Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

June 28, 2003 - Issue 90

Lifting Spirits

Vendors hawked corn dogs, nachos and buffalo burgers while people mingled outdoors in the sunshine or watched Yupik dancers inside gracefully moving their bodies and dance fans to drum rhythms reverberating loudly off the auditorium's walls. Other performers included Inupiat, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Haida and intertribal dance groups. African-American drummer Jesse Wright also performed a rousing West African-style set.

"It's to celebrate the spirit in human beings, however they want to show it," said organizer Larry Merculieff, wiping sweat from his brow during a break from his master of ceremony duties.

Jim Kayotawape, a Menominee from Wisconsin who lives in Anchorage, described Spirit Days as simply a way for Native people to come together.

"It's just to have fun and share what we have to offer," said Kayotawape, a member of the intertribal dance group Sleeping Lady.

All of Alaska's major tribes, along with several from the Lower 48, displayed their singing, drumming and dancing skills during the two-day event that wrapped up Sunday evening with an Eskimo-style blanket toss, said Patricia Cochran, president of Spirit Days.

Meadow Okpik, 11, looked dazed but thrilled after being hurled several feet into the air by a group of people holding taut a blanket made of walrus hide. Sharon Amaktoolik, 12, and Waunita Hootch, 12, also appeared light-headed but smiling after their airborne spins.

"It was great," Hootch said, catching her breath.

Among the crowd was Joyce Andre, an Anchorage resident whose 10 grandchildren hail from Mohawk, Gwich'in Athabaskan, Aleut, Yupik and Inupiat roots.

"The kids need this. They need to know where they come from," said Andre, patting her 3-month-old grandson as he snoozed in her arms.

Andre's father, a Mohawk from Oklahoma, took a steamship to Alaska and married her Athabaskan mother, who worked at a Fairbanks clinic. The family's multitribal connections took off from there.

Andre comes to Spirit Days every year and used to help organize the event so her grandchildren can be exposed to a slice of their culture right here in Anchorage. It's too expensive to travel to Bush villages, she said, so Spirit Days offers a unique opportunity for learning and sharing.

While cultural traditions may be strongest in the villages, many of the dance groups that performed at Spirit Days are based in Anchorage or the Mat-Su. The Miracle Drummers & Dancers, which performed for most of Sunday afternoon, are led by James Afcan, a Wasilla resident and Yupik whose family is from St. Marys. His father was renowned in his village for teaching drumming and dancing, Afcan said.

"When my dad died, the elders encouraged me to carry on my father's legacy," Afcan said.

He talked to his sisters and some of his cousins about starting a dance group. They agreed and pretty soon friends and neighbors began showing up, Afcan said. The group practices once a week and performs regularly. Afcan, a carver, said he's open to newcomers, but only those who are committed.

"If you want to come, the doors are open. But you have to be serious. This is sacred. It's a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation."

www.expedia.com

Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.

The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 of Paul C. Barry.

All Rights Reserved.