A Book of Oral History from Unalakleet, Alaska, USA
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It Has Been in Our Blood for Years and Years that We Are Salmon Fishermen – A Book of Oral History from Unalakleet, Alaska, USA Kaisu and Tero Mustonen with the people of Unalakleet Snowchange Cooperative, Finland, 2009 Foreword Victoria Hykes-Steere, Anchorage, Alaska, USA It has proven to be an incredibly hum- what was in plain sight. They showed me bling experience attempting to write this a world so beautiful even in the unfor- introduction to Tero and Kaisu’s visit to giving nature of our environment. They Unalakleet. Tero and Kaisu interviewed lived life filled with joy never allowing elders and they spoke of the changes oc- the sorrow of loss to define them. curring due to climate change, but my Our world of snow and ice, blowing memories keep going to the generations wind and in the summer endless chores, before who died from 1970 to 2000, sings. The song changes with the seasons. wishing their voices to be heard. Being thankful to God for being a part of They were magical. Their stories our world is the secret to the simple joy from hundreds and thousands of years encountered by traders, missionaries... ago transported our young minds to a Knowing we belong to a place so beau- time when our world was free. We de- tiful we can’t believe our luck is what fined our existence and our survival de- our grandparents and so many others pended upon honoring the earth, Creator gave my brother and I. Unalakleet is our and shunning anger. Many of those who magical place. The love we share for our studied our ancestors believed it to be homeland makes the Malamiut, Qawi- simplistic, underestimating the knowl- araq, and Unaaliq one community. edge possessed and the science behind 2 Preface Tero Mustonen, Snowchange Cooperative, Finland The KNOWLEDGE of the lands, ocean, “We have an alliance with the Earth. and other waters surrounding the village Each one of us does, and some of us as of Unalakleet appears in the following a people have continued to grasp this pages thanks to the people who shared it alliance and have anchored it into our with us. It was an honor, a Finnish thank hearts, into our minds, and into our souls you– kiitos –to all participants and proj- ... The lifeways of a people cover an en- ect support people. tire spectrum, a spectrum so wide and In May 2002, a dialogue was estab- profound that it continues to astound the lished between representatives of the Western mind as non-Inupiat learn more Unalakleet Tribal Council and the Snow- about us. (2007: 189)” change Cooperative, based in Finland, in From 2003 to 2008, all the interviews order to document oral histories, obser- were transcribed, analyzed, and archived. vations, and traditional knowledge that In 2004, a small part of the main findings relate to climate and ecological change appeared in the publication Snowscapes, in the local context. After intensive com- Dreamscapes. A copy of this publication munication’s groundwork, the inter- was made available to Mr. Art Ivanoff, views began in August 2002. Our team as well as to several prominent scientific then consisted of me and Kaisu Pulli, forums on climate change, including who is now my wife and also a member the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate of the Mustonen clan. We were helped Change (IPCC), which is the chief sci- by Mr. Art Ivanoff, who was the Tribal entific body on climate change, operat- Environmental Coordinator at the time. ing under the auspices of the United Na- Assistance was also provided by Mrs. tions. Victoria Hykes-Steere, who is an Inupiaq In 2005, the Snowchange Coopera- woman from Unalakleet, though she cur- tive worked with Mrs. Hykes-Steere, the rently lives in Anchorage, where she also Alaska Native Science Commission, and acts as the Snowchange coordinator for others to organize a large international Alaska. conference of indigenous people in An- During the work in August 2002, chorage, Alaska, which was known as more than seventeen people, from young “Snowchange 2005.” This conference adults to elders, were met in conversa- was designed to direct attention to the tion. The following words represent changing ocean and Arctic climate, as some of their Knowledge, and each indi- a response to the needs and wishes ex- vidual retains rights to this Knowledge. pressed by the Unalakleet participants of We are very grateful that they allowed us the oral history project. There were over to share some of it for this international two hundred participants from across the project that spans the North. As Herbert Arctic and Alaska. The participants of O. Anungazuk from Wales (and Anchor- the project in Unalakleet brought their age) writes eloquently in Words of the messages to this event as well. This Real People: event was deemed a success, since it 3 Stanton Katchatag 2002 highlighted many of the crucial concerns ries from Unalakleet our cooperation that the indigenous peoples of Alaska has proven to have been a success and wanted raised. These concerns included a very active one at that. Now my own the rapid and apparent climate change village of Selkie, in Finland, is initiating in the Arctic and subsistence rights. The a school project with a Russian school in final proceedings are available from the Udmurtia, a Central Russian Republic, Snowchange Cooperative as “Stories of and with the village of Unalakleet – we the Raven.” hope these continuing steps will further In 2006 and 2007, there was an on- the possibilities for understanding be- going dialogue on how the Knowledge tween the people across the North. from the project could best be used. It A technical note regarding the tran- was decided that a visit would be made in scribed materials that are presented here; November 2008, where I could return to while great effort has been taken to pre- Unalakleet to meet with representatives serve the content, meaning and context of the community, the tribal council, and of the spoken words, some words may all the people we spoke to in 2002, to have been altered or misunderstood, bring the Knowledge back home. This some additional italicized words have event is reported at the end of this book. been inserted in brackets “[ ]” to bridge In 2009, with this publication of the gaps between sentences and in an attempt Inupiaq, Yupiaq, and other oral histo- to make the text clearer to international 4 readers. As well, due to practical limi- Kaisu Mustonen specializes in the tations some of the transcriptions were knowledge of women in the subsistence combined and are quoted as joint state- communities of the Arctic. She holds a ments from husband and wife. Master’s degree in Social Sciences (Hu- I wish to thank once again all the peo- man Geography) from the University of ple that took part in the work from 2002 Joensuu, Finland. Tero Mustonen has to 2009. Special thanks go also to Mr. been working for twelve years with Art Ivanoff for assisting with all aspects northern subsistence communities. He is of the project. The researcher Mr. Henry the Head of the Village of Selkie in the Huntington from Eagle River, Alaska de- Finnish Province of North Karelia and serves an additional big thanks for help- has a Doctorate in Human Geography. ing to initiate the project. As well, without Mrs. Victoria Hykes-Steere none of this For more information contact Tero at: would have been possible. In 2002 and <[email protected]> 2004 my students, Mr. Mika Korkeako- ski and Mr. Olli Lehtovaara, at the TAMK University of Applied Sciences, References Tampere, Finland, did most of the initial ANUNGAZUK. Herbert O. An Unwrit- tedious work of transcription – thank you ten Law of the Sea. In: FIENUP-RIOR- to them! Through the efforts of Principal DAN, Ann & KAPLAN, Lawrence Ben Howard and Mrs. Vanessa Nasset D. (eds.). Words of the Real People – from the Unalakleet educational system Alaska Native Literature in Translation. the publication of this Knowledge will University of Alaska Press. Fairbanks, come to pass – so a thank you, as well to Alaska. 2007. them. Thanks also to Mr. Mark Richman ISBN 978-1-60223-005-7. for hurriedly editing the text in the short MUSTONEN, Tero & HELANDER, time available, I know you said, “It’s not Elina (eds.). Snowscapes, Dreamscapes perfect,” but we tried. As always a final – A Snowchange Community Book on thank you goes to my co-researcher and Community Voices of Change. TAMK wife, Kaisu Mustonen. University of Applied Sciences, Tam- This publication is dedicated to the pere, Finland. 2004. memory of Elder Stanton Katchatak, a ISBN 952-5264-28-9. leader of Unalakleet. May his example Snowchange Cooperative, and words allow the Inupiaq and all in- www.snowchange.org digenous peoples of Alaska to live long and flourish! At Laurila Farm, Havukkavaara, Selkie village, North Karelia, Finland March 12th, 2009 Tero Mustonen 5 6 Contents Foreword 2 Preface 3 1. Elder Guerie Towarak’s Story 8 2. The People who shared their Knowledge through stories and thoughts in 2002 14 3. “Unalakleet” – “Where the East Wind Blows” 16 3.1. Stories of Growing-up in Unalakleet, then and now 16 4. “I haven’t seen snow like that...” –Snow, Wind, and Other Weather Changes 18 5. The Sea 20 5.1. Crabbing 22 5.2. Observations and hunts of whales, seals, and other marine mammals 22 5.3. “Walrus? There’s some around” 24 5.4. Is the Bering Sea changing? 25 6. “The ice break-up going out the mouth of the river would be really violent” – The River 26 7.