Shak Attack

This past weekend, BSSD invited all the new teachers to a Cultural Inservice in Shaktoolik. Most of the new staff in Gambell (and a good number from the rest of the district) decided to attend, and we all around had a great time! Not only did we get paid for working on a weekend, we got a free flight across the Bering Sea and a free mini-vacation in another village! Shaktoolik is a pretty village. There are mountains, a river of sorts, Norton Sound, and even a few trees! They took us out on Hondas down the road to the old village site, and it was nice to see an area completely different than Gambell. Did I mention the trees?? They have at least 20, and it was a grand sight.









Another thing Shaktoolik has: ice cream! You better believe most of us got at least one ice cream cone.




The residents of Shaktoolik were very open and generous. Liz, Amy, and I were walking back to the school after our Honda ride and saw this weird looking log stuck in the ground. It had bumps all over it and an Iditarod sign on it (the race goes through this village in the spring), and we were very curious. While we were examining it, we heard the buzz of a saw and decided to go investigate. It was a local man making a steel boat from scratch, and when we asked about the crazy-looking log he told us to go to his house and ask his wife. She invited us in for tea, cake, and some amazing stories about their days raising reindeer and mushing dogs in the Iditarod. We had a really good time eating and enjoying conversation with them; we were sad to have to leave!





I only wish the inservice was a two-part conference so that everyone could come to Gambell and see another Eskimo culture that still lives their cultural traditions daily. The other teachers would have loved Yupik dancing (atuq)! During the whole weekend we all realized how different it is for us in Gambell. The language is still spoken by most residents daily, traditional art like bone and ivory carving is still practiced, food is still obtained by hunting in walrus-skin boats . . . in short, Gambell is one of the more traditional villages in the area. We had to learn most of the traditions and expectations on the fly as the year progressed. Even still, it was great to see Shaktoolik and meet the very hospitable people that live there.





-Megan