| Lewis Angapak Memorial School | |
Tuntutuliak is a Yup'ik Eskimo village near the Kuskokwim River in South West Alaska.
Our village is one of about 20 isolated villages that are part of the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD). Roughly the size of West Virginia, LKSD is among the largest and most rural in the state.
School here differs from most public schools in the US in many ways. Classes are taught only in Yup'ik through second grade with English being formally introduced in third grade. Summer begins early to accommodate subsistence needs including hunting and fish camp. Our students regularly use airplanes rather than busses for school trips.
Preserving Yup'ik Language and Improving English Proficiancy
Yup'ik is the language of choice here in Tutntutliak. Used daily by nearly all village residents, the local government has declared Yup'ik the "official language of village business."
Long Nails
Once there lived a grandmother and her grandson. The grandmother warned her grandson not to go among the tall grass across the river. One morning the grandchild went berry picking at the other side of the river, despite his grandmother's warnings. When he was picking berries he became very curious of what was in the tall grass. While he was picking, he inched himself toward the grass. When he got closer, he saw a trail that went into the grass. After thinking about it, he decided he would follow the trail and come back right away. So he started to follow the trail.As he went on, the grass became taller. Then a stream of smoke appeared ahead of him flowing straight up. When he reached it there was a small house. He climbed it, looking around cautiously and carefully. At the top he peeked though the window and saw an old woman sitting and playing with her nails. Her nails were very long.
Even though he didn’t make any noise the old woman shouted at him to come down and come in. The grandchild climbed down and went in. When he came in she served him boiled fish. While he was eating the old woman kept playing with her fingernails. Then a small boy came in quickly and threw a tantrum about wanting to eat. The old woman screamed at him, telling him he would not eat, but the boy ran out quickly to the porch saying he was going to eat. The old woman ran after him, and the boy started screaming.
All of a sudden, the noise subsided, and the old woman came in and sat down. The grandchild became frightened, so he made an excuse to go pee. At this, the old woman said to him, "Why don't you pee in my palm." The grand child replied," Uh, I would, but I don't know how to pee in the palm." The old woman said again, " Why don't you pee in my mukluk." The grandchild replied, "I would do that, but I don't know how to pee into a mukluk." The old woman said to him again," Why don't you pee into my fire place?" The grandchild replied, "Uh, I would do that too, but I don't know how to pee into the fire place."
The old woman, losing her patience, told him to go pee in front of the house, but to come back in right away. When the grandchild went outside, he found a little boy lying dead in an oval cauldron. This frightened him, and right away he tightened his belt, and after gathering his berries, ran home. As he was running, he started to hear stomping sounds from behind, like this: "tum, tum, tum." He briefly turned back and saw the old woman galloping like a dog after him. She’d extended her nails toward the grandchild, nearly reaching him.
When the grandchild arrived at the river, he told the ptarmigan on the other side of the river that the old woman was chasing him. The ptarmigan stretched his legs across and told the grandchild to come across. When he reached the other side of the river he told the ptarmigan to let the old woman come across, but he told the ptarmigan to pull back his legs when the old woman got to the middle of the river.
When she got to the river she yelled and howeled, demanding help to cross. The ptarmigan stretched out his legs and let her cross. When the old woman reached the middle of the river the ptarmigan pulled back his legs and the old woman sank and drowned. Mice started surfacing in the water where she went under. They turned out to be the old woman's lice.
From then on, the grandchild followed his grandmother's directions.
Naturally, the commitment of community members to the preservation of the local indigenous language extends into the classroom. At our school, Yup'ik is used exclusively for instruction from preschool through second grade. The start of third grade marks the first formal introductions to English our students receive. This initial introduction to English after receiving instruction in Yup'ik is known throughout the district as the "transition year".
Story telling is an important part of learning in Yup'ik culture. At left is a traditional Yup'ik story translated into English by our sixth graders. They wrote this as part of an exchange program with students from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. We envite you to listen to our students read their translation of the story: Long Nails Translation.