It has been a week since I been back from New Stuyahok. After being there for a week, I was reminded of the cultural differences that one will find throughout rural Alaska. For instance, if you take a look at the picture below, you will see the seasonal wheel of the year. The four seasons of the year are clearly stated Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Inside the seasons, there are images that represent the animals and activities available during that time of year. For example, the month of May is called kayangut anutit, meaning "when the ducks and geese return." Although this is self explanatory, it is quite different in concept, because the lifestyle and culture in this community depends on the seasonal abundance of their natural resources. It is important to recognize this, because at times like these, school is not the first priority for many students. School attendance takes a backseat because the people depend on the land to be able to feed their families and store enough food for the winter months.

This is important to teachers, because students will miss a lot of school and lessons plans do not go as planned.

Here is a picture of an elder in the language and culture classroom. On a side note, if you want to know what is going on in the community. All you have to do is sit with the ladies at the beading table and they will update you on the latest.

Friday was our last day in New Stu and classes were back to their regular schedule. Here are a couple pictures of the school.

The school designed was inspired by a boat being stored for winter. If you look closely under the ceiling,  the crossbars represent the interior infrastructure of a boat. Pretty slick!

On our final day there were a lot of students gone, because they had left to participate in the Native Youth Olympics. Classes were relatively small ranging from 2 to 8 students.

Here is a short video taken in a Yup'ik classroom while students were reviewing their vocabulary of the week before their quiz. 











Before leaving I made sure I thanked the friendly staff and elders for their generosity and hospitality that they provide during my and my classmate Peter's stay.

Here are some of the faces that came to be very familiar during my week.

Although they spoke little English, my effort to learn a few words and phrases sure

Wednesday and Thursday...

The middle of the week was a bit relaxing and quite a game changer. The Dillingham School District decided to give students in the district a writing assessment. On Wednesday, the students were given a class period to brainstorm what they would like to write about for their assessment. On Thursday, students were given two class periods to write their written assessment.


The way this played out was that students would start school at a regular schedule and their first period class would be the normal class length. After their first period class, students went to their "homerooms" and stayed there until they completed their essays. After the written assessment all the classes were only 35 minutes long and for the most part students in all classes were working on projects or make-up work. 

Since students were busy working on their projects I decided to redeem myself in restarting my uluaq project. Here are the end results.

Peter(84) with his finished product and explaining to me the best quality wood to use for an ulu. 

On my right is Peter (Peter is a very common name in the town)

On Thursday, Peter and myself decided to join the community in some high stakes bingo. This was my first time playing bingo with a competitive crowd. There were at least 10 different  types of possible bingo games. We only played two games, but the whole event lasted from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.




Here is a picture of the back-up communications igloo, just in case contact with the rest of civilization was lost using the other means available.

Tuesday, April 17th was an exciting day at school. I was placed in the Yup'ik language classroom. The students in this town are no longer speaking Yup'ik at home as their first language, but students from K-12 have access to the language at school. The amount of time they are exposed to the language is not very extensive. For instance, the elementary grades are only in the Yup'ik classroom 25 minutes a day, once a week. The High School students are in the Yup'ik classroom 55 minutes each day of the week and a typical school day starts at 9:15 and ends at 3:30.

Back to my exciting first day of observations. During first period students were introduced to ten Yup'ik vocabulary words and afterwards they completed a word match worksheet. Here is the vocabulary list:

1. kumlaneq- frozen fish
2. up'nerkaq- spring
3. kiak-summer
4. kegginaq- face
5. iqluuq- she's lying
6. nepaituq- it's quiet
7. qenertuq- she's angry
8. qastuuq -she's loud
9. cikuliurun -ice pick
10. iniivik- clothesline

This vocabulary list was presented to two other classes and a different vocabulary list was given to another class. This list belongs to a first semester Yup'ik class. 

One of the unique aspects of the class was the presence of the community elders in the classroom. This was unique, because in the community there are 4-6 elders who are fluent Yup'ik speakers and their English proficiency was pretty minimal. I thought it was great to have elders in the classroom because they are able to provide any assistance that students might need with language and culture related questions. Even more impressive was the elders' involvement in the cultural contribution to the class. With the guidance of the elders, the students are able to create, build and make practical cultural artifacts. For example, I went into the shop room and students had made sleds for carrying wood, meat and anything else that needs transport. 

In a school where student attendance can be a problem and where students might find it difficult to make school the place to be or their number one priority, I think it helps to have the elders in the school. This has a positive impact on the students, because if their 60, 70, or 80 year old grandparent is getting up to go to school to teach cultural and linguistic information that is in the verge of dying, it means the students should also care enough to be there. Anyhow, this is a good program, because it makes the school be a much bigger part of the community.

I had a great time talking to the women while I was beading myself a necklace and a bracelet. After completing my beading work and getting teased by the ladies, I went to the shop to talk and work with the elders who mostly spoke Yup'ik. They spoke so much Yup'ik that when I went back to my apartment for my siesta, I dreamed I was talking and teaching Yup'ik. Talk about a wild dream. Anyhow, here is a picture of Nick Gumlickpuk, the second oldest member of the community (84 years old, the other grandpa is Peter and he is 85 years old). Peter on the right working on a pair of miniature snowshoes (Pupsugcetaaq).

After spending some time in the classroom and the shop, I had a delicious lunch of brown rice, beef nuggets, green-beans and apple sauce. It beats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anytime. 

Well, this is it for now. I am going to go work on making myself an ulu.  

This is my first attempt = Fail

“You guys have too much $#¡&” the pilot said. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the yellow lab, my bags or if we were even supposed to hear what he was really thinking. Anyhow, I arrived to New Stuyahok on Sunday afternoon. It took about an hour and a half of cruising at 175-180 knots on a Beech 200 Twin Turbine. The plane was plugged-full with food and other essentials that people need in the village.

 

 The pilot had to unload some food and other supplies to make room for the dog, luggage and ourselves. 

On Monday there was no school. Students and staff had a four day weekend, because this community is highly Russian Orthodox and they celebrate Easter a week later than the norm. 

Only a few more days until I depart for my Rural Practicum. This week-long adventure will take place during the week of April 15th through April 20th. I will be going to New Stuyahok, Alaska. Pronounced just like it sounds [stuyahok](I think), but known to the locals as "Cetuyarap."  I am not sure what the it means in Central Yup'ik, but I hope to find out. This small Native community is located in Central Alaska. In 2011 it had a population of 501. An interesting fact about this Yup'ik community is that it has relocated its town location three different times. 




Here is a map to show you its relevant location in Alaska.

New Stuyahok

Here is a picture of the whole village and its airstrip

Well, so far I am very excited about my travels to this village. As of now, I have not packed any clothing, but I am considering packing a few tomatoes, Japanese dried peppers, a clove of garlic, cilantro and an onion to make some fresh salsa for students. I am sure they would appreciate some fresh vegetables.