Wednesday and Thursday I spent most of the day in Quinhagak in meetings regarding the Nunalleq archaeology dig and what steps would come from the finds there, such as upcoming meetings, workshops, capacity building, and involvement of organizations.
The archaeology site and the artifacts they found and shared with the community were amazing.
Here is the site. You can see how close it is to the Bering Sea. The site is in extreme danger of eroding away, and part of it already has. The location of the original 2009 dig site is now somewhere in the Bering Sea.
A mask depicting transformation into Wolf.
A whole
uluaq or woman's cutting knife used to cut fish or whatever (still widely used today)
The start of a coil basket which was very exciting because it shows proof of pre-contact coil weaving/basketry. Some claim that Yupik people were instructed on how to make coil baskets by missionaries.
A more "open" weave used in what is believed to be a bag for carrying the fish. The open weave allows are to flow through so the fish don't get gross and slimy.
When the Moravian Missionaries came, Eskimo dancing was banned. This year, a dance group formed and Quinhagak dancers performed at the Cama'i Dance Festival in Bethel last March. Wednesday was the first time a public Eskimo Dance performance had taken place in Quinhagak in 100 years. The students who performed did an awesome job!
Quinhagak is a gorgeous village and I really enjoyed visiting it. I can't wait to go back!
Our housing accommodations were phenomenal. We stayed in a very toasty Quansit hut that had bunk beds!
The flight back was pretty bumpy, but I got some great pictures of the tundra. Does anyone else think that this section of land looks like North and South America?
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