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Rainy Day Reading

Currently I am reading “25 years after ANSCA, we learn that it may be An Act of Deception” by Robert Rude

ANSCA is a polerizing document in the Alaska community. Many people don’t know what it is or what it does. I took some classes that touched on the subject but I don’t think I totally understand it still…even after two so-so projects I did about it for my classes. My goal before I graduate is to understand at lest the Pros and Cons of ANSCA, so if I ever have to debate it I will know what side I am on and what I’m talking about.

Read it most of this morning instead of hiking :O) being a woos about the rain and wind.

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Alaska Native Language Loses Last Fluent Speaker

uafairbanks:

Wilson "Tiny" Deacon with the first wolverine he trapped in Grayling, Alaska in 2000.
Photo courtesy Julie Raymond-Yakoubian
Wilson “Tiny” Deacon with the first wolverine he trapped in Grayling, Alaska in 2000.

The world and the Holikachuk Athabascan language suffered a great loss with the passing of Wilson “Tiny” Deacon on March 10, 2012. He was 86. According to Julie Raymond-Yakoubian, of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, he was the last fluent speaker of his language.

“He strongly identified his life with the traditional, now-abandoned village of Holikachuk on the Innoko River in interior Alaska, where he was born. Tiny spent many years hunting and trapping in the forests of the Innoko River region and possessed an almost unimaginable wealth of traditional knowledge about the land and its inhabitants, including the history, language and culture of his people.  To know him was to be in the presence of a great and quiet wisdom,” she said in an e-mail to Indian Country Today Media Network.

Deacon was born in Holikachuk on September 25, 1926 to the late Yankee Yinagunoilil and Ella Deacon. He enjoyed trapping, hunting and fishing with his wife, Edna Deacon. The two were inseparable.

“Tiny had a deep spiritual knowledge of, and connection to, the land, and a respect for the other beings who lived on it,” Raymond-Yakoubian explained. “He knew how to talk to animals and how to subsist and survive on the land using traditional, non-Western technology. He knew the stories of medicine men, the prophecies from the past, and the origins of and manner in which traditional ceremonial dances were performed.” This is why he was helping the University of Alaska-Fairbanks with the study of the Holikachuk language and culture.

full story

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Alaska Native languages: It all comes down to choices

thegreenwolf:

Linguists have been predicting the death of Alaska Native languages for decades now, and whether or not those predictions prove accurate comes down to the choices you and I make on a daily basis. The past 200 years have been devastating; from boarding schools to disease to social discriminations, we are now left with the aftermath of successful attempts to destroy languages and cultures. But that does not mean we have to resign our efforts or just allow this to happen. In fact, it leaves us all with a tremendous amount of power and the decision is right here before us: speak now or let it go forever.

Read the rest here.

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“The Native People of Alaska: Traditional Living in a Northern Land” by Steve J. Langdon This book was an assigned reading for my Alaska Native Culture Class at the University of Alaska Southeast. Amazing class! This is a great book to start out with if you do not know much about Native Alaskan. Pros: Very basic. It’s a good starting point if you have spotty knowledge of Alaska Natives or no prior knowledge of Alaska Natives It’s split up by each culture starting with the natives up North and stopping with the the natives down in the southern parts of Alaska Each section is split up in very clear subsections like food/traditions/housing and labeled clearly.  The maps in the book are plentiful Cons: Does not include every tribe like the Tsimshian Written from an outsiders point of view Athabaskan sections could be bigger Haidas/Tlingits are two separate people putting them together just causes some confusion for people outside of our cultures.  Something to keep in mind: Once you start reading more books on Alaska Natives you’ll find that many words are spelled differently from one book to another…it’s a weird problem but you’ll just have to use your head for it. Our languages and cultures are always changing (just like our American culture) and our written languages are quite young. Overall this is a worth while book to read. It wont tell you everything in the world about Native Alaskans but it’ll give you a basic understanding. This understanding will be useful for the future when you start reading more books about Alaska Native cultures. Buy | Buy at a used Book store | Borrow | Library | Skim at a Book store | Avoid | Buy this book new if you can’t find it used. If you want to research AK Native cultures, read more about them, or just need a good evening read you’ll keep on coming back to this book.

“The Native People of Alaska: Traditional Living in a Northern Land” by Steve J. Langdon

This book was an assigned reading for my Alaska Native Culture Class at the University of Alaska Southeast. Amazing class!

This is a great book to start out with if you do not know much about Native Alaskan.

Pros:

  • Very basic. It’s a good starting point if you have spotty knowledge of Alaska Natives or no prior knowledge of Alaska Natives
  • It’s split up by each culture starting with the natives up North and stopping with the the natives down in the southern parts of Alaska
  • Each section is split up in very clear subsections like food/traditions/housing and labeled clearly. 
  • The maps in the book are plentiful

Cons:

  • Does not include every tribe like the Tsimshian
  • Written from an outsiders point of view
  • Athabaskan sections could be bigger
  • Haidas/Tlingits are two separate people putting them together just causes some confusion for people outside of our cultures. 
  • Something to keep in mind: Once you start reading more books on Alaska Natives you’ll find that many words are spelled differently from one book to another…it’s a weird problem but you’ll just have to use your head for it. Our languages and cultures are always changing (just like our American culture) and our written languages are quite young.

Overall this is a worth while book to read. It wont tell you everything in the world about Native Alaskans but it’ll give you a basic understanding. This understanding will be useful for the future when you start reading more books about Alaska Native cultures.

Buy | Buy at a used Book store | Borrow | Library | Skim at a Book store | Avoid |

Buy this book new if you can’t find it used. If you want to research AK Native cultures, read more about them, or just need a good evening read you’ll keep on coming back to this book.

Filed under Alaska Alaska Native Native Native American The People of Alaska Book Review Steve Langdon The Native People of Alaska: Traditional Living in a Northern Land Tlingit Haida Unangan Aleut sugpiaq alutiiq yupiit inupiat athabaskans Reading read education