Friday in Kwethluk

Meeting with the director of the water/sewer project.

Poopsicles for Mr. Mercer.

We started our morning with our last in school breakfast of oatmeal and raisins.  We walked to the Sewer and Water Plant with Amber and David. It is much, much colder today.  The mud was all frozen and made it difficult to walk. When we got there we learned about how they are trying to put indoor plumbing in the village houses. The project started in the 1990s and should be completed in the next 3 years.  It is a challenging project to work on because the ground is frozen for most of the year and they can't start digging until March and work until October.  Kwethluk is one of the few remaining villages that does not have running water in the houses.  Right now people living in Kwethluk have to pack water from the river or use rain water in the summer. We then walked down to the dump and the sewage lagoon and saw "poopsicles." "Poopsicles" are frozen honey bucket waste that form after it is dumped in the lagoon.  We thought about Mr. Mercer and how much he would like the poopsicles.

Writing our scripts for our Yupik/English videos

Yup'ik class came next. We got into groups and made films about our trip in Yup'ik and English. We would say a sentence in English like, Kristen rode on a snow machine, and the Kwethluk kids would say it in Yupik.  We were all given Yupik names. My Yupik name was turtle, Palurrtaq.  Kyong was named cow, Kuluvak, because she grew up on a cow farm. Franklin was name Pigayun which means three and Ms. G was given the name for berry, Atsaq, because she loves to pick berries. Jillian was given a special Yup'ik name, Iiguaq. She was named after Janna's grandmother.  It is a sign of respect to officially pass the name on to someone who shares similar qualities. 

Jillian's Yupik naming sheet.

Dorothy led a traditional naming ceremony.  She had Jillian sit on the ground.  Traditionally she would sit on a piece of fabric but since she didn't have fabric she used butcher paper.  Dorothy sprinkled water around her 3 times in each direction.  Then she sprinkled water on her ankles asking her to walk with humility, on her wrists asking her to work proudly and on her head asking her to think with an open mind.  She opened the door of the classroom and asked Iiguaq's spirit to come in.  It was a really cool ceremony.  Afterward everyone that attended the ceremony signed the butcher paper with their Yupik name.

Teaching the Kwethluk kids the cool art of origami.

Showing off the projects.

We had a yummy lunch of hamburgers and french fries. After lunch Jillian, Kristen, Kyong, and Franklin taught origami to the 6th grade class. We taught them to make a water cup, a balloon, a crane, and a transforming ninja star out of post it notes.  The Kwethluk kids were really into it and were really respectful of our teaching.  It was cool to be a teacher for the afternoon.

Ollie and William lead the singing and drumming.

Zeke is trying his best to keep up with the boys.

The class also wanted to show us some more Yupik dance.  They sang their favorite song which is called teasing cousin about meeting and flirting with a new person.  They also sang the sliding song which represents going sledding.  The kids here are really proud of their dancing and will dance at any chance they get.

When school got out some of the class went with us to go see a fish camp. A fish camp is where you smoke, cut, and dry your fish. It was really neat!

Zeke models his kuspuk and Ms. G is sewing the skirt on hers.

Showing off the skirt.

Made in the USA pizza: Hawaii is made with pineapple and spam, Texas has a pepperoni bull and Alaska has roasted ptarmigan.

 We came back to the school and finished our kuspuqs. We worked for many hours and most of us did the sewing all on our own.  They all look awesome! Zeke played a good game in the Kwethluk Basketball Tournament, but lost by only 2 points. Dinner was a pizza party to celebrate the week. BK (aka teacher Kristen) and Rachel got creative and made a USA shaped pizza! After dinner we watched a movie and went to bed. It was a great day!

Write more soon,

Kristen