Hey,
Ok, let me take on the job of talking about Kattivik, the Northwest Alaska Native Trade Fair. This is a three day affair where Alaska natives, primarily Inupiat who inhabit the northern and northwestern portion of Alaska gather I believe once a year, with this year of course being held in Kotzebue. In the past the Inupiat were nomadic people traveling with the food sources. I believe there were different nomadic clans and I have been told that towns and villages were not established until after the white man came. Once a year these clans of the north including Eskimos from the north coast of the Arctic Ocean, as far south as the Nome area, the interior, the Diomede Islands (almost halfway between here and Russia, right on the dividing line between the two continents) and Russia would gather to trade goods, have competitions, and of course have potlatches, the Eskimo version of a bring a dish type party. These were held at a place called Sisolik (not sure if I spelled it right) which is right across Kotzebue Sound within visual distance of town.
The celebration of the 4th of July took place on Sunday of course and here it is the biggest celebration of the year, kind of like Christmas, New Years, and Mardi Gras all rolled into one. Kattivik was held the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Monday, the first day of Kattivik was overcast and drizzly just like the 4th so instead of holding the events outdoors they were held in the high school gym. We arrived around 1pm, the scheduled starting time and in true Kotzebue fashion, the proceedings did not start until around 20 after. (Being a city boy I just cannot break the habit of arriving on time for meetings and scheduled events-I am trying though.) It began with prayers said in Inupaq and a ceremonial lighting of a seal oil lamp. It was followed by different competitions, some we all would recognize such as sack races and wheelbarrow races. The only difference here was they ran heats of different age groups, including one for 50 and older and they had plenty of participants in ALL categories. There was a hand made atikluk competition followed by a hand sewn fur competition. Once again for you bunny huggers let me reiterate that fur clothing here is used for survival as well as fashion and most animals the furs came from are consumed. All the fur outfits you see here were hand made by locals and the artistic talent and beauty of these outfits defy description. The skills and knowledge are all passed down, not learned in schools.
Later in the afternoon came the high kick competition as I described in my last email. Not all the participants were in their teens either. At least one competitor was in his 40’s. In between the competitions we wandered around tables set up with different artwork, handmade clothing, and of course food. One booth was still selling McDonalds hamburgers, now reduced to $3.00 (guess they didn’t sell out due to the rain on the 4th). One of my favorites is the homemade donuts. They are a cake type donut complete with hole that is fried but has no icing on it. Only a dollar each at that! There was a break after the high kick and we went home and had dinner. On return the Eskimo dance competition began. It started with the Kotzebue Arctic Lights dancers whom I feel are very good. Of course these are traditional dances in traditional dress. The men do the drumming on willow framed drums covered with hide. First the women dance with those women not involved with that particular dance sitting and chanting along with the men. Each dance tells a story and sometimes I can understand what they are conveying through movements but most of the time I cannot. The women dance without lifting their feet but when the men dance, they lift their feet and often stomp while calling out on occasion imitating seals. All wear gloves of some kind while dancing because we were told that if they didn't, they could loose their spirits. Most gloves are hand made mittens with beading, fur, and sometimes feathers dangling from the tips. Others are leather gloves with fur trim while others are just store bought gloves of any type. Most feet are shod in mukluks, hand made boots with molded seal skin soles and uppers made from many different types of furs and leathers. Some have intricate beading but most have designs made from different color furs in many shapes with the one most often seen depicting animals. The smocks are atikluks with the women’s being a bit elaborate while the men's tops for the most part are simple. The men’s are of the type they actually wear when hunting in the winter time and are of course white. The dance usually began with a chant and willow sticks being beaten on the bottom frames of the drums. As the dance intensifies the drums are beat harder and the willow sticks flex and strike the skins producing a pulsing drum beat. When the drums kick in like that I usually feel a shiver go up my spine as the sound has a primitive ring to it and brings to mind these hunters sitting around a blazing fire and celebrating. It’s at those times I have trouble believing I am sitting here witnessing this.
Each group performed for 30 minutes followed by two to three songs where all the dance groups and even folks from the audience joined in. It amazed me to watch that as each group did this, be it the group from Kotzebue, Point Hope, Wales, Diomede, and even the Russian Eskimos, everyone who joined in including those from the audience did the same moves at the same time to the same chant. The fact that they all do some of the same dances was further brought home when the dancers from Russia and those from Diomede got up to perform. They did not have enough drummers so volunteers from some of the other groups got up and did the drumming and chanting.
While sitting in the bleachers a group of dancers arrived from Point Barrow which is the northernmost town on the North American continent. A man from Barrow sat next to Patty and explained a lot of what the dancers were doing and a bit about the history of the Inupiat. He said he enjoyed coming to the gathering as he got to see faces he may not have seen since school. It seems years ago children were sent south to a boarding school in Sitka known as Mt. Edgecome. There were no schools here in those day and the age group is in the 40's and up. He said he enjoyed the opportunity to see people he had not seen since his school days.
We watched about five of the groups perform and reluctantly headed home as we were pretty tired by now. The good news was that the competition would continue the next day with the order of performance reversed.
Shoot, I just talked about one day and I have two more to go. Should I stop here or go on?
Let me stop here, I'll pick up again later.
Carlo
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Last updated:
08/29/05