Spring melt is on its way, sort of

 

Spring is on its way as the snow quietly leaves the tundra exposed. The days are longer and the sun is hitting the horizon about 11:45 these days. The snow is grainy, difficult to walk and ski on. The sound of the first galuk, galuk arrived and then more and more. Canada Goose, Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Greater White Fronted Geese, Snipes, Robins and Swallows are now seen in great numbers.

Our huge drift out front is ever so slowly lowering. It's in the shade for a majority of the day so it isn't going down very quickly. We may be flooded though, as there is a pool set up on the other side of the drift.

Out for a walk I found this crew having a great time in the spring melt. The boys would take turns running through the water. There are a few of them in the village. One of our 2nd graders was out pulling a sled full of younger ones around. These mini snowmobiles can really move!

I'm disappointed as I have several photos of children playing in the water using sleds as boats, but they won't load onto the blog for some reason.

 Another sign that spring is on it's way is the amount and variety of food seen on the drying racks. Fish is cut and hung, Northern Pike and Sheefish. People are talking the Kings are on their way. Ptarmigan is skinned, split and hung for jerky, seal and walrus strips are also showing up on some families' racks. Last week, out for a visit I was invited in for soup, walrus and rice (tasted like beef). Walking onto porches for visits I see the geese and swan piling up, but no ducks yet. These photos are also not loading up.  The subsistence food cycle begins again.

Several people in the village are commenting on how late the ice is staying and predicting break up not until June. Some say that hasn't happened since the '60's. Another person sees the river as being very low and hopes there is enough water for the fish to come. She just said, "I really care about the fish getting here, we need them so bad."

Special night, the Prom

 We started decorating for the prom after school on Friday. Our seniors chose the theme and colors. We had about ten of us blowing, gluing, taping, and cutting for about five hours. But when we were done it looked fabulous!

 We had to figure out how to hang the colorful balloons and the 2013 balloon. We discussed it and came up with a braid of different material. It got to be quite comical as these three did the over under dance, just like the Maypole. I anchored it and had fun taking photos.

 Here we hung it from basket to basket.

 We finished Friday night, and were ready for the Prom to start Saturday night. We showed up to help slice and dice the snacks. There were two watermelons, crackers, a variety of cheeses, grapes, apples, turkey and ham. Yum!

 Dancing in a circle is common at all of our dances. The music was loud and had a strong beat. The community was invited and it was great to see all ages out dancing together. Some of these kids danced straight on through, hardly taking break!

Marlin, my favorite dance partner, was my student many many years ago!

25 years ago, I took a black and white photo of a little girl riding on her Big Wheel. Ollie Ann was about 4 at that time. This last year, she became my aide. We have a lot of fun together. She is a wealth of knowledge on traditional practices and is very well respected by the students.

Dance Festival, Camaii 2013

Spring in Bethel means Camaii. Once again dancers came from all over the state, and this time across the Pacific. The first photo shows the newest dance group in the region, the Quinahagak Dancers. The youth went to the elders and asked to reinstate dancing as it was not allowed as the Moravian faith took hold. The agreed, and a teacher came in from Anchorage and in a week, the children were ready to perform!

This woman spent time in the area years ago and had a dance background. She spoke of her time up here and how she created a dance, "The Seal Mask Dance" in which the seal gives herself up to the hunter as he showed respect for the hunt following traditional practices and for her. She is wearing a seal gut parka, a traditional "raincoat".

The next group is from St. Lawrence Island. The group of older women are always so much fun to watch. It's interesting seeing the different styles of boot and dress.

 

Then the men get in the mix. Often from this area they wear gloves, but this time the men held their gloves.

Not everyone was all that interested in what was happening on stage. Note the glare of the screen on the little girl's face.

This was an invitation dance in which anyone can join. Several of us got brave and went on stage to give it a try.

Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island is know for its wooden masks. This is portrayed in the head dresses these students are wearing. This was unusual as were the drums they came with.

This next group was from the Aleut region.

When the last group finished this man began the call for drummers. He began his drumming and many others answered his call for a giant drumming circle.

People are beginning to walk into the gym, down the aisle, and many go up into the audience.

It was extremely powerful being surrounded by the beating and then these two men began to sing.

                                                         All drummers were included.

I can't remember where this group came from, but they were very acrobatic.

I tried to get shots of the children that were included on stage with their families.

               These women were beautiful as they sang and danced their traditional hulas.

This elder sat on stage through a majority of the Eskimo dancing. All welcomed her.