Baskets in my Culture

In my jr. high years I went to school in Holy Cross. The district would have workshops or camps to learn more about our Athabascan culture. The surrounding villages would take turns with us every year holding a workshop at our schools called Yukon Innoko River Days. They would have all kinds of different classes based on Athabascan ways. People in the community would volunteer to teach whatever they knew. I attended the willow root basket making. The roots are died a different color and soaked in water. While making the basket you must keep the roots wet at all times, so they will not dry up and break. There is a little poker tool that you use to get the roots through to the other side of the basket. My basket only got about 2 inches wide and long because it's time consuming and I had a few hours a day to work on it. Baskets were very reliable a long time ago to hold food for people in the tribes. They worked very well to feed the young and working men.


At Culture Camp, also called Spirit Camp, they taught us how to live in the woods. The camp lasted for one week. When we got to the camp grounds, we would set up camp and everyone would take turns helping out to cook dinner. We only cooked native foods over the fire. The volunteers of the camp would take us moosehunting and fishing. We also got put in groups and had to make a fire with one match that was wet. I was happy because my group was first, and if we didn't make the fire right but succeeded anyway, they showed us the proper way afterwards. The thing I liked most about the camp is that I made a birch bark basket in that week. We used everything around us. We dug up willow roots, peeled bark, and used berries to die the roots a different color. The only thing we didn't get from nature was the poker to poke holes in the bark. I was very proud of my accomplishment!

Passing it on!

"Everything that is made causes us to remember." "Let us make our ancestors' known to our younger generation, allowing them to see through the eyes of our few remaining elders as they explain the use and construction of these cultural materials" (Fienup-Riordan, 1996).
This quote made me think about our ancestors and all the hard work it took to develop the culture we have today. I think we are disrespecting them by not carrying on their traditions. We are losing our resources and destroying our land because of this. When we catch and kill an animal, we have to respect its spirit so more animals will provide us with food. We have more tourists coming to Alaska every year and I don't think they have any idea about our respect for the animal spirit. I'm glad that people are teaching about our tradition and trying to keep it alive. Maybe if more people know about our tradition they will teach others who don't know about it, so they will know to respect nature.

"Living in two Worlds" and The Converging Knowledge Streams

Converging streams of knowledge means coming together in Western and Native knowledge systems. Students who learn of both are living in two worlds. The old Minto culture camp is an example of the streams. "Our mission is to honor our ancestors by preserving and protecting Athabascan values, knowledge, language and traditions. We aim to facilitate the passing on of these things from elders to youth, and to share our culture with others in the land of our grandmothers. We carry out these goals in the spirit of healthy lifestyles and education, and with respect for ourselves, the Earth and all life" (Barnhardt, 2005). The old Minto camp can help to learn the knowledge and value of the masks in different cultures.

Masks and the Spirit World

The masks represent images of powerful ancestors, animal spirits, and mythological beings. They are carved into wood or bark and there are many sizes. The smaller ones are used to teach children traditional stories. They are also carried by adults to protect against evil or injury. The bigger masks are used in ceremonial performances. Some masks you hold up with your hands or teeth and others were tied around the dancer's head. A long headed mask is a sign of power and authority. The whistling mask brings in spirits. After ceremonies the masks are broken and thrown out. They are part of communicating with the spirit world, which is dangerous. They are also used to respect animals so they will keep providing us with food. The masks are still used in Kodiak today and the traditions are mixed with Russian Orthodox and American beliefs.

Video about Pinart and the masks

The masks coming back to Alaska is a great way to show the importance of them in the Alutiiq culture. The masks are powerful and you can see this just by looking at them. They might mean nothing to one person who does not know about them, but to a person who has lived to know them, they mean the whole world. This link takes you to a site just for the masks: http://www.earthsongs.net/cominghome/index.html

Giinaquq: Like a Face Exhibit

At the University in Anchorage, I am taking two classes that link with each other. We are learning about different cultures and heritage of our native people. We went to the Anchorage museum downtown to see the Giinaquq Exhibit. Giinaquq sort of means "like a face" but it also means the place that carved the images of people, animals, and birds in the Alutiiq society. In the winter of 1871, Alphonse Pinart went to Kodiak to learn more about the natives. He visited all the little villages around Kodiak, getting around with a kayak. On his journey, he collected 70 masks. He knew they were important and had a lot of value in the native culture. They represent the spirit world, and are used to communicate in dances. He put them in a French Museum; it is the largest set of Alutiiq masks. They have survived two world wars. The masks are amazing, and they have interesting faces and meanings. They are back in Alaska for a limited amount of time in the Anchorage museum until January 2009.