Yup’ik storyteller spins a good yarn with airraq

Riley Lekanoff (left) of Unalaska and Wassilie Meyers (right) of Pilot Station get an airraq instruction from longtime drawstring storyteller Matthew Nicolai. (Emily Schwing/KYUK)

Stories tin beryllium told successful galore different ways: done oral histories, successful writing, done photos, and moreover connected nan radio. But they tin besides beryllium told pinch string, and that’s what Matthew Nicolai does best. He’s a storyteller from Kwethluk, and he tin rotation a bully yarn pinch his fingers and a loop of string.

“I started watching astatine property five. And my mom, my grandpa, they were very diligent astatine school me,” Nicolai said.

Nicolai said that it’s a contented that’s not only constricted to nan Yup’ik people.

“It’s each complete nan authorities that I’ve seen, wherever nan much outer, distant from nan hub areas, that civilization is still alive. Very fewer group still cognize these,” he said.

Airraq is nan Yugtun connection to picture stories pinch drawstring successful nan Yup’ik language. If you’ve ever tried to usage your fingers to weave a cat’s cradle aliases a Jacob’s ladder, your stories tin beryllium told pinch string. But it’s besides a method of storytelling that has slow disappeared.

“If I count crossed nan state, I wouldn’t deliberation there’s much than 50 people, meaning from each cultures, from Tlingit, Haida, Tsmshian, Athabascan, Iñupiaq, Yup’ik, Aleuts,” Nicolai explained.

Last fall, Nicolai showed disconnected his airraq skills during a break betwixt sessions astatine nan yearly Alaska Federation of Natives convention. Afterward, a crowd recovered him connected nan 2nd level hallway of Anchorage’s Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center. Unalaska teen Riley Lekanoff sought immoderate thief to sharpen her integer dexterity. She said that successful her organization group don’t show drawstring stories anymore.

“I knew that it was a thing, but, like, we don’t person this astatine location anymore. It’s cool to study though,” Lekanoff said.

Nicolai leaned successful adjacent to thief Lekanoff crook her fingers successful conscionable nan correct measurement to twist a loop of bluish drawstring into nan shape of a quality skeleton.

“There’s your rib cage,” Nicolai exclaimed arsenic a mini crowd that had gathered astir oohed and aahhed. “So past retired of nan rib cage comes nan head. There’s a quality being. She sewage it too, truthful nan legs, head, it’s sewage a large caput for illustration me,” he joked.

Nicolai is moving difficult to support this storytelling shape alive. In nan week starring up to AFN, 189 group signed up for an airraq shop during nan yearly First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference.

“That’s what my boy and I person been encouraging,” Nicolai said. “The colony Elders that cognize really to do drawstring stories, to transportation connected that story, nan stories to nan younger generation. When they learn, they’re gonna thatch nan adjacent generation. I cognize 60 positive drawstring stories, my boy knows them each too. We for illustration to support school this to younger generations.” he said.

Nicolai said that nan much intricate nan story, nan little apt it is that personification still knows really to show it. “The ones that are nan difficult ones, there’s not many. I deliberation there’s only 5 of america successful nan state,” he said.

Teenager Wassilie Meyers is from Pilot Station, wherever he said that immoderate group still cognize airraq.

“My mom, she knows some, immoderate astir this. She taught maine nan net, really to do nan net,” he said, referring to a sportfishing net.

Many of nan airraq stories are astir subsistence hunting and fishing. Nicolai said that they besides supply bully lessons and morals. “A batch of them had stories down them astir manner that you should beryllium alert. As an example, erstwhile you do nan aged female sleeping connected apical of a hill,” he said, looping nan drawstring backmost and distant betwixt his fingers arsenic he talked. “You know, she went berry picking and fell asleep, and a carnivore took her and ran disconnected pinch her.”

A small fig moved quickly disconnected crossed nan woman’s drawstring arsenic Nicolai slipped nan loops from a fewer fingers and past offered nan lesson.

“You know, don’t autumn dormant connected your job. You know, there’s besides 1 for nan men. So there’s one, also, for nan men.”

That 1 is astir a musher and his canine team, which he sets up quickly, weaving nan drawstring backmost and distant betwixt his fingers.

“The civilized of nan communicative is erstwhile you are canine mushing, you are not expected to autumn asleep. If you autumn asleep, nan canine runs disconnected connected its own.”

As he pulled tighter and slipped a fewer loops of drawstring from his correct fingers, nan small canine ran disconnected toward nan left, tug statement bouncing down him.

While nan aged stories are important to preserve, Nicolai said that he’s besides spent immoderate clip creating caller and modern airraq, including 1 inspired by a fisherman connected nan Kenai Peninsula. He wove a fisherman pinch a rod connected 1 side, and past each of a abrupt a large loop of drawstring formed a food earlier it vanished and nan communicative was over.

“I had to travel up pinch thing that was marque caller aft seeing this, laughed Nicolai. “The fisherman from Kenai caught a king, he’s fighting it, and present it goes. All nan fishermen are tall-tale tellers,” he said pinch a laugh.

Entertaining nan crowd and successfully telling nan communicative ne'er seems to get aged for Nicolai.

“Yes! I still americium intrigued really our past cultures of nan past lived pinch these and carried nan contented on, and on, and on, from family to family,” he said.

There’s besides different caller and modern loop of airraq. It’s the chosen sanction for communications supplier GCI’s caller broadband net network that intends to service 10 communities and screen 405 miles crossed nan Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Whether it’s a modern web of cables and wire, aliases a elemental loop of string, airraq is astir relationship and nan stories that hindrance group together. It’s a long-standing Yup’ik contented that Nicolai is keeping alive.

This reporting was made imaginable done nan CIRI Foundation’s Journey to What Matters assistance program.