We Are All Together Here

The potluck part of the potlatch. Look at all that delicious food!

How should I start this blog? So many things to tell, so many things to share. What a full week we have had out here in the bush. Alakanuk celebrated early this week and then as the week went on we had an alarming tragedy. What a week!! As our new airport is supposed to be finished this coming week, the community decided to have a potlatch in honor of the airport and all the hard work that went into it. It was my first ever potlatch out here and I wanted to share about it. But then, on Wednesday there was a tragic fire in the village that has effected most people around here. Our village will be filled with people from other villages as they come to mourn the death of an elderly woman. Such a sad occasion merits some mention in this week's blog.

mm, yummy!

Tuesday we had a great time. There was a big potlatch celebration. Our new airport is almost complete,  so we all got together at the tribal building for the evening to share a meal and have an Eskimo dance. Anytime we can get together to dance out here, we do. A potlatch is basically the same as a potluck, with the Eskimo added onto it, which is a lot of fun. There were tons of different foods that people brought out, and it was all delicious! 

Of course, those of you who know me, know I'm not a big fish eater. But a lot of the food had moose meat instead, which is delicious, so I had plenty to eat. Unfortunately, no one brought any Eskimo ice cream, which they call something like agudik, although there is no guarantee that this is the way they spell it. It is made up of fish, berries, crisco, and fish oil. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Well I've been holding out, waiting to taste some, but they haven't had any yet. 

what a group of friend

The potlatch was supposed to begin at 5, but, of course, like everything else around here it didn't start exactly on time. The people in this culture don't really stick to time schedules like down in the lower 48. I only stayed until about 8:30, and one of the other teachers said she left about 9:30, so these potlatches last quite a few hours, but I don't think they went on much past 10, seeing as it was a school night and stuff like that. 

I took a short video of the people doing one of the Eskimo dances. Hope you enjoy the video. This dance would go on for about 10 minutes, but I tried to get the main part of the dance. The part in this video would be repeated over and over again within that time frame, which may sound boring, but I dare you to watch it until you can do it yourself and tell me how long it takes. One more thing I wanted to tell you I don't know if I included in another blog is that you will notice all the women have either fans (made to look like bear claws) or gloves on. You are not allowed to dance unless you are wearing gloves or have fans. It's pretty interesting how they do things like that. 

Wednesdays are our early out days. We let the students out an hour early so we can do some in-service and get things done without the students being around. As we were sitting down to start our meeting Wednesday, someone came in and notified one of the aides about something. He immediately got up and left and word was passed around the room. His grandmother's house was on fire! We sent four of the teachers to go out and help fight the fire as well.

girls playing

I know that fires are always a danger and we always need to be cautious about them, but this is more severe out here. There are no fire hydrants and no hoses or any other materials to put out big fires. Also, these houses are super old. When one catches on fire, there is not a whole lot of chance for you to stop it and get it under control. On top of that, the houses are pretty close together so when one catches on fire, you have to try to get it under control as soon as you can, otherwise whole neighborhoods could go up in smoke. 

Teachers joining the dance

By the time the teachers got there, the whole house was engulfed and flames were licking out the window. The house next to it was hot on the side closest to the burning house and they were afraid they wouldn't stop it in time. Fortunately they were able to get water trucks from the construction people at the school and put out the house. The house was completely gone, there is no way it could be salvaged.

As the teachers got there, they were pulling the woman out of the house who lived there. She was an 88 years old woman, with 90% of her body covered in 3rd degree burns. Her clothes had been made of polyester, and even though she had thrown water on her before trying to head out, the fire was in the doorway, and there was no hope. She made it eight hours. They were even able to medivac her to another bigger village, but she didn't make it. They said that because her burns were so severe, her nerve endings had been burned off, so she wasn't in pain and she was even trying to sit up and talk to people. 

This young lady made a bet with a teacher that she could finish that  jaw breaker.... Good luck!!

There were two children in my class who were related to her. One was her granddaughter, who was pretty upset. Another one was her great-nephew. He saw the body as they pulled her out of the house. It was pretty nasty. Even the teachers said they would have nightmares. I can't imagine how it effected him, but I do know it wasn't in a good way. Thursday and Friday were terrible days for this student at school. He was constantly misbehaving and didn't want to listen to anything I said. 

More Eskimo dancing

When something like this happens in the village, it effects EVERYONE! Since so many people in the village are related, one tragic death, like this one, can make everything more negative and everyone on edge. It isn't like in the lower 48 when you can escape tragedies or find something to take your mind off of it. There isn't anything to distract you out here. It is so difficult to deal with these types of things in the village. I would really appreciate prayers out here. 

Last night I went to a bonfire by the Yukon River while four or five foxes were playing around next to where we were. Not many people can make a statement like this. Even though it was a tough week, I still know this is where I need to be. Even though it was hard to deal with what was going on within the community, I know I can bring a happiness and a peace to those in my class who need it. Thank you for reading, for your prayers, and for your support during my incredible journey out here in Alaska. Out here, we are all a team, we are all together here.

Learning the Traditions and Culture

beautiful view at the dock

The people in this place have survived here for many years without any outside influence, and because of this they have some very unique beliefs that are very different from the things that I learned and believed as I was growing up. Most kids in the lower 48 are scared of things like the monster in the closet or under the bed and believe in leprechauns having pots of gold at the end of rainbows or like the Lucky Charms leprechauns. Kids here have been raised believing things similar, yet very much directed to the culture and life out here.

Friday was an early out and for most of the day I only had five students, so it worked out that I had an opportunity to listen to my students tell me some stories about the things that they believe out here. A little side note I feel necessary to share is that when they tell these stories they actually believe them. Even adults who have talked about the "Little People" still believe these stories. Other people grow out of those beliefs and move away from that kind of thinking, but these people don't.

going on a walk where we heard there might be a bear, we were prepared :)

My students told me a few stories about the "Little People" or ik ja nook* in Yup'ik. These are similar to leprechauns, only I don't think they are all dressed in green and have pots of gold at the end of rainbows. The Yup'ik people believe that these creatures live under the ground. I was told of caves that are on the other side of the Yukon River from where we live. The villagers here will never let someone go explore those caves. They believe that is how the "Little People" come out of the ground and if you go into a cave they will kidnap you and force you to live underground forever.

The "Little People" also try to grab you above ground. One of my students said his cousin was walking to fish camp and the grass around her was swaying. There was something moving in the grass. She stopped and looked and saw a "Little Person" look at her. He smiled at her and then began to chase her. Fortunately for her, she made it to camp before he caught her.

we all spent some time shooting

Another story about "Little People" was told to me by a teacher from Scammon Bay. She said her father had been out fishing and camping. He put his fish under his mat and slept on top of them so that the "Little People" couldn't steal them from him. During the middle of the night, however, the fish beneath him began moving. He confronted the "Little Person" about trying to steal his fish and realized he had to fight the "Little Person." The thing about fighting these "Little People" is that they know how to use your strength and size to their advantage, so the harder he fought, the more power the "Little Person" had. He had to be very gentle and patient to beat the "Little Person," which he did succeed in doing and was able to take his fish home to his family.

Our target

Another thing the people here believe in is a long gook*, which is when you hear or see things. My students told me many stories about this on Friday at school. They said that if you wake up in the middle of the night and try to move around but are stuck and can't do anything, it is because someone is on top of you and won't let you go.

They also said sometimes you can see them, walking around. You can tell when it is not real by looking to see if they are actually touching the ground. If they aren't touching the ground, if they are really floating, then you should go another way.

"This is how Oregonians do it!"

One of my students has had an experience where she was in the bathroom looking at her reflection in the mirror and there was no one else in the room. All of a sudden, her hair was bouncing up and down next to her head. One of these spirits was playing with her hair.

Another tradition that I find somewhat fascinating is that before anyone eats, they must first offer a bite to those who have passed before them. This also applies for when you drink something. One of the teachers in this village went out moose hunting with a native villager. She brought coffee with her and before she could take a sip they made her dump a little bit of her coffee into the water, so that those who have passed before her could have some, too.

Bear beware!

One last thing that I found very unique to this culture I have learned. When these people go out hunting or fishing or whatever, they do not guarantee that they will catch anything. They don't say they are going to kill things either because then the animals will not come. You see, they believe that the animal gives itself to you. If you say, "I'm going to catch a moose!" Then you won't see any moose because the moose doesn't choose to give himself to such a greedy person.

I find it very interesting how people believe different things, and how those beliefs are formed. I don't know the background on any of these beliefs I have written about today, but I do find them unique and it is one of the things that makes me love being out here even more. The culture of the Yup'ik people is slowly dying. The kids don't know as much Yup'ik language anymore because they speak English and as things become more westernized the original lifestyle is being lost. When I went seal hunting last week, as one of the other boats was pulling in the seal, the man I went with said to me, "This is our way of life." With the next generations becoming more reliant on the conveniences of the lifestyle of the lower 48, how long will their "way of life" last? I hope that somehow their lifestyle can be perserved. After all, they lived this way for hundreds of years without any help from others.

She found a comfortable seat on the drift wood

*I am not positive on the spellings of these words, I got this much with help from a teacher who has been here for a while. They are probably not correct spellings, but they are educated guesses based on what we know about the language.

Hunting Muklaq in the Bush

We finally caught him

Today I had an incredible experience: I was given the opportunity to go uklaq hunting. For those of you who don't know what muklaq (muckluck) is, it is the Yup'ik word for seal. My roommate and I were invited to go with some of the native school employees and their children. We had an amazing time.

Exhausted after all that seal hunting!

We started off down the slough to begin this incredible adventure. I wore a lot of clothes because speeding down the river in high forty degree weather can be a bit chilly. I had on four pairs of socks, two pairs of leggings, a pair of sweat pants, a short sleeve shirt, two long sleeve shirts, a sweater and a jacket and I still got cold. But it is okay, because next time I go, I will be more prepared. I know what to expect better now.

Ready with his spear

As we went down the river the wife of the couple who took us pointed out other villagers's houses, the different creeks, and certain islands where many seals can be found. It was a lot of fun. I guess I expected us to head out to the open of the Bering Sea, but I was incorrect. The seals hang around a lot of the small islands closer to the village of Nunam, which is where we spent most of our time out on the water.

one of the camps set up for winter

going down a small creek to see what we could find

When I thought of seal hunting, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Would we sit and wait like you do with fishing? Or would you go and look for it in certain areas where they are on land in a pack? I didn't know. It turned out to kind of be a combination of both, though. When we saw our first one, it was just a few hundred yards off the coast. But the interesting part was that when you hunt seal, you hunt them in the water, where they are hunting. They will come up for air, and that is when you attack. You have to pay attention a lot, because if you don't then you will lose the creature.

He's gonna get him this time!!!

We would spot one, head to where it was as it went under water, then wait until we saw it again, and chase it, and repeat that as many times as it took until we were close enough to spear it. The person with the spear would be in the front of the boat. The spear has a rope connected to it so that when you hit the seal, the spear drags out behind it for you to follow. The spear is designed to float, so if you miss, you can drive up next to it and grab the spear to reuse it. Once you have hit it, you can begin using the spears that are designed to make it float if it hits the seal.

wide open spaces are where you can find the most seal

When you catch the seal, if it is still alive, they would shoot it with a gun, which happened both times. We were involved in two seal chases. The cool thing about seal hunting is it is a team effort. You can try to catch a seal by yourself, but it is much easier when there is a large group of people. The first hunt had four boats, the second we had eight.

Yum, Salmon!

We didn't stay out very long today, just about three and a half hours, but it was a very fun time. When we got back some of the other teachers were cutting fish. That was a fun thing to be part of! I'm not a huge fish person, but we had a great time taking silly pictures and hanging out. I love the lifestyle up here, it is very relaxed and natural, the way I feel like things should be.

Beautiful view to a great time

I really enjoyed my first muklaq hunting experience. I learned a lot about the Yup'ik culture and way of life. These people have an amazing history, they have been living this way for so long that it would be unwise not to marvel at the beauty in their everyday tasks. I look forward to many more hunting trips during my time out here in the bush.

Getting Settled in Alakanuk

Welcome to Miss Culea's classroom!

Well I've been living here for two full weeks, I had my first two days of classes and my first Eskimo dance to celebrate someone's life, and I've made so many new and interesting friends. It feels so natural being here, like this is where I belong. Like this is the place I'm supposed to be. I can't help but thank the Lord on this beautiful morning for all that he has given me. I have a wonderfully cute little house. I have a great roommate. My students are amazing. The other teachers and staff have been more helpful than I could ever have imagined. For a while before I came out here I wondered if this was really what God had in store for me. After two weeks, I'm 100% sure, this is exactly where he wants me to be!

I do miss my family. It is hard knowing that I can't just decide to go home for the weekend. I hate missing out on my baby sister's first year playing competitive basketball. It is weird to not get to see granny anytime I feel like it. Phone calls are great, mail is wonderful, but it doesn't take away the sadness of not seeing their faces whenever I want.

Holly and I outside the cafe

Our first two days of school went by so well. I was expecting to go into the classroom and be this mean, tough, no nonsense teacher, but I didn't have to be like that at all! The kids in my class had their previous teacher for three years straight and she basically trained them. I haven't had any discipline problems with them... yet! lol

After our first day of school seven of us teachers went to the cafe in our town. It is a small two table restaurant that serves some amazing food. I had a chicken bacon ranch sandwich. Yum! There are only two villages out here with cafes, so while we were there a few teachers from other villages showed up. They had driven their boats down here just to get some yummy food. We had a great time talking and laughing and just blowing off steam after a hard day of teaching. The woman who owns the cafe is actually Filipino. I thought that was interesting. Even though it cost almost $20 for just me to eat, the prices seemed just right out here in this village. I plan on visiting the cafe more and more as the year goes on for the fantastic food and fellowship with other teachers.

All ready for the kiddos :)

We had our first Eskimo dance last night. It was for a member of the village who passed away a few days ago. We danced and giggled and had a wonderful time celebrating the life that she had lived. I met some of my students' parents. One little boy sat by me the entire time and he played with my hair. It looked lovely, haha. He laid his head in my lap and listened to the ringtones on my phone. Looking down at him falling asleep I realized just how much I am falling in love with this village. The people, the children, the culture, it is all so amazing.

I know that two weeks is a very short time. But it feels like it has been so much longer than that here. It feels like home. This place is where I want to be. It is where I am meant to be. God has a plan for everyone and right now, this is His plan for me. Your continued prayers are appreciated. Next time I post, I will put some pictures of the Eskimo dance on. Have a blessed day, readers!

Welcome to the Village

We are finally home!!! It took us forever to get here, but we finally made it :)

This is the airstip, no airport, our things were just tossed off the plane along with us

This is the barge at the slough- it is about 60 ft here and has a strong undercurrent

My family and friends have been begging to hear more about my tiny village out here on the edge of Alakanuk, so here is my first update letter for everyone.

The village is actually the biggest one in Alaska at 3 miles long. We have three stores, two churches, and a cafe. The teacher housing, which is a double wide trailer, is actually the nicest housing in the village. We have two bodies of water, a slough and the Yukon River.

Here is one view of the Yukon River, doesn't do it justice at all

My favorite thing is the view of the Yukon River. It is a beautiful site and I would spend all day out there if I could. Unfortunately, it is just down from the dump, so it has some stinky driving to get to it. But when you get past all the garbage and look out on the river, it is an amazing view that could leave you breathless! The water doesn't get deeper than your knees until about 50 yards out, so you can just walk right on out to the middle and not get too wet at all.

My first walk in the Yukon River

Here is a view of the deck of the school, it is also where the students have recess

I was able to get into my classroom yesterday and it is huge! Plus, the teacher left loads of stuff that I can use. I've already started moving the desks and such around, so I can't put on a before picture, but when I finish setting up the classroom, I will put a picture on to show you all how huge it is. I'm in what we call a portable, which means the classroom isn't connected to the rest of the school. Because of that, I have a bathroom in my class, which I like because it will cut down on kids leaving the classroom. However, since I'm not connected to the school, I don't have a hallway to send the kids out to cool out in. Fortunately, on that end, someone offered to have my students go to her classroom if they need a cool down time.

Many of the villagers that I have met are extremely friendly. One young lady was teaching us Yup'ik words, which was really fun. These people are so fun loving and love to joke around, so it has been a ball to get to know them. They look serious, but they so aren't! I've truly enjoyed getting to know the people in the village.

My house is super awesome! I have a nice little bedroom with a connected bathroom. Then, we have a cute living room with a couch and two chairs. The kitchen is small but so well laid out that you can easily move around. We have a spare bedroom, where my friends Holly and Nathaniel have been staying while they wait to move into their house. Then I also have a washer and dryer room that is narrow, but wide enough to move around when you do your laundry. It is a cute, comfortable place and I love living there already.

That is a small nutshell of the village and the first few days we have spent here. I will continue to update family and friends on my journey here as things happen :)