DOCUMNNT RNSUPIR RC 003 626 ED 032 173 By-Holthaus, Cary H. Bristol Bay. Teaching Eskimo Culture to Eskimo Students:A Special Program for Secondary Schools in Pub Date May 68 Note -215p. EDRS Price MF -$1.00 HC Not Availablefrom EDRS. *Eskimos.HistoryInstruction, Descriptors -*Biculturalism,CultureConflict.*Curriculum Development. Instructional Materials, LanguageInstruction, *Resource Materials.Rural Areas, Secondary Education, *Social Studies Identifiers-Alaska, Aleuts, Bristol Bay Eskimo youth in Bristol Bay,Alaska. caught between the clashof native and white cultures, have difficultyidentifying with either culture.The curriculum in Indian schools in the area. gearedprimarily to white middle-classstandards. is not relevant to the students. Textbooks andstandardized tests, based onexperiences common to a white culture, hold little meaningfor Eskimo students.Teachers unfamiliar with Eskimo traditions and culture areunable to understand orcommunicate with the native people. Since the existingcurriculum in Bristol Bayschools ignores thestudents' cultural background. theauthor considers the creationof a unified multi-semester social studies curriculumabout the native heritage as amethod of dealing with students' problems. This paper. as afirst step in creating such acurriculum, can and is directed serve as a sourcematerial for informationabout the Bristol Bay area. toward the developmentof a one semester secondarylevel course in native history of the paper consists ofmaterial about the history. and culture. A major portion folklore of geography. anthropology,archaeology, language(Eskimo and Aleut). and the area. The concludingchapters contain a suggested courseoutline, sample lesson plans, and a list of native resourcepersons. Notavailable in hard copy due to marginal legibility of originaldocument.] (TI.) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION 8 WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FkOMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. TEACHING ESKIMO CULTURE TO ESKIMO STUDENTS: A SPECIAL PROGRAM FORSECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BRISTOL BAY "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEENGRANTED BY 6A RA)U.1-101._r/ -1A t) TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONSOPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THEU.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTIONOUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSIONOF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." by Gary H. Holthaus Copyright May, 1968 1 ..r.1/4. .0 11 11... ; P 7 P. ::I 'i.. j,' ..I . t. I , ' .: .. 1... t .1%. ),t- SC.. rt .4. *b. by Gary H. Holthaus Copyright May, 1968 TABLE OF COFTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTI ON 1 II. LOCATTON AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONilENT OF NAKITK DRAT NAG 27 Mounta i ns 28 Lakes 30 Coas tlines and Tides 31 Pei,ma fros 1.- 34 Tundra 36 Glaciation 41 Volcanism 43 Climate 45 Fauna 50 III. HISTORY 52 Eskimo Origins 53 Bristol Bay 57 Aboriginal Contacts 60 Early Russian Contacts 64 English Contacts 67 Other Contacts 68 History and Significance of the Salmon Resource 69 . 3.11 CHAPTEr PAGE Aboriginal Salmon Use 70 Commercial. Fisheries 72 Community Development 83 IV. AGLKITUT-ALEUT CULTURE 89 The Scope of Anthropology 89 Culture Diffusion and Bristol Bay 91 Salmon as a Food Staple 94 fluntin; 96 Plants 99 Material Culture 100 Eskimo and Aleut Language 108 Social Structure 131 Religion, Ceremonies, Burial Customs 132 Sayings, Tales, and Recollections 139 V. SUGGESTED PROCEDURES' 150 Overall Goals 150 Course Outline 151 Suggested Activities 153 Resource People in Bristol Bay 156 Lesson Plan Presuppositions 157 Introduction to Lesson Plans 158 BIBLIOGRAPHY 170 iv CHAPTER PAGE APPENDIX A. Partial List of Animals, Plants, and Insects of Naknek Drainage 178 APPENDIX B. Nap of Cannery Locations . 188 APPENDIX C. Artifacts from Pavik 189 APPENDIX D. Archaeological Survey 202 APPENDIX E. Supplementary Bibliography: Materials for Alaskan High School Library Project 203 v LIST OF TAF,LES TABLE PAGE I. MEAN MAX INU TEIUPT : RATU RE 47 II. MEAN MI N I MU 'A TEMPERATURE . 47 III. AVERAGE NUM ER OF CLEAR DAYS . 4 48 IV. AVERAGE NW3 E R or CLOUDY DAYS 48 V. MAX IMU ivl WIN I) SPEEDS 49 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The people of Bristol Bay find themselves surrounded by a series of influences that havean unusual effect on the educational processes in thearea. Bristol Bay is geographi- cally isolated from the rest of the UnitedStates. Com- munication does exist, but contacts withthe outside world are limited in ways that they are not limited in most other sections of the country. The people themselvesare of many backgrounds. There are natives who have been born and raised in thearea, representing vestigial remnants of a former culture that subsisted on the products of thesea, spoke a unique language and adapted to the environmentof Bristol ray with consummate skill. There are also represen- tatives of a white culture of Anglo-European originsthat has intruded upon Bristol By since the turn of thecentury. The white culture has focused its attention primarilyupon the exploitation of the fishing bounty afforded by thered salmon runs of Bristol Bay. The coming of the canneries marked the beginning of the end of the native culture in this part of southwestern Alaska. Geographical isolation, and the clash between the two cultures, native and white, have left their mark upon the students of. Bristol Bay. The young people of the area reflect the pull between 2 two varying cultures in several ways. Caught between .the white and native cultures, they feel theattractiveness of white ways, but cannot toldlly escape the old ways, even though much of their heritage has been denied them byignor- ance. They do not write their old language. Transmission of their heritage depends upon oral tradition, but manyof the young people do not speak the lane,uage oftheir fathers and grandfathers. The result is that in a peculiar way they are lost. Education does not mean much, for they have no more sense of orientation toward the future than they have toward the past. They do not realize that education can be abenefit. It does not help them catch morefish, for one does not learn fishing techniques by studying verbs and subjects, worldhistory, Spanish, typing, chemistry and algebra. Therefore education does not seem to have any valid purpose. A survey of Alaskan native secondary school dropouts revealed that, If the curriculum taught in the schools does not have a realisticfunction in the students' society (i.e., is not geared to his futureeconomic potential), it is likely that there will be littlemotivation to endure the sacrifice associated with the pursuit of aneducation.' In a village where fishing is theprimary occupation, educa- tion does not seem to "have arealistic function." In the 'CharlesK. Ray, Joan Ryan, Seymour Parker, Alaskan Native Secondar1 School Dropouts, (College, Alaska: Univer- sity of Alaska, 196237p. 85. 3 local community there is lit Lie or no opportunity to better one's economic status by means of an education. There is no pride in the native heritage. Many seem to be ashamed of the fact that they arc native and try to hide it. On the other hand they are not considered by others of their group to be white. They are trapped; suspended between a past that is remote, and a future that is only a vague puzzle. The findings of anthropologist Seymour. Parker about the students at Kotzebue would also apply in Bristol gay and many other areas of Alaska. In a sense the youth of Kotzebue are at a crossroad; they are thinking increasingly in terms of becoming members of the larger American society. At the same time, however, they are confused about what they should accept and reject in Eskimo culture, and they are dubious about the degree to which they will be accepted in white society. Many of them are experiencing doubts about their ability to compute successfully in a rela- tively strange environment.' In Bristol Bay students of all ages are aware of the problem they face in regard to identification with one or another of the two cultures present. Sometimes there is a division within a family in attitudes toward this problem. One boy, conversing with his teacher, made the comment that he couldn't see why some kids seemed ashamed of being native. He added that he was part native himself and it didn't make 2Ibid., p. 181. 4 any difference tohim. The boy's sister was also in the classroom and heard the discussion. She shouted, " you ain't native." A student caught this way cannot assert his native quality without risk of disapproval from his peers; neither can he denyit with honesty and integrity. He knows he is native. Telling him to forget it does not make him white. Until 1964 there were only radio and printed news available to residents of Bristol Bay. The newspapers are received an edition late. In 1964 television was intro- duced through an Air Force station located in King Salmon. This has opened a whole new world to people in the area. Things they had never heard of before are presented in pictures on television. Many things they have heard about, but never had an opportunity to see, have become common- place. Nevertheless, the region is radically isolated from the outside world. It is accessible only by air for much of the year. In the summer, during the months of June and September, freighters come into the bay and anchor. They drop supplies to lighterswhich bring them into the Naknek River for distribution to the three villages located along the river. The only airfield capable of handling large freight or passenger aircraft is the Air Force station at 5 King Salmon. Wien Air Alaska is the only regularly sched- uled airline into King Salmonduring the winter. In summer seasons WesternAirlines also comes into King Salmon, and Reeve Aleutian Airways stops onoccasion. The climate of the area, however, precludes flights onseveral days each year.