Trip 3 - Day 4, the waiting and hoping begins

Today was a long-ish day, but a good one. I slept in a bit which was nice, then went off to talk to people around town. I started by saying hi to a couple of elder's that I have worked with before and letting them know that I was around if they needed any help with anything while I was here. Ultimately, they said they weren't doing anything today but thanks and one elder was still a-bed, so oh well I will try again another day. Then I went and talked to the tribal administrator to say thanks for the help in finding a place for a week or two before I have to find a new one and just to check in. I then went over and talked to the Tribal council president, partly because she is the current president and partly because her mother is a monolingual speaker from Pastuliq, who I hope to work with but she is shy. So I let her know what I was doing and what I wanted to do and why it was important and hopefully she helps me out. I then went and talked to the son of the other monolingual speaker in town and talked to him about the same things, and hopefully he also helps me out. All of this though will also benefit the village so I hope these elders decide to allow me to record them.

I then took a walk around the village and met a few more people and discovered where the head start program was and got some names of people who might also speak the dialect. I met an adorable little puppy who I stopped to pet and he wouldn't stop following me every time I tried to leave so I got to hang out with him for a long while and show him a lot of love. I also hung out with Kujo a bit more.

I then worked on my grant a bit.

I sent some emails from the school, which the principal has graciously allowed me access to after school hours.

And tried to call J but to no avail and so I then headed back.

My host made delicious Moose stew for dinner tonight which was awesome and then we sat and talked for about three hours about her childhood and growing up. She speaks Yup'ik and is from Chaniliak originally, which is awesome so I also talked to her about what I was doing. She is a wonderful and knowledgeable lady with many stories to tell and she has already taught me so much about the history of the region and about how and when food is caught and prepared. Its amazing, I hope she agrees to record it all on camera in Yup'ik for future generations! The Moose soup was chunks of moose with pasta and rice, and really, Moose is delicious. She also says she'll see if she can get some whale and cisco fish to let me try as they are in season right now. So after talking to her and learning about growing up Yup'ik and about parts of Yup'ik culture, and going to the BIA school where she was punished for speaking her language (in the 70's) and everything that has changed from when she was young I am now sitting here writing this.

So not as long today, and perhaps a bit rambily as my mind is full to capacity and I just spent awhile writing down what I have learned but it was a pretty full day, though maybe not the most exciting.

And so until tomorrow,

piurra!

P.S. I guess I should also mention that moose are also in season and there are several moose heads sitting around the village that were recently caught, and several moose bodies hanging around in the drying racks, so pretty cool...