There are two things here...one, I hope you all will look up local artist Sarah Luttrell on Facebook and open and "like"her art...she is UD Grad with a degree in English...she is an extraordinary writer but she is a knockout artist as well! You may enjoy her offbeat stuff...she now has works displayed at various venues and coffee shops around town, and in the mayor's office (Dayton). She is versatile in all art media, it appears.
So I have a deep interest in these Native American readings. My daughter is a second-year teacher at a native village/school in Newtok, Alaska. The people there subsist on fishing and their language is Yupik. In her district are about 15 villages of natives, all different tribes.
The children speak Yupik in Kg, 1st and second grades, then they go to second grade again and are immersed only in English until 12th grade. These kids use the Russian alphabet at home and speak Yupik at home, so there are difficulties for them in school. They are very close to their native culture and have tribal music, dances, ceremonies, etc which vary from tribe to tribe.
In Lit 213 we read a story of how the Big Dipper was formed...a story about a boy who turned into a huge bear, leapt for the sky and his 7 sisters followed...they became stars which formed the pattern we know as the Big Dipper. Now, this folk tale was thousands of miles from Alaska, but the Alaska State Flag is the Big Dipper made of yellow stars on a blue field. How did the story get to Alaska????? Or did it begin in Alaska and migrate southward with the migrant tribes, and end up in the mainland? It is a fact that the people we call Eskimos or Inuits came across the former land bridge (Beringea) (Bering Straits) from Russia and settled in Alaska, Canada, and the Northwest areas we know as Washington, Oregon, etc.
I have noticed that other folk tales from widely different areas seem to have been spread all over and each tribe claims to "own" them. I find this stuff interesting...how cultures end up with similarities sometimes.
Anyway...back to the readings! Julie
Well, Julie, I admire those kids. I'm still working on English, having used it as my primary language for 33 years. Ha! That's an interesting tale about the Big Dipper.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot to tell you thanks for letting us know about the local artist.
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