Paitarkiutenka / My Legacy to You
Edited by Ann Fienup-Riordan
Copublished with: Anchorage Museum Association and Calista Elders Council
- PUBLISHED: February 2008
- SUBJECT LISTING: Native American and Indigenous Studies, Anthropology
- BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: 360 Pages, 7 x 10 in
- ISBN: 9780295987804
- Publisher: University of Washington Press
Description
Yup'ik elders of southwest Alaska recall, “Our ancestors were never heavy with a tool kit.” They carried in their minds what they needed to live rich lives in the harsh environment of the Bering Sea coast. Frank Andrew, Sr. (1917-2006), was one of the few elders to bring this knowledge into the twenty-first century.
Not only did Frank Andrew possess knowledge and wisdom--he shared it. For five years before his death he worked tirelessly with Yup'ik translators Alice Rearden and Marie Meade and anthropologist Ann Fienup-Riordan to document his knowledge of life on the Bering Sea coast. What he shared is specific to the Canineq (lower coastal) area at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. When he talked about kayak building, tomcod fishing, or bird hunting, it was based on his own experience in the area surrounding Kwigillingok, where he spent his life. His unprecedented depth of knowledge and eloquent storytelling inspired this book.
Paitarkiutenka / My Legacy to You is the bilingual companion volume to Yuungnaqpiallerput / The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival, which gives readers a sense of the complexity and variety of Yup'ik tools and technology. Paitarkiutenka offers greater detail about working with wood, kayak construction, and coastal hunting. Stories and information on seasonal activities in the Canineq area appear here for the first time. This book acknowledges the enormous amount of information and remarkable skills that each individual needed to live life on the Bering Sea coast; it is Frank Andrew's legacy to us all.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Paitanka elpecenun yuuluaqautekat / My gifts guiding you toward a well-lived life
Miisam ayuqucia man’a tekilluku / Frank Andrew’s life up to this time
Qasgimi elitnaullra enemi-llu / Education in the qasgi and home
Elitnaullra elitnaurvigmi / Going to school
Missam qayangeqarraallra / Frank’s first kayak
Kassuutellra irniangellra-llu / Marriage and children
Pingnatullra / Supporting a family
Kass’alugpiarurtellra / How they became Russian Orthodox
Yuarutet yuraryarat-llu / Singing and dancing, past and present
Cavesratuli / One who knows how to work on everything
Miisam kalikat / Frank’s book
Qaillun ayuqellrat Miisam qanemcikellri / How Frank spoke
Miisam Qanellri / What Frank said
Notes
Nerangnaqsaraq: Ways of Seeking Sustenance in the Past
Up’ngetullrat up’nerkami pissullerkaatnun / Getting ready for spring hunting
Upnerkillerni / At spring camps
Neqlilleq / Summer fish camp
Uksuilleq / Fall camp
Uksillernun uterrluteng pilallrat / Return to the winter village
Cilkiayaraq / Rigorous training to become a good hunter
Angun imarpigmi qayailleq / A man who lost his kayak down on the ocean
Imarpigmiutaat: Sea Mammals
Makliit / Bearded seals
Qalrit / Male bearded seals giving their mating call
Asevret / Walrus
Issurit nayiit-llu / Spotted seals and ringed seals
Tegiit / Ringed seals with rotten faces
Imarpigmiutaat ayuquciit / Sea mammal behavior
Cetuat / Beluga whales
Arrluut / Killer whales
Paivciyaraq / Looking around and checking your surroundings
Allanarqellriit unguvalriit / Sea mammals behaving strangely
Eyagnarqellriit / Admonishments for seal hunting
Allat pissurviit / Different coastal hunting areas
Taitugmi pissulleq / Seal hunting in foggy conditions
Merr’illuki / Welcoming seals
Imarpigmiutaat Atuullrat: How Sea Mammals Were Used
Qapiaryaraq / Skinning seals starting at their heads, leaving their skins intact
Qeciit uquiryaraat / Cleaning and processing sealskins
Caqutet / Sealskin pokes
Uquucillret / Underground storage pits
Nayit atuullrat / Uses of ringed-seal skins
Imarpigmiutaat atuullrat / Uses of sea-mammal skins
Uginat atuullrat / Uses of sea lions
Imarpigmiutaat anrutait nakacuit-llu / Sea-mammal stomachs and bladders
Imarpigmiutaat qiluit / Sea-mammal intestines
Qiciit meqciryaraat / Removing fur from sealskins
Qercurtat / Freeze-dried skins
Imarpigmiutaat enrit / Sea-mammal bones
Kaugat / Lard extracted from whale bones
Malluut / Beached, dead sea mammals
Yualut / Sinew
Puya / Aged seal oil and moss
Taprat, taprualuut, imgutat-llu / Sealskin lines
Imarpigmiutaat aruqutkellrat / Distribution of seal meat and oil
Tutgaraurluq maklaurtelleq / An orphan child who became a bearded seal
Tevurayaraq Up’nerkami: Portaging in Spring
Neqlillerni: At Summer Fish Camp
Neqnek kinerciriyaraq / Drying fish
Tepet / Fermented fish
Iqertiit / Things made of fish skins
Yaqulget: Birds
Yaqulegcuryaraq yaqulegnek-llu unguyalriit / Bird hunting and driving molting birds
Yaqulget atkuut / Bird-skin parkas
Yaqulget enrit nissuit-llu atuullrit / Uses of bird bones and feathers
Yaqulget nertukait / Birds that are eaten
Tunutellget / Pacific loons
Qucillgaat / Cranes
Tulukaruut / Ravens
Naruyat / Gulls
Ciguraat / Kittlitz’s murrelets
Yaqulget tekitellriit / When birds arrive
Ingtat / Molting birds
Uyangtetuit-gguq yaqulget mer’ilnguut / They say birds peek in on people without water
Caranglluut: Grass
Carangllugnek quyurcaraq / Gathering grass
Carangllugnek piliat / Things made of grass
Uksuarmi Uksumi-llu Neqsuryaraq: Fall and Winter Fishing
Uksuilleq / Fall camp
Kuiget carritullrat / Cleaning streams
Arnat qalurpagteggun qalulallrat / Women dipnetting with large dipnets
Ipukaguyaraq / Dipnetting for tomcod
Can’giiret / Blackfish
Uksuarmi Pissuryaraq Mequlegcuryaraq-llu: Fall Hunting and Trapping
Ungungssiit / Land animals
Uksuarmi mequlegcuryaraq / Fall trapping
Cuignilnguut, imarnmiutaat, kanaqliit-llu / Land otter, mink, and muskrats
Kaviarnek uliirnek-llu pissuryaraq / Hunting red foxes and Arctic foxes
Qayukegglit / Tundra hares
Imarmiutaat cuignilnguut-llu piciryarallrat / Customs regarding mink and otter
Qayaq: Kayak
Qayat aklukaitnek quyurciyaraq / Gathering materials for the kayak
Qayaliyaraq / Kayak construction
Qayam ataucimi ernermi tumartellra / Finishing a kayak in a day
Pamyuq / Top stern piece with handgrip projection
Uutarluki muriit / Curing wood with heat
Pertellrit cauyarat enginret-llu / Bending ribs
Pai / Cockpit coaming
Kepirtat / Wringing skins
Qayam amiryaraa / Skinning a kayak
Mingellret akililallrat / Paying skin sewers
Qayam amillra / Putting the skin on the kayak
Qayam mingullra / Painting the kayak
Quyam auluksaraa / Kayak care
Amian eruryaraa / Cleaning the kayak skin
Anguarutet paangrutet-llu / Kayak paddles
Qamigautet / Kayak sleds
Aqumgautaat ikaraliin-llu / Kayak seats and grass mats
Negcik / Gaff
Qayam allat aklui / Other kayak accessories
Pissurcuutet / Hunting tools
Piciryarait qayatgun atraqatarqameng / Kayak launching ceremony
Miisam qayangeqarraallra / Frank Andrew’s first kayak
Qayam uciliryaraa / Loading a kayak
Qayami qavaryaraq / Sleeping in a kayak
Qayakun neqsuryaraq / Fishing from the kayak
Yaaqvanun ayalallrat qayatgun / Long distance travel in a kayak
Tumarayulit qayat / Amazing kayaks
Qayam atunrillra / End of an era
Miisam Qanemcikellri: Stories Frank Andrew Told
Ississaayuq / The story of Ississaayuq
Apanuugpak
Nukalpiarugaam atngellra / How Nukalpiarugaq River got its name
Qissunamiunun anangniallret / Those who went to Qissunaq to survive
Nengaukelriik / Father-in-law and son-in-law
Uauaualek
Ircenrraat qaurraarmiut / The ircenrraat from Qaurraak
Tulukaruum pillri qulirat / Raven stories
Nakacuut wani tauna tan’gurraq wani ayautellrat / The boy who was taken away by the bladders
References
Reviews
"As the human story of a gifted storyteller and his people, Paitarkiutenka is a story that generates understanding, compassion, and respect for the Yup'ik way of life. This makes it a valuable read for anyone working with indigenous peoples irrespective of region or those interested in gaining an appreciation of the seamless connection between Yup'ik identity and history, the natural world, and oral tradition in the contemporary world."
- Oral History Review"These two publications, Paitarkiutenka and Yuungnaqpiallerput, are fitting companions, bringing to life the deep and ancient connections between the Yupik people and their ancestral homeland."
- Pacific Northwest Quarterly"This book, like the others edited and translated by the trio, is a masterpiece of cultural knowledge. The information is encyclopedically detailed in a way that no third-person ethnography can be. And it is entirely credible because Andrew, like other Yupiit, is careful to share only information that he knows from personal experience . . . . By including references in the body of the work, and then expanding them at the end, the editors remind the reader of the holistic nature of Yup'ik life in which the spiritual, physical, moral, and genealogical are tied together inextricably."
- Alaska History"Paitarkiutenka / My Legacy to You . . . provides a wealth of information about all facets of Yupik life . . . . This latest book is so well done, and the impressive descriptions by Frank Andrew about his vast experiences are so extraordinary, that we can hope the legacy will be carried on in new and perhaps surprising ways."
- Arctic