Alaska Native students gain cross-cultural experience through Ilakucaraq program

Students trim dried seal nutrient successful Kotzebue’s South Tent City connected June 29, 2024. From left: Vera Norton from Kotzebue, Naomi Oxereok from Wales and Jamie Twitchell from Kasigluq. (Helen Panruk John/Alaska Humanities Forum)

Earlier this month, a twelve teenagers gathered successful KOTZ’s workplace successful Kotzebue to perceive to gospel music. Fifteen-year-old Edward Ochoa was 1 of them. He lives successful Arizona but has family ties to nan Northwest Arctic.

“My mom and aunty utilized to travel down present each nan clip to singing for nan radio, actually,” Ochoa said. “So it’s bully to link to a spot wherever my mom and aunty came each nan time.”

It was Ochoa’s first clip proceeding immoderate of nan recordings of his family singing. He was successful Kotzebue pinch a group of 14 kids for a cross-cultural program.

Like galore of nan Alaska Native students successful his group, Edward’s week successful Kotzebue was afloat of firsts — nan first clip seeing fabric writer connected tundra, nan first clip riding 4 wheelers, nan first clip eating Iñupiaq food.

Andrea Moses, whose Koyukon sanction is Nolteeł, was besides portion of nan program. She is from nan Interior organization of Allakaket, pinch family ties to Bettles and Evansville. She said that Kotzebue is akin to her home, but pinch a fewer exceptions.

“There’s much oversea animals here, obviously, because I’m much from nan Interior. And I don’t deliberation I’ve ever had seal,” Moses said.

Helen Panrak John is nan Youth Program head for nan Alaska Humanities Forum.

“Traveling successful Alaska is truthful costly that a batch of nan clip they wouldn’t person nan opportunity to spell to these places,” John said. “We’ve had kids that acquisition nan formation for nan first time, we’ve had kids to locomotion connected tundra for nan first time. And that’s for illustration a really crazy point to watch. Someone knowledgeable that for nan first clip and they’re successful precocious school.”

The Ilakucaraq programme is simply a business betwixt nan Alaska Native Heritage Center, nan Alaska Humanities Forum, and Mount Edgecumbe High School. John says Ilakucaraq is simply a Yup’ik connection that translates to “being together.”

Ilakucaraq is successful its 3rd year. The programme has respective components, but its superior extremity is for Alaska Native students to study astir different cultures and communities successful nan state. John said that different important facet is for students to spot their ain cultures arsenic a root of spot arsenic they turn up and decorativeness precocious school.

“We strategically take kids from different cultures, different regions, different grades, and different levels of knowledge astir their civilization truthful that they tin really study from each different arsenic well,” she said. “We person kids from Alakanuk, Utqiaġvik to Tununak, Emmanok, each complete nan place.”

This year, immoderate of nan programme participants traveled to nan agrarian hub communities of Bethel, Kodiak, and Dillingham. A group besides went to Utqiaġvik during Nalukataq, aliases nan summertime whaling festival. In Kotzebue, nan teens learned astir edible chaotic plants, trim and jarred dried, achromatic seal nutrient successful oil, and helped build drying racks for hanging fish. The group besides learned Iñupiaq creation from a section creation group. John said that galore of nan activities see Elders and culture-bearers.

“We for illustration to salary those group because they’re sharing knowledge pinch america and taking clip retired of their own, usually busy, like, subsistence play and weekends,” John said.

But John said that nan Ilakucaraq program, which is funded done nan Alaska Native Education Program nether nan United States Department of Education, mightiness beryllium losing its backing adjacent year. Without nan program, nan students wouldn’t person opportunities to recreation to different agrarian communities, aliases to enslaved pinch teenagers from different Alaska Native groups.

Some of nan program’s participants opportunity that could beryllium a existent loss.

Jaime Twitchell introduced herself successful Yup’ik: “Waqaa, wiinga Yugcetun Qasqanayuk. Kasiglurmiunguunga tamani-llu cali anglilua. Angayuqaagka Cungassaq Iiguaq-llu. Ilakluki Kasiglurmiut yuralartua.”

Twitchell is from nan Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta organization of Kasigluk. It’s her 3rd twelvemonth participating successful nan program. “I’ve learned a batch from this program,” she said. “I mostly… I get societal anxiety. So it’s helping maine get through. And, like, meet much people.”

Her chap programme member, Jayden Lampe from Utqiaġvik, agreed.

“It’s a really awesome experience,” Lampe said. “I bask gathering a batch of caller people. And that’s what I did, particularly group from each passim Alaska. It’s it’s bully to cognize that, like, I person a consciousness of community, not conscionable wherever I’m from, but everyplace passim Alaska.”

The programme did not person backing this spring, truthful this information of Ilakucaraq will extremity this fall. However, a typical from nan Alaska Humanities Forum said that they are conducting akin younker programming statewide.

Julia Jimmie contributed Yugtun translator for this story.