister Florence Jonas in Wiseman. Sometimes he would stand back around the corner of her house and let me knock on her door, so he could surprise her. Perhaps my favorite memory of him was a trip up the North Fork of the Koyukuk. I asked him why he wanted to go up the North Fork and he said, "Well there's some country I haven't seen!" So after several days of camping I gathered up our trash in a plastic bag and put it in the plane. When I got everything else packed up I looked for Grandpa and he was way out on the gravel bar sticking tin cans and other items from our trash bag on the willows. I walked out onto the bar and asked him, "Grandpa what are you doing?" He replied, "This is so if any of those other people come up this way, they'll know Oscar was here first!" When he passed away in 1998 at the age of 97 he left behind a legacy of being a kind and generous man-one who cared for people. He left behind a family that he raised and supported to carry on his philosophy of always helping others, doing everything in the best fashion possible and of always seeing the positive side of life. | |
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Elder Interview: Nick Galaktionoff:Moses L. Dirks, Unalaska, November 28, 1999 I was born in Makushin, Magusim kugan aganaqing 1925. This month or next month. And after I was born, kids they didn't know how they were born anyway. My dad and my mom they were going to move into their own house. My dad built a house and finished it. So then my mom and dad was ready to go. I had an older sister named Malaanyaa. They went out and pack things over. And me, I was left with my grandmother. So my grandmother grew me up all the way. When I was five years old I started helping my dad. I didn't know what I was doing. He always told me that I was doing good. I suppose I was making a mess, but he always said I did good. I ran into the house and tell my grandmother. My grandmother was a very important person to me that time. She would always teach me; I didn't really know my real mom and my dad. She told me that was my dad. But I never called him my dad. I always call him Ludang, "my oldest." So I don't know my real mom because my dad call him Ayagang, "my wife." So I start calling her my Ayagang. We grew up that way. Before he (dad) go to St. Paul, he would take the baidarki skin off 'cause you save the ribs anyway. You don't want them rot away. After he come back from St. Paul, them guys were working for forty dollars a month. People make more than that in one day now days. Then after he come home from St. Paul, take a rest for one week and start work on his baidarki, changing the string ropes on there and soak the skin in the creek. After it got dried up it don't get stretch or shrink anyway (the sealskin). After two days you put them on. People come in and help him sew it up and everything and no time he finished it. No party, but they always had tea parties after that. So my dad told me I was five or six years old. I know I was small. I don't know how old I was. My dad said that he was going to take me out in a baidarki. But, my grandmother told him, don't take him too far out. I know I can't see nothing. I have nothing but a smile on my face. Finally, he got me in a baidarki hole (in the front). Boy my eyes were barely sticking out. Then he launched his baidarki giving me a ride around from that house all the way far as the creek and from there turned back, all the way as far as that point. And we finally landed. My grandmother lift me up from the baidarki take me out, take me home. I thought that it was a lot of fun I ever had. Because we didn't have our own toys, we all made toys. That's all we had. Pretty tough them days. But everything I do this better and what anybody do it looks better. But when I was eight years old I started fishing. I am not alone but always go with them fishing, seining right in the front. Those were the days when it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun for every kid. Them days the people work on fish and after that my dad is gone. Go out and get some wood and fish. My dad and my dad's brother and his friend and guy named Matfii Burenin, John Burenin, Akiinfer Galaktionoff-he was my dad. John-that was his brother but he got different dad. He never come home. There was not even a storm, not even windy. People there looking for them. They didn't find them. Finally, Iliya Burenin find the boat in another bay all chopped up. Japanese got them. Japanese started to move into Unalaska in the mountains, hide away spying Dutch Harbor. So that was 1939. The marshall got there on the mailboat. Not the mailboat, but Coast Guard boat. He found out my grandmother and mother did not have no help. And back to Unalaska again. Finally try and find a place for us to stay. Finally Coast Guard got there and pick us up and we come in 1939. I don't like it but as kids we can't do nothing by himself. I was 13 years old. And after that I am doing something like everybody else, helping my mom. In 1939, just about 1940, my grandmother died. She was seventy-nine years old. I didn't know she was seventy-nine but after she died, after I grew up until fifteen-sixteen, I found out she was seventy-nine years old. So I've got nothing to do so I had to move in with my real mom. I didn't like them kids in there, but they were my brothers and sisters. Always doing something. For ten cents you tell them to do something. I am getting ten cents from somebody else. Ten cents was a lot of money. I would buy two big bar candies. Now days them forty, fifty cent bar candies are twice as small as the big candies before. And from there I work most of the time. When I was fourteen years old, school started. And they wanted me to go to school. I was happy for a while. I might learn something. I was in school but I didn't like my teacher. If I don't say "Good morning Miss Jorgensen," she would always hit my head with a little ruler. Boy, I didn't like that. I have been up at the school. I know how to sign my name. So one morning I got sandwich and I got a big coat. I make a big sandwich and put it in coat pocket and I left. People go up to school but me, I kept going all the way to the trail, Biorka Trail. I walk all the way over to that Beaver Inlet. I am not even scared but I will be scared later. I did not have a place to stay. I take walk on the beach for a while. Dark comes I start eating my sandwich. I stay by the small creek, put my head down and drink water. I did not have a cup. I eat half of my sandwich. Later I went into the grass and went to bed. I sleep good for a while and I wake up, pitch dark. Boy, I am kind of nervous. Early winter started, right after school started, oh, about a month and a half after school started. I got into Beaver Inlet over night. Next morning, I got up and finished my sandwich. No I don't want to stay there again. So I come home before I lose my trail. No truck road up on top side, just a trail. I could have come in to town earlier but I don't want to come to town when it is daylight. And I am scared of the goats up there. We got to go through this pass, about twenty goats up there. Belongs to Mr. King. Boy, pretty soon they would be teasing me all the way. I got chased from them animals; run before they hit me and I went over the fence. When I come on this side I feel safer. I come all the way to my house and my mom said, "We have been worried about you, where have you been?" "I've been camping." Well I didn't see no camp in Beaver Inlet. Next two days the marshall, Mr. Bill, I forgot his last name, he wanted me back to school. I told him if you put me back to school I am going to run away for good. I was scared but I said that anyway. So later he said okay stay home if you want to. He left me. That was Bill Brown. He was a marshall before Vern Robinson. Somebody else was the marshall before Bill Brown too. He died in Seattle. He was an Aleut. His Mother was Aleut I guess. He talked Aleut because everybody talked Aleut around here anyway. Not any more. Nick "Nicholai"Galaktionoff was born in the village of Makushin on the island of Unalaska in 1939. Nick comes from a large family; he and his sister Marina are the only survivors. Both of his sons reside in Unalaska. Nick's hobbies include halibut and salmon fishing. He used to go out seal hunting and fishing whenever he got a chance. He now has poor eyesight and does not go many places anymore. Nick likes living in Unalaska and enjoys fishing and walking around town. | |
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Elder Participation In "The Spirit : | |
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Elders In the Classroom by Roby Littlefield:All students can benefit from inter-generational contacts. In Alaska Native cultures, grandparents were held in high regard as they contributed to the community by passing on knowledge and skills. Children learned by listening to and watching Elders and often didn't realize they were in training. Bringing grandparents in to share personal knowledge when studying subjects like nutrition, customs, plants, biology and history can benefit the entire class. To begin, first look to your class members. Send home a note or survey expressing your desire to include parents, grandparents and Elders in your lessons. Get referrals for possible speakers from organizations that work with Natives and/or the elderly. The way to ask Native American Elders for help is different from Western customs. Initial and subsequent contact should be subtle. Visit with them, allowing time for the conversation to wander. Allow for extended pauses, giving them time to think and decide. If their hearing is poor, sit on the side of their better ear and make sure your lips can be seen. Direct eye contact should be limited. Standing or sitting at an angle can increase an Elders comfort level. Keep your questions basic and specific. Begin the request by telling a little about your class and how the Elder could help. If you are not sure if the Elder is interested, hint strongly that you would like to have their help and ask if she/he knows of someone who might be willing to participate. Custom teaches that it is rude to give someone a frank "no" to a request for help, so you need to recognize that a noncommittal response might mean "no", or it might mean that the request is being considered. If at some point the Elder changes the subject more than once while you are explaining your request, you should be aware that she/he might be trying to say "no". Don't force a response; if it is clearly not a "yes" let it go, or suggest they can contact you after they've thought about it. It is important to ask before a meeting for permission to make audio or video recordings. Don't show up with the equipment because you may force consent and cause bad feelings. Permission to listen to or tape a story or lecture does not give you any right to re-broadcast or write the story with you as author. Elders Concerns & Expectations * How can I find the room? (transportation, personal guide) * Will I be respected and appreciated by the students? * Will I be able to hear the students questions? (background and noise level) * Can I speak within the attention span and understanding of the age I am speaking to? If an Elder has agreed to participate in a classroom activity, provide them with optional dates and the logistics. It would be helpful to explain the routine, consequences for students misbehavior, and possible options if problems come up during the lesson. It is your responsibility to ensure discipline is maintained. Be aware, however, that Elders generally do not support strict discipline in a public setting. Discuss how to make a smooth transition to help the Elder leave the class. Agree on some visual signals and ground rules. When the Elder arrives introduce her/him so the Elder sees your respect for them. The teacher should be alert for visual cues from the Elder during the visit as well as be prepared to give unspoken signals back. The teacher should stay in the room. Give the Elder a chance to use traditional discipline. Be prepared to move a child to sit by an adult who can role model how to listen respectfully. If you have problems with students degrading or ignoring an Elder, have a teacher's aide or adult Native quietly intervene. Most traditional stories are like a round, crocheted pot holder. The storyteller goes round and round the subject until it all comes together and finally comes to the lesson or point. Be patient, allow the Elders to share their culture in their own way. Your students are learning how to listen. Students should refrain from interrupting to ask questions. There will be a proper time to ask questions. As a thank you, Elders usually appreciate student and teacher letters, pictures and story booklets which are treasured and shown to friends and relatives. This may also encourage other Elders to participate in classroom projects. Sometimes you will find a resource person who will be available for a wide variety of subjects and projects. If you use an Elder more than once, the school should provide some type of stipend in appreciation of the energy and knowledge the Elder is contributing. Be careful not to burn out your Elders. Whenever you make a request be sure the Elder understands she is not obligated. Keep your lessons flexible in case the Elder can't come at the last minute. Once an Elder has agreed on a time to come into your classroom, avoid changing or postponing the visit. From The Tlingit Moon and Tide Resource Book (K-4), editor Dolly Garza. To be published by Alaska Sea Grant early 1999. | |
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Excellent Teamwork for a : | |
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