The Elders Wish
The film highlighted the two most unique cultures of the Siberian Yupik people: the traditional way of preserving food during summer for substantial needs when winter comes and the importance of Yupik as the language of the Sivuqaq people. Some Indigenous foods are tuuqtaq (fermented walrus meatballs), which were preserved and stored in the siqlugaq (ice cellar), and the nunivak plants, which were put in the pokes of seal skin and stored in a cache to form green kaapelqaq (sour/tart).
Classroom Guide
Essential Questions
- How did the Sivuqaq people use their traditional knowledge, skills, and practices to sustain their subsistence lifestyle?
- What natural resources did they use to preserve their harvested teghikusat (animals) and nunivagseghat (plants)?
- How does the changing environment affect the subsistence lifestyle of the Sivuqaq people?
- What is the impact of translating Yupik into English? How does the translation change the dialect of the current generation?
Standards
- Alaska State Standards HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to the adaptation of populations. HS-LS2-6. Evaluate claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem. HS-ESS2-4. Use a model to describe how variations in energy flow into and out of Earth’s systems result in climate changes. HS-ESS3-5. Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts on Earth's systems.
- Alaska Cultural Standards Culturally knowledgeable students are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of their community 4. practice their traditional responsibilities to the surrounding environment; 5. reflect through their actions the critical role that the local heritage language plays in fostering a sense of who they are and how they understand the world around them; Culturally knowledgeable students can build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life. 2. make effective use of the knowledge, skills, and ways of knowing from their cultural traditions to learn about the larger world in which they live. Culturally knowledgeable students can actively participate in various cultural environments 1. perform subsistence activities in ways that are appropriate to local cultural traditions; Culturally knowledgeable students can engage effectively in learning activities based on traditional ways of knowing and learning. 5. Identify and utilize appropriate sources of cultural knowledge to find solutions to everyday problems.