Returning: Twentieth century performances of the King Island Wolf Dance Item Type Thesis Authors Kingston, Deanna Marie Download date 09/10/2021 06:41:20 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9533 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. 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NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RETURNING: TWENTIETH CENTURY PERFORMANCES OF THE KING ISLAND WOLF DANCE A THESIS Presented to the Faculty' of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Deanna M. Kingston, M A.I.S., B.S. Fairbanks, Alaska May 1999 © 1999 Deanna M. Kingston Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9939800 Copyright 1999 by Kingston, Deanna Marie All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9939800 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RETURNING: TWENTIETH CENTURY PERFORMANCES OF THE KING ISLAND WOLF DANCE By Deanna M. Kingston RECOMMENDED: Advisory Committee Chair ent Head APPROVED: Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Dean, Graduate School f 'fV- ~ ff Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RETURNING: TWENTIETH CENTURY PERFORMANCES OF THE KING ISLAND WOLF DANCE Abstract la 1982 and again in 1991, the King Island Native Community revived the Wolf Dance, which is a complex ritual involving songs, dances, feasts, competitive games and an exchange of goods. The object of this dissertation is to discover why they chose to revive the Wolf Dance, rather than the Polar Bear Dance which was their most significant ritual in the early twentieth century. Archival sources and other literature pertaining to ELupiaq and Yup’ik ceremonialism were consulted in order to understand the meaning and purpose of the Wolf Dance. In addition, contemporary King Island community members were interviewed in order to obtain their interpretations. Videotapes of both the 1982 and 1991 performances were viewed in order to gain information not obtained in either written or oral sources. Finally, archival sources were again searched to understand the interactions between King Islanders and members of Western society, including missionaries, tourists, public folklorists, and agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This dissertation concludes that the Wolf Dance was revived for reasons that served both individuals and the community. Organizers of Wolf Dance performances desired to enact either their own or a family member’s return to the community. The King Island community performed the Wolf Dance either to create peace or to encourage youth to return to traditional activities. Although particular meanings of the Wolf Dance changed through time, the basic themes of the Wolf Dance (returning, reciprocity, friendship/enmity, and danger) were maintained in contemporary performances. Finally, because the Wolf Dance embodied the cultural value placed on balancing, rather than resolving, tensions and contradictions, this ritual mirrors their perceived need to balance traditions with new influences of Western society. Catholicism was balanced with traditional beliefs, the use of Western resources (such as funding) was balanced with the need to counteract Western forces, and their need to be interdependent with mainland Natives was balanced with their need to be separate from them. Thus, the Wolf Dance reflects not only basic themes of their social order, but also their history of interaction with Western society. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v List of Tables vi Preface vii Acknowledgments viii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE - The King Island Wolf Dance: Returning and Reciprocity 22 CHAPTER TWO - The Eagle-Wolf Dance and the Messenger Feast 62 CHAPTER THREE - Catholicism: Father Lafortune and His Effect on Dance Performances 128 CHAPTER FOUR - Summers in Nome: King Islanders Dance for Newcomers 145 CHAPTER FIVE - A u J a ^ m m 'sWolf Dance and Other Performances in the 1930s 163 CHAPTER SIX - Leaving Home: Closure of the BIA School and Displacement 182 CHAPTER SEVEN - The 1950 Performances 203 CHAPTER EIGHT - Cultural Revival: The ANSCA Era 214 CHAPTER NINE - Tiulana's Wolf Dance 227 CHAPTER TEN - Commodifying Authenticity: Performing at AFN, FAF, ICC, and Other Public Venues 257 CHAPTER ELEVEN - A Performance for the Future 274 CONCLUSION 290 REFERENCES CITED 298 APPENDIX A - Kin Charts 319 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Tiulana Chart Muktoyuk Chart Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UST OF TABLES Motif Chart of Wolf Dance Story Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE In this dissertation, when talking about or using quotes from various members of the King Island community, I have chosen to use their Ihupiaq names. I do this primarily to keep them anonymous to outsiders; however, people in the community will readily know who these people are, and thus, will be given credit for sharing their knowledge with me. These names, for the most part, have been italicized and they are spelled according to the Hupiaq orthography developed at the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I have also included kinship charts in the appendix so that readers can visualize how people in the community are related to each other. However, there are a few individuals mentioned in the dissertation whose names I have not italicized; this is because their Ifiupiaq names have become their official names, as recognized by local, state, and federal governments. Likewise, I have italicized both Inupiaq and Yup’ik terms, when appropriate. However, readers will notice that I have left some words unitalicized and it is because these terms have entered into theEnglish vocabulary and are generally well-known by those in Alaska or by those who study in Northern m m muni ties. In addition, when quoting an author’s words from a written source, I have used the present tense. However, when quoting the words of someone I talked to in the course of research, I have used the past tense. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the research and writing this dissertation, I have incurred many debts of knowledge, advice, acceptance, and even sustenance. I feel, as many others have felt before me, that this document is as much a product of the people who helped me as it was something that I created. I also want to make clear that I am to blame for any errors found in the following pages. First and foremost, I want to thank the followingKing Islandcommunity members, who helped by sharing their knowledge with me and by providing me with various kinds of support, whether it was by sharing meals with me, bygiving me the names of elders I needed to talk to, by giving me a place to stay, by letting me into their families, and by accepting me as a member of the King Island community. It is especially their acceptance that I find most valuable: by assuring me that I was one of them, I feel that I finally belong. The King Islanders who helped are, in alphabetical order. Sylvester Ayek, David Alvanna, Francis and Edna Alvanna, Bernadette