THE PLAYGROUND
The new school was
finally finished. Now all that was needed was a playground.
There was a small plot of
land next to the school that belonged to the town, and in the last
election the people had decided it should be saved for use by kids
during re-cess. No one had said exactly how the land should be
used, though, and now it was up to a small committee to
decide.
"I think it should be left
completely natural!" said Karen. "It is a beautiful area with a
clear stream running right through it. Our children need to learn
about nature. And besides, there are hardly any natural wooded
areas in this town anymore."
"And with good reason," John
interrupted. "You only have to go a couple of miles to get to the
State Park. And the land near the school can be dangerous to kids.
A child could easily fall into the creek and drown!"
"And moose sometimes come
into the area," added Robert. "That can be dangerous."
"Anyway, I don't think it is
a good idea to leave the land natural. We have to protect the
children," John concluded.
Robert had more to say. "All
the trees in that area would make it hard for a teacher to keep a
close eye on the kids," he said. "They might not notice if someone
got hurt. I think we ought to clear the land and blacktop it. We
can make it into four-square, kickball, and basketball courts. Our
kids need the practice in basketball. They came in last in the
tournament last year!"
If you were on the
committee, what would you do?
HANDOUT 4
After reading the story, pass copies of Handout 4, The
Playground, to the students so they can refer to it during their
group meetings. Allow the groups 15 minutes to come to a decision.
Then call the class back to order.
Then, explain the concept of continuum to
the students. Draw a line on the board to represent a continuum. With
the students' help, place the characters in the story along the
continuum. A possible continuum might look like this:
Karen John Robert
--X------------X-------------X----
NATURAL PROTECT BLACKTOP
Then ask for the groups' decisions. As
each group announces its decision, place it on the continuum. Ask for
reasons for their decisions.
Your students' decisions may not have all
been placed at the same point in the continuum. If so, use this as an
example to explain that all members of a culture do not always agree
on everything. This is so today, and it was so in Athabascan culture
in the past.
Now ask students where they think Shirley
Jimerson would place her attitudes on this continuum.
Explain to students that they have just
expressed their feelings and beliefs about a certain issue. They have
therefore revealed part of their culture. If you were a foreign
visitor, you would know a little more about American culture after
listening to the students. Tell them that, in the same way, more of
the traditional Athabascan cultures will be revealed to them in the
next book they will be reading.
TEXT: WHEN PEOPLE MEET ANIMALS
Distribute copies of When People Meet Animals.
DISCUSSION
Briefly discuss the different time the stories in this book refer to.
Most of them are traditional stories, describing a time long ago, a
time no one can really remember but which people have told about for
so many generations that it seems as though they remember it.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The book was designed to show the special relationship between people
and animals in the traditional Athabascan belief system. This
relationship was one of reverence and thankfulness; reverence because
of the close ties between humans and animals in the mythical past
when the two worlds mixed freely, and because animals even now have
spirits and souls just as humans are able to survive. The
relationship between culture and the environment thus has an added
dimension which students should see in this booklet. Not only is
survival closely tied with the environment but beliefs and spiritual
behavior are as well.
TEXT: CHAPTER 1, WHEN PEOPLE MEET
ANIMALS
Read Chapter I in When People Meet Animals, "Nihts'iil".
MARK MAP
This story is from the Upper Tanana area. Find that area on the
language map. The nihts'iil, the little girl found are the roots of
the yellow pond lily (Nuphar polysepalum Engelu).
CHAPTER 1
Nits' iil
During the spring, Upper
Tanana Athabascans used to gather nihts'iil, which are little
roots that muskrats find and hide in their caches. One day a
little girl found one of these caches on a lake and took out all
the nihts'iil to take home to her family. She was very excited and
very proud of herself when she got home with the tasty
food.
"Mom!" she said, "I found a muskrat
cache! Here's some nihts'iil."
DISCUSSION
Discuss the story in the context of the Upper Tanana yearly
cycle. Discuss students' attitudes about animals. Can animals talk to
each other? Do they have spirits or souls? Are pets different from
other animals?
"You've got to pay for the
nihts'iil, " her mother said when she saw the pile of roots.
"Don't forget to leave something in the cache for the
muskrat."
"Oh, Mom," her daughter answered,
"who would ever know! The muskrat wouldn't know that I was the one
that took the nihts'iil. What does it matter?"
"Yes," her mother answered. "The
muskrat will know. You've got to pay for what you take. The
muskrat worked hard to fill his cache, and you shouldn't empty it
without paying for it."
The daughter still wasn't
convinced. "What happens if I don't pay for it?" she
asked.
The mother answered, "If you don't
pay, the muskrat will go into our cache, and take out all our
meat."
WRITING
Have the students rewrite the story from the muskrat's
perspective. Place the stories in their notebooks.
The little girl went back to
the cache and left a bit of cloth for the muskrat. (Adapted
from Guedon's People of Tetlin. Why Are You Singing?1974:
47-48.)
TEXT: CHAPTER II, WHEN PEOPLE MEET
ANIMALS
Read Chapter II, "The Female Beaver."
MARK MAP
This is a Koyukon Athabascan story. Find the Koyukon area on the
Language map.
CHAPTER II,
"The Female Beaver"
There is a Koyukon story that
the old people used to tell to their grandchildren on winter
nights, when all the children were warm between fur blankets. The
fire in the middle of the winter sod house would be burning low
and the smell of the smoke would blend with the smell of fresh
spruce boughs covering the floor.
The story went something like
this:
A young man was coming home from a
hunting trip late one winter day. He had been walking through deep
snow all day and was very tired, but decided to keep walking until
he got back to camp. He walked and walked, but didn't see any of
the familiar signs of home. He suddenly realized that he was
lost.
It was dark by now, but he kept
walking, hoping that he would find the camp of another band. Then,
he saw a fire through the trees. There was a camp ahead, next to a
lake. He started running toward it, and when he got to the camp,
was happy to see people, at last!
The man was greeted by the people.
They told him that though they looked like people to him, they
were really beavers. He had strayed out of human territory and
into beaver land.
The young man was very tired. He
looked around at the beavers' camp. He saw a pretty young woman
next to one of the houses. Although he knew she was really a
beaver, he decided to take her as his wife and to stay in the
beaver camp. He lived there all winter long, with his new wife and
her relatives.
When spring came, the young man
knew that it was time to go back to his own home. But springtime
is the time of hunger, and the beavers had no extra food to send
with the young man for his trip home.
NOTE TO READING
Point out to students the following two elements (part of the
Athabascan belief system regarding animals):
1.Humans and animals were once
able to slip into each other's worlds
2.From that time of close communication arose an important custom
which has been followed throughout remembered history.
The beaver-people talked it
over. They could not give the man food from their caches, but they
decided they would let him take one of their children as food for
his trip.
The young man's wife offered to be
killed. She would become food for her husband and keep him
alive.
Her parents looked at their
son-in-law and said to him, "When you have finished with the meat,
you must throw the bones into the water, and say 'Tonon Litseey'."
This means "be made again in the water".
The young man agreed, and set off
for his home village with the beaver meat. The man got home
safely, thanks to the meat he had been given. When he had eaten it
all, he threw the bones into the water and said, "Tonon
Litseey."
Suddenly the female beaver who had
been his wife appeared in the water where he had thrown the bones.
She swam away to her parents' lodge.
DISCUSSION
Discuss: what values were parents trying to teach their children when
they told them this story?
The old people would end
their story by saying, "And ever since that time, we have followed
the custom of throwing beaver bones into the water after we have
eaten the meat." (Adapted from Sullivan's The Ten'a Food
Quest, 1942: 107-108.)
TEXT: CHAPTER III, WHEN PEOPLE MEET
ANIMALS
Read Chapter III, "First Salmon Story."
MARK MAP
This is a Tanaina Athabascan story. Locate the Tanaina area on the
Language map.
First salmon stories are common wherever
salmon is a major food resource for the people. The Tlingit Indians
of Southeastern Alaska, for instance, also observed rituals with the
coming of the first salmon of the year.
CHAPTER III,
"First Salmon Story"
The Tanaina Athabascans used
to tell a story about a salmon. It goes something like
this:
One spring day when it was just
about time for the salmon run to begin, a rich Tanaina man put out
his fish trap as he always did at that time of year. He hoped to
catch enough salmon to last his family for the whole year. The man
told his daughter not to go near the fish trap.
His daughter was curious. She
wondered why her father did not want her to see the trap. So,
instead of obeying him, she walked down to the river toward the
trap. "Ill be back in a little while," she called to her father as
she walked away. When the girl got down to the river, she went
straight to the trap. A big king salmon was swimming around in the
water, and she started talking to him.
DISCUSSION
Discuss:why did the girl turn into a salmon? What lesson were parents
trying to teach their children in this part of the story?
They talked and talked, and
before she knew what was happening, she had turned into a salmon
herself! She slid into the water and disappeared with the big king
salmon.
The girl's father looked everywhere
for his daughter. He could not find her. Every day he called her
and searched for her, but she never returned.
The next year, when the salmon run
was about to start again, the rich man set out his fish trap as
usual. The first time he checked it, he saw that it was fill with
many beautiful salmon. The man threw them all out on the grass,
and began cleaning them. He left the smallest fish for
last.
Finally, all but the last small
fish had been cleaned. The man turned to pick up the little salmon
--and saw that, where the fish had been, there was now a little
boy!
The man walked around the boy,
staring at him. He walked around him three times. And finally, the
third time, he knew why the boy looked familiar. He looked just
like the man's lost daughter. The man suddenly knew that this
young boy was his grandson, the son of his missing
daughter.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This story, like "The Female Beaver", tells of the mixing of the
two worlds and the origin of an important social custom. It can be
used to highlight the major difference between Cook Inlet Tanaina
subsistence patterns and those of the rest of the Athabascan areas;
that is, the coastal orientation and adaptation of the Tanainas. Most
Athabascans relied on a yearly salmon run, but the Inlet groups took
more advantage of it and other resources because of their
location.
The boy finally spoke to his
grandfather. He told him all the things he should do to show his
respect for the salmon. He told the man how to cut the sticks to
dry the salmon, and how to be careful not to drop the salmon on
the ground while they were being dried. And he told the man that
each year, when the first salmon of the year was caught, the
people should hold a ceremony for that salmon. They must wash
themselves, and dress up in their finest clothes. They must find a
weed near timberline, and burn it. And they must clean and cook
the first fish without breaking its backbone. The insides must be
thrown back into the water.
ANGLO-AMERICAN CUSTOM
Research and discuss the origin of an Anglo-American custom which
your students engage in (for instance, trick-or-treating, coloring
Easter eggs, putting up a Christmas tree). Alert students to the
parallels between the origin of those customs and the ones described
in When People Meet Animals. If you wish to have students research
customs on their own, be sure to check with your school librarian
first to learn what types of information are available.
The boy explained that if the
man and his people did all these things, they would have a good
year, and would catch many salmon. But if they did not follow the
rules, the salmon would never return to them.
The Tanaina used this story to
explain to their children how the First Salmon Ceremony got
started and why it was performed each year in the springtime. The
people did everything the young salmon-boy had told his
grandfather to do.(Adapted from Osgood's The Ethnography
of the Tanaina, 1966: 148-149.)
TEXT: CHAPTER IV., WHEN PEOPLE MEET
ANIMALS
Read Chapter IV, "A Bear Hunt".
MARK MAP
This is another Koyukon story. Find, once again, the Koyukon area on
the language nap. What communities are in that area?
CHAPTER IV,
"A Bear Hunt"
A Koyukon Athabascan man and
his son had been out hunting one winter day. On the way back to
camp, they discovered a bear hole. The older man stuck the end of
his long bear spear into the hole, hoping to wake the bear up and
make him leave his hole. He poked and poked, while his son stood
nearby with his own spear ready to stab the bear as it came out of
the hole.
BACKGROUND: DEFINITION OF YEGA
This story introduces the concept of the "yega", or spirit. It is the
animal's yega that travels through space and becomes aware of human
activities. It is also the yega that reports these activities back to
the animal itself and either gives a favorable report or an
unfavorable report to that animal. A favorable report results in the
animal allowing itself to be killed and thus allowing humans to
survive. An unfavorable report results in the animal remaining aloof
and hiding from human hunters.
The bear started growling.
The man felt him moving about -- he was going to come out! As the
big animal emerged angrily from his den, the two men
panicked.
The son lunged at him with his
sharp-pointed spear. His father followed with another stab at the
bear. There was a struggle -- and the bear fell down, and slid
back into his den.
The two men were horrified. They
knew that after a bear has been killed, its forepaws must be cut
off, and its eyes must be burst. Although the bear was dead, its
spirit, or yega, could still harm the men if these things were not
done.
The man and his son tried to remove
the bear from the hole, but it was already dark by this time and
the bear was very heavy. They could not pull it out.
The men returned to camp. They felt
very worried. because they had not followed the rules. The bear's
yega would be angry. Days and weeks went by, and nothing bad
happened to either one. Finally, they for-got about the dead bear
in its den.
A year later, the son went blind.
The people in his band said he had gone blind because he had
broken a rule--he had failed to burst the bear's eye after killing
it. (Adapted from Sullivan's The Ten'a Food Quest,
1942: 86.)
WORKSHEETS IX AND X
Hand out copies of Worksheets IX and X to students. They should
be filled in individually or in small groups. Direct each group to
answer the questions on the two worksheets. All members in the group
should agree on the final answer.
When the worksheets have been completed,
reassemble the class as a whole. Help students to clarify in their
own minds the values of the Athabascans toward animals, as well as
the students' own values.
REVIEW
Review with students the meaning of the sentence, "There's more to
culture than basic needs." Have them enumerate some of those "other" parts of
their own culture.
ART ACTIVITIES
One of the parts of culture other than basic needs fulfillment is
art, both visual and performing. This would be a good time to invite
an Athabascan beadwork expert to your classroom to teach beading and
talk about her life as an Athabascan. Contact the Community Resources
Coordinator at 278-9531 for scheduling of an Athabascan beadwork
expert, if one is available to the District.
Before the expert comes, you might want
to have on hand UN 624, Trade Beads and Beadwork of Alaska.
Other art-oriented items from the AVS
Center include F 3429 Athabascan Art, Where Two River's Meet; VT 61
The Story Knife; VT 67 The Legend of Denali; VT 68 Edashla, the
Wolverine; VT 74, Raven the Trickster; UN 240, Alaska Folklore Puppet
Theater; UN 487, Athabascan Stories; and UN 642, Far North
Unit.
In addition, Appendix C at the end of
this guide contains a listing of juvenile literature about Athabascan
culture which you might gather for a classroom center. Note
particularly those books which recount traditional stories or
information about music and dance.
TEXT: CHAPTER VI, ALASKAN
ATHABASCANS
Read Chapter VI in Alaskan Athabascans. This is
designed as an update on the study of Athabascan cultures and as a
further explanation of the Anchorage area's cultural history.
Reiterate the themes of adaptation and
basic needs, paying close attention to the new adaptations the
Eklutna residents have made to each change in their
environment.
CHAPTER VI
AN UP-DATE - TANAINA (DENAINA) TERRITORY TODAY
At the beginning of our study
of Athabascan culture, you learned that the Tanaina (or Denaina)
Athabascans came to the Anchorage area long ago. At least 300
years ago, perhaps longer, they first began living
here.
Of course, Tanainas still live in
the Anchorage area. Many Tanainas live in Anchorage itself, while
others live in villages close to town. The closest one is Eklutna,
north of Anchorage near Eagle River and Chugiak.
Eklutna has been a winter village
of the Tanainas since they first came to this area. It is close to
Cook Inlet fishing resources. Eklutna flats plant resources, and
good sheep hunting areas. Eklutna was one of many settlements
which the Cook Inlet Tanainas used. Other Upper Inlet Tanainas
used the land in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, up and down
the Knik and Susitna River systems. They had villages in all of
those areas. The large and small lakes, including Big Lake, Nancy
Lake and Eklutna Lake were part of their territory. The Upper
Inlet Tanainas also used the land where the city of Anchorage is
now. The area at the mouth of Ship Creek was at one time an
important Tanaina fish camp.
In the 1800's, Russians traveled up
Cook Inlet to Tanaina territory. They brought money and goods to
exchange for furs. They also brought something else--their
religion.
More than a hundred years ago, a
Russian Orthodox church was built in the village of Eklutna. That
church, along with a new one completed in 1963, still stands
today. Many Tanainas belong to the Russian Orthodox
faith.
In the late 1800's and early
190O's, many Tanainas trapped for furs and sold the furs to
traders. They used the money they got to buy some items of food,
clothing, and tools. They still used many of the old skills and
knowledge of their natural environment. And they still hunted for
most of their food. Even so, they had adapted to a new way of life
which used money.
Then in 1914 the Alaska Railroad
was begun. This was to run from Seward to Fairbanks, and it cut
right through the Tanaina area. Many Upper Inlet Tanainas worked
on building the railroad. Eklutna itself became one of the
railroad stations along the route. The people living there could
now easily get the goods they wanted from other parts of Alaska
and the lower 48. They had winter jobs on the railroad close to
their homes. They fished commercially during the summer months.
Their fishing sites were the same ones they had used before the
new town of Anchorage was started. In fact, some of these sites on
Fire Island and Point Possession have been in the same families
for 100 years.
Soon after the railroad was built,
a school to train people for jobs was started in Eklutna. Many
Tanainas got training to work in the new town of Anchorage. But
new jobs meant that people didn't have as much time for hunting
and fishing as they had in the past. Many people had to buy most
of their food and clothing. They had adapted to still another way
of life.
In the 1930's, there was another
change in the Upper Inlet Tanaina territory. During that time a
number of settlers came to the Matanuska Valley from the
midwestern part of the United States. These settlers cleared land.
They built farms in the territory that had been Tanaina land. With
some of the hunting and trapping areas now gone, even more
Tanainas moved further south to Anchorage where they could find
jobs.
In the early 1950's a tunnel was
built through the mountain from Eklutna Lake. This brought water
to a power plant which provided electricity to the Anchorage area.
It also provided jobs for some village people.
ENRICHMENT: REPORTS
Students in your class from Eklutna might want to report further
on the community, from their own or their parents' experience.
Encourage them to bring in photographs or objects to share with the
class. Or, members of your class can read and report on Kari's The
Heritage of Eklutna (see appendices C and E). Students good at
mapwork can locate and label, on a detailed map of the northern
Tanaina area (Upper Cook Inlet and Anchorage bowl), the place names
by which the Tanainas knew each location.
Today, most adults from
Eklutna work in the Anchorage area. Some of the older people still
fish commercially for a living. Their children go to local
schools. People buy most of their food and clothes in
stores.
Yet something still remains of the
older culture. Parents and grandparents know a lot about the area
and its natural resources. Some of them can recall the old ways of
adapting to the environment, and some of the old beliefs about the
environment. Many people still use the natural resources in
fulfilling some of their basic needs. They hunt moose and ducks,
pick berries, and fish for some of their food and money. They
still feel that the land and its creatures are to be respected and
thanked for providing for them.
QUIZ:
No quiz has been prepared for this section. If you wish to
administer one, worksheet IX would serve this purpose.
HANDOUT 4
THE PLAYGROUND
The new school was finally finished. Now
all that was needed was a playground.
There was a small plot of land next to
the school that belonged to the town, and in the last election the
people had decided it should be saved for use by kids during re-cess.
No one had said exactly how the land should be used, though, and now
it was up to a small committee to decide.
"I think it should be left completely
natural!" said Karen. "It is a beautiful area with a clear stream
running right through it. Our children need to learn about nature.
And besides, there are hardly any natural wooded areas in this town
anymore."
"And with good reason," John interrupted.
"You only have to go a couple of miles to get to the State Park. And
the land near the school can be dangerous to kids. A child could
easily fall into the creek and drown!"
"And moose sometimes come into the area,"
added Robert. "That can be dangerous."
"Anyway, I don't think it is a good idea
to leave the land natural. We have to protect the children," John
concluded.
Robert had more to say. "All the trees in
that area would make it hard for a teacher to keep a close eye on the
kids," he said. "They might not notice if someone got hurt. I think
we ought to clear the land and blacktop it. We can make it into
four-square, kickball, and basketball courts. Our kids need the
practice in basketball. They came in last in the tournament last
year!"
If you were on the committee, what would
you do?
WORKSHEET IX
What Athabascans Think of Animals
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Circle the letter in
front of the correct ending to the sentence. You may use the book,
When People Meet Animals, to check your memory.
1.The little girl in the story called "Nihts'iil" was told
to give the muskrat something because
- a.the chief had made a law about
it
- b.it was her pet muskrat
- c.it was not nice to take something
without giving something in return
2.In "The Female Beaver", the man threw
the beaver bones back into the water because he felt
- a.that he wanted to get rid of the
garbage
- b.thankful that he had been saved
from starvation
- c.afraid of what would happen to him
if he didn't
3.In "First Salmon Story", the girl
turned into a salmon because
- a.she disobeyed her
father
- b.it looked like so much fun to be
swimming in the river
- c.she slipped and fell into the
water
4.The girl's son returned to the world of
people because
- a.he had learned something that he
wanted to share with the people
- b.he was accidentally caught in a
trap
- c.he missed his
grandfather
5. In "A Bear Hunt", the man and his son
were worried because
- a. they would go hungry without the
bear meat
- b.they had not followed the rules of
the hunt
- c.they thought the bear's mother
would be after them
6.In the old days, if an Athabascan did
not follow certain rules toward animals, he felt
- a.that the animals' spirits would be
mad at him.
- b.that the rules were stupid
anyway
- c.that maybe no one would
notice.
7.An Athabascan feels that animals are
like people because
- a.they look like people
- b.they act like people
- c.they have feelings like
people
Answer Guide
WORKSHEET IX
What Athabascans Think of Animals
1.The little girl in the story called "Nihts'iil" was told
to give the muskrat something because
c.it was not nice to take
something without giving something in return
2.In "The Female Beaver", the man threw
the beaver bones back into the water because he felt
- b.thankful that he had been saved
from starvation
3.In "First Salmon Story", the girl
turned into a salmon because
- a.she disobeyed her
father
4.The girl's son returned to the world of
people because
- a.he had learned something that he
wanted to share with the people
5. In "A Bear Hunt", the man and his son
were worried because
b.they had not followed the rules of
the hunt
6.In the old days, if an Athabascan did
not follow certain rules toward animals, he felt
a.that the animals' spirits
would be mad at him.
7.An Athabascan feels that animals are
like people because
- c.they have feelings like
people
WORKSHEET X
What I Think of Animals
DIRECTIONS:Each sentence below asks you
to make a choice: would you or wouldn't you do what the people in
When People Meet Animals did? Circle the one you believe. It
also asks you to explain your choice.
WRITE YOUR OWN OPINION THERE ARE NO RIGHT
OR WRONG ANSWERS!
1.If I had been the little girl in the
story "Nihts'iil", I (would) (would not) have given the muskrat
something in return for the nihts'iil because:
2.If I were the man in "The Female
Beaver", I (would) (would not) have thrown the bones into the water
because:
3.If I had been the grandfather in "First
Salmon Story" I (would) (would not) have followed the rules my
grandson gave me because:
4.If I had been the man in "A Bear Hunt" I (would) (would
not) have been worried because:
5.I feel that animals(are) (are not) like
people because:
Athabascans
of Interior Alaska
