Native Heritage Month - October 2009

Qua Kai!!! Remember that is Yup'ik for What's Happening or what's new? I hope all of you in the lower 48 are starting to dry out from the never-ending rain in the Mid South. I have to brag for a moment, Anchorage has been in the 60's and sunny for the last week. We had nicer weather than Memphis! I get to say that now because in a few more weeks I won't be bragging as much about the weather.

BIG NEWS!! I got to be the Moose Horn Blower on Thursday!!! What does that mean? Well, 5 minutes before we were to dismiss the kiddos from school to go home (walkers and bus riders) there were 12 - yup, 12 moose in the school yard. Many were looking in the windows at our classes. So I was handed an air horn and told to go to the corner of the building and blow it to make the moose go away so we can dismiss school. I was a bit hesitant since these were BIG moose (dads, moms and teens) so I asked a bus driver to go with me. He laughed at me because I was so excited to have such an exciting job. I was ready to run if the moose came my way. When the 7 teachers blew the air horns the moose looked up and sauntered away. We let the kiddos go about 10 minutes later. Now that is an exciting finish to a school day!!

I have been busy. I went to the Celestial Mead Opening Dinner. It was a 5 course gourmet dinner with a Celestial Mead for each course. Mead is the Anchorage wine made from Tupelo honey. Tupelo honey can be found in Florida and some other place. I had some of the wine and can't remember all of the presentation. I explained to the Mead person that Tupelo can be found in Mississippi - of course where Elvis was born. He said that may be true but they don't make Tupelo honey there. He was probably correct. Anywho, there is black tupelo honey, white and berry tupelo honey. It was okay. I don't drink so it all had the same flavor to me - kind of like drinking cough syrup! I have been busy taking a fused glass class. That is fun but I have discovered that I am not very artistic. I can copy a design just fine but creating one is a challenge for me. I forgot working with glass one can accumulate many cuts on her fingers. I went to school the next day with band aid fingers. I looked like I had battle wounds. I guess I did since the glass won!

My graduate class requires us to take field trips. Since this is Alaskan World Music Festival it was another learning experience. This doesn't quite measure up to the Memphis in May Music Festival but it certainly was cultural. The Native dancers were fabulous. The boys always have the major dance and singing parts. The girls are just decorative! They explained that they don't have many words so they sing stories. This particular group was another Yup'ik moiety (clan or tribe). They said sometimes they have songs with no meaning but it was a way to gather and share time together. I thought the "Family" song was neat. Each family has a special song. Some tell the family history, some family songs tell a special event in the family, and some pass along family medicines in a song. When it is your family song time only your family is allowed to sing and dance. Some family songs go on for hours. Now that is a dance-a-thon. They should try having a fund-raiser and get sponsors to see which family can dance the longest. Please note the wonderful mukluks they all are wearing. The photo is my favorite pair and they are made of moose hide, seal and otter fur, and the most gorgeous beading. I am going to have to save a long time for a pair of these. They start at $500. Next is my friend, Beth, and the two male dancers. We talked to anyone who would talk with us and explain more about the cultures. These young men are Yup'ik and had to come down from the North Slope for the weekend events. Each clan is required to work so many community service hours at the Heritage Center. They said they look forward to it because they can go to movies and eat a wide variety of food. Next is the "women's Yup'ik" house. Those are whale baleens in front. They stand about 14 feet tall. Baleen or whalebone enables the baleen whale to feed. These whales do not have teeth but instead have rows of baleen plates in the upper jaw that are flat, flexible plates with frayed edges, arranged in two parallel rows, looking like combs of thick hair. Whales use these combs for filter feeding to keep the debris out and only the food enters the mouth. I am trying to talk a few of my friends into taking the baleen weaving basket class. It is intense (one month) and expensive but we can be proud of learning a wonderful craft. In the womens house only the married women, female children and other married women (sisters) live in the women's home. Even though the women own the homes the men make them and keep them up. I like this tradition. The Alaskan homes are semi-subterranean which allows for a winter entrance. The ground cover provides a lot of protection from the elements and in the rainy season they would hand seal intestine blankets over the front door to keep the rain out. The Alaskan Yup'iks and Cup'iks did not build snow igloos. Snow igloos were used by the Inuits in Central and Northern parts of Canada. So stop building igloos out of sugar cubes when your children learn about Alaska. Build sod houses instead. Be sure to include a Totem Pole. This is the Raven Tribe. There are only two moiety in Alaska. The Ravens and the Whales. Each clan had many sub-clans. For instance, the Ravens have the frog, the bear, the snake and other sub-clans. Masha, the moccasin maker filled us in on all the clan. She said that the child follows the mothers heritage (just like the Jewish religion). So once a Raven always a Raven. However, when a young person marries, they had to marry to the other clan. That prevented "damage" to the clan. Those were her words and I got the picture. The lady who did the beading (Marge) showed us how to bead using porcupine quills and beads. That flower was part of a vest collar. It took her almost 2 months to complete this portion. I placed several porcupine quills next to her beautiful bead work so you can get an idea how intricate this method is. She has to get the quills (she said she uses road kill and freezes the carcass until she can get all the quills off of it - subsistence living) and then has to hollow out the quill. Apparently the quill is filled with a substance like foam. Her quill needles don't go through it well so she has an extra step in the process. Remember, this craft has been going on hundreds of years and most of these Alaskans wear glasses. I know why! Next is Masha, the moccasin teacher. She travels to Stanford University once a year to teach a beading and moccasin and mukluk class. These moccasins were so soft. Deer or moose hide, beads and lined with seal fur. I am still saving for my pair. I hope to purchase them by Christmas. She had baby ones for a very reasonable price. My friends thought I should by a pair and hang them from my rear view mirror and perhaps my children would get the idea. What do you think Tyler and Jenna? They would keep the little feet warm. By the way, did I mention Masha is 95 years old!!!! She is incredible. She showed us a picture of her 5 generation family - she is a very proud matriarch. Then we traveled to the Iditarod Headquarter Museum in Wasilla. In case you can't read the sign it the mail route, highway and gold avenue from Seward to Nome. It was the lifeline to Nome when the diphtheria epidemic hit in 1925 and mushers carried the vaccine to Nome. The Iditarod Dog Sled race (from Anchorage to Nome is 1050 miles) was created in 1973 by a musher named Joe Reddington. That is a bronze sculpture of Joe and his favorite dog. Joe died in 1999. The next picture is Joe's first dog sled and notice the moose antlers on the back. That was another of his prize hunts on trail and he wanted to display them proudly. There are female mushers and much more but the museum closed a few minutes before we got there. So that is what we learned from the signs around the museum. I am sure I will get back to the museum during the Iditarod in March. David and Poli and are coming up for that.
So now for a little bit of fun. I have been taking pictures of my students and classes for parent conferences next week. I want to see if you can tell the difference between my many cultures. Can you identify the children according to their cultures? (Hmong, Alaskan Athabaskan, Samoan and Caucasian) Don't let those smiling little boys fool you, they are mischievous and sweet all at once. The last picture is my class learning about how the eye works differently when it is light out (summer) versus in the dark (coming soon).

Isn't he just the cutest little Yup'ik you have seen? That is Michael and he is in 1st grade. One of my first grade classes has 17 students and they are missing a total of 55 teeth. When I asked the class to smile for a class picture I broke out laughing. Only 3 students had front teeth! So we sang a verse of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Etelogi (on the left) is Samoan and Grace of God is Athabaskan (on the right).

Amei (on the left) is Hmong and Jaaden (on the right) is Caucasian.

All the boys are relos or transplants (parents are in Anchorage for jobs) and they are sweetie pies.

I hope you enjoyed my cultural events and children. I am soaking up as much as possible. We have completed one quarter of the school year already. I think time is flying by.

Have a wonderful week. Until next week,

Gee Kun Gee (I love you in Yup'ik) I am learning a word a week.

Sheryl the Nanook of the North