Falling into Place

Uvlaalluataq friends! Uvlaalluataq is the Inupiaq term for good morning. I’m slowly being exposed to the language of the Inupiaq people. One way is by learning the pledge of allegiance in Inupiaq, which is recited every school day. I usually consider myself somewhat skilled at languages (I know American Sign Language fluently), but this unique language still causes my brain to turn to mush. For example, the phrase “I pledge allegiance” translates into Qutchiksuaginiagiga takuyaq nalunainnutagiraat atausinnunaruat nunat. Every time I think to myself, “how are there possibly that many letters and sounds”.

The Inupiaq language history is fascinating but tragic. Inupiaq was the common vernacular among native Alaskans until Alaska became a state in 1959. At this time, white teachers and missionaries began to come and live with the Inupiaq villages. Though I believe the majority of these people desired to better the Inupiaq people, they went about it in completely the wrong way. I remember an elder telling his story about how when the white teachers showed up they rang a school bell expecting the kids to instinctively know to come to school. When the kids did not come, the teachers would hunt them down and drag them into the school room. Inupiaq was not allowed to be spoken in the classroom at all. If a child was caught speaking Inupiaq they were often physically punished. Schools quite literally beat the Inupiaq children out of their own language. Students in the 60s and 70s who demonstrated a high educational ability were sent to the lower 48 states for high school education away from everything they’ve ever known, their language, culture, and their people.

These same children who were sent to the lower 48 graduated high school with the expectation that they would stay in those states and chase the American dream like everyone else. However, these students naturally wished to return home to their villages. Upon returning, they discovered they were unable to communicate with their parents and the rest of the village as they did not speak English. That specific generation grew up with white people looking down on them as ignorant and “barbaric” while their own people ostracized them for being unaware of the culture and language they were never exposed to. It is this generation who are now parents and elders in native Alaskan villages. Is it any wonder that alcohol is rampant in many villages? Severed from their culture and home and then viewed as failures for returning. Needless to say, the outlook towards local schools and teachers is not always positive.

The current generation of students that I see on a daily basis have little fluency of their Inupiaq language. In fact, there is a tragic divide between village elders and the current generation. While sitting in an airport in Kotzebue, I heard conversations between elders in fluent Inupiaq. However, their grandkids use primarily English. Though all schools have an Inupiaq class, I would compare it to a lower 48 Spanish class, in which most kids don’t achieve fluency. Is it plausible to say that in another 2-3 generations this language will pass away?

I wanted to apologize for the long gap between this blog and my last. Paperwork and school responsibilities are building and growing. I am ecstatic to say that I still have a great passion for teaching and my students are fantastic. The Fall season came and went in the span of three weeks. For about a week, the trees and tundra exploded in red and yellow leaves. It’s psychologically been strange as the season smells like Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. It has been breathtakingly gorgeous and I’m trying to enjoy my ever-shortening time to hike and explore the countryside. The snow is only about a month away along with the encroaching 24-hours of darkness.

With the looming thought of an abundance of time indoors, I’ve decided to take an extra-curricular group, Battle of the Books, in which students compete against other schools in book trivia. This is something I would have adored when I was in school. However, it poses some challenges here in the village.

First of all, is garnering student interest. Students don’t naturally like to read to begin with. “Stay after school to read more, seriously?” The challenges don’t stop there, though. I am in charge of the middle school team and we have 13 books total in which to read and compete with. I feel this idea is fantastic and would work marvelously in the lower 48, but in the village these grade level books are just overwhelming. I was trying to explain to my parents the concept of literacy in native Alaskan villages and I found myself struggling. So, bear with me as I try to explain it in my blog.

When I was reflecting on my life experiences and growing up, I realized how much I was truly exposed to: school, church, television, libraries, social events, boy scouts, sports, activities, bill boards, commercials, were all things I was exposed to on a weekly basis. All of these places and events cultivated new vocabulary, schemas, and background knowledge. Living in a village, children are rarely exposed to written text. Imagine a place where there is no tv, no library, no internet. The general store does not even use price labels on their products. You could truly live life without ever having the need to read. So, when I work with middle school students, I am having to actively remind myself to try and build on background knowledge and make connections to things they know; usually fishing or hunting related. Reading selections that the curriculum books include (intended for lower 48 schools) garner no understanding in the minds of my students. Vehicles, museums, banks, malls, libraries, concerts, traffic jams, buildings more than 2 stories tall, and theme parks are all things they have never experienced. Many have seen pictures, but a picture of a roller-coaster and actually experiencing one are incredibly different.

One night, I asked my parents at what age they began reading to me and exposing me to vocabulary. Research shows that children who are exposed to vocabulary and reading at a younger age will develop literacy skills significantly higher than children who are not. My parents answered that even at the age of two or three they were reading to me daily. The truth is many of my students have never been read to by their parents. There is the likelihood that their parents never mastered the skill but also the fact that, for a long time, there were simply no books. Even when students are given hard-copy books, many students and parents use them as firewood. When I first heard that I scoffed at the idea and thought it outrageous. However, I had to remember that when temperatures dropped to below 50 degrees it would be much more convenient to burn a few pages of a book, then venture outside for fire wood. Overall, Alaska continues to be an adventure and I am trying to accept the challenges with humility, understanding, and patience. Everything seems to be falling into place.

Lastly, just a quick laugh for you all. My roommate, Ronnie, the high school science teacher ordered a 700-pound weight machine to be delivered to the village. We waited near the airport runway for the large aircraft to deliver his package which turned out to be in ONE big box. A 700-pound box…in the middle of the Alaskan tundra, two miles from the school gymnasium. Even if we got it to the school how would it fit in the doorway? I teased Ronnie that he would have to set it up outside in the school playground and workout in the -50 degree snow. However, we managed to lift the weight machine into an wooden trailer of an ATV (although they’re all called Hondas...even if it’s not a Honda brand ATV, it’s still a “Honda”). We drove it back to the school with relative ease. The villagers did get a hoot watching the crazy white teachers, though. We managed to break the machine into two parts and agonizingly lug it into the school. Mission accomplished. Hopefully, I’m now looking to get buff this Winter.