Eskimo Dancing

The night before school started the community came together to wish us teachers the best. We were entertained for hours with traditional Eskimo dancing. I have learned that this area is very rich in traditional dancing, and I was impressed with the skill and variety of different dances. Much like other native dances, Eskimo dances always tell a story. Also, it is the tradition in this area that you must have a "First Dance" before you can dance in any sort of group function. When a boy, girl, man, or woman has learned a number of dances and is ready to dance with the group, they must dance by themselves in front of everyone. This is a very special time and the family provides gifts for all who attend. Some spend up to $3000 total on all of the different gifts. Of course the best gifts (handmade gloves and mukluks) go the elders of the village.

Here are some pictures of the dance that we attended:

Popular posts from this blog

Means to get there

Image
To get to Alaska Heidi and I will be driving my truck. (We're selling her car; anybody want to buy a "93 Corsica? ///SOLD///) We've been researching many different options on how to get all of our stuff up, and we've settled on this nice new trailer. We'll put everything that we own inside and drive it to Wasilla where my parents live. We can't take everything to Stebbins, so a lot of our belongings will stay at my parent's house. Everything else that we need to bring, we will barge or fly to Stebbins. It's 6ft X 10ft. Heidi and I are pretty excited about this trailer. Other possible uses, besides transcontinental voyages, include hauling a snowmachine , or hauling a motorcycle . Granted I do not own either of these items, but if I ever do, man will I be able to haul them around.
more »

Connect your school or district Facebook Page to Twitter

An effective way to facilitate your organization's social media presence is to use Facebook as a hub.  If you don't have a Page already, create a Facebook Page for your school or district.  Also, create a Twitter account for your school or district.  Make sure that you are logged in to your organization’s Twitter account and then visit http://www.facebook.com/twitter .  This page will help you link your Facebook Page to your Twitter account.   Once this is set up, anything posted to your organization’s Facebook Page, by you or other Page administrators, will repost on your Twitter account automatically.  
more »

Guspuk for Damon

Image
Last year Heidi made herself a couple of guspuks (also pronounced quspuk or kuspuk depending on where you are). Lately, she's been working on one for me. She was able to make a pattern from an old guspuk of my dad's. She finished it today and it fits great. We are having a spirit week at school to help get everyone psyched for the state testing in a couple weeks. Friday is guspuk day, so guess what I'm wearing.
more »