I'm a Yupik Eskimo..."The Real People". That is my beginning and is my end. Neither the
experiences of life nor the transformation of death can change this. I'm only one of fewer than 30,000 of my culture. Family
is everything in my culture. Real People live and breathe this everyday. Family is not just a concept to us it is also our
color and action. We do not understand those who act otherwise.
As a child I learned many things as most young Eskimo children do. Sharing as a family
and the handing down of tradition is our primary schooling. Learning to respect and cherish the responsibilities, role models,
and authority that are continually taught and given to us is our course of study.
Chores, crafts, hunting, fishing, gathering, and preparing food for the long dark winter
months are the way we still live today. We are no longer nomatic as we once were. We live in small village communities that
provide dominant culture education and medicine. I grew up in a traditional village, living off the land, traveling by small
watercraft to camps in the summers, fishing, collecting berries, by harvesting from the life-sustaining rivers and tundra
gardens. During winter months we learn to prepare and make winter clothing with many animal furs. Skinning, tanning and sewing
is the hallmark of an industrious Yupik woman. Our world-reknown crafts are often traded for money, food, and/or materials
as needed. We remain proud hunting and gathering tribes to this day.
My talent comes from my grandmother and mother who patiently and lovingly taught me as
our ancestors did. My work has many different traditonal styles. Each crafted individually by hand. Making it unique, one
of a kind item. I am very proud of my heritage and culture. I teach as I was taught to my children, keeping our heritage and
culture alive. For that knowledge is priceless.
My next installment will be about my culture's hunting beliefs and practices. How and
why we use as much of the animal parts as possible.
Enjoy browsing my webpage.
