A good night's sleep, and I am still sleepy. Maybe the second cup of coffee will get it done. For reasons that are unclear, I awoke with a stuffy head and nose this morning. Hope that doesn't stick around.
Back to cultural week...as I explained, my posting was that of manaq stick carving. I was supposed to be working with a local person who would actually guide the students in the process of making the sticks. That person was not there on Monday, or any other day for the rest of the week. I am not sure what happened. That person might have had a conflict that I did not know about. Anyway, the process was pretty simple-cut sticks, whittle them down, cut a notch in the top of the stick, and wind on some fishing line, a swivel, and a lure with a hook. Just kids, knives, and hooks. Nothing could be simpler.
And it was, for the most part. The only casualty was me. I managed to cut my thumb with a freshly sharpened blade while carving a drumstick. Dumb. Not fatal, and it didn't need a stitch. All good. By Thursday, most of the kids were done with their projects, and were anxious to go out and check snares, or to go manaqing. That turned out to be a quiet day on which I actually got some much needed work done.
Some of the other projects were complicated by weather. No one went out fishing on Monday or Tuesday, because the windchill was in the -25 range. Long exposure=frostbite. There were some stircrazy folks walking around, and that was not limited to kids. It is interesting to see how many of the staff find this week stressful. By the end of the week, a lot of kids were doing an extended wander, and I suspect that this will not exist in its current fashion in the future. We will keep the cultural focus, but it may be cut down or dispersed in some way. The current administration does not approve of it in this form all that much, and it will probably look different next year.
We topped off the week with a celebration in the gym, honoring kids that had made an effort during testing week. There were games, prizes, pizza, and ice cream. After lunch, we met to work on our assigned Site Improvement Plan, and then I ran a movie fundraiser with the seniors and the City of Napaskiak. We had a decent crowd for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After that, I was off to Bethel for an evening of visiting and fun.
My wife had taken a group of kids to Bethel for the culmination of an art grant that the district has had for the past five years. Students from around the district met with elders in their villages to learn traditional stories, songs, and dances. They then worked together to make backdrops and short films to help to tell those stories. The result was a multimedia show called "This Is Who We Are." They performed Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I was able to catch the Saturday show. It was very special, and it was being filmed for a DVD that will be available for sale in about six weeks or so. Above and beyond that, a crew for the Discovery channel show "Flying Wild Alaska" was there with their cameras as well. That bunch has been showing up in various locations around the Delta for the past several days, judging by the Facebook entries that I have seen recently. Apparently the TeeVee can't get enough shows about Alaska these days.
More adventures to follow later today...
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