Eskimo Heritage (Inupiat Paitot) Elders Workshop

The Inupiat Paitot (Eskimo Heritage) Elders Workshop took place in Kotzebue, Alaska, in the spring of 1976. Elders enthusiastically gathered from the 11 villages of the NANA Territories to have their teachings recorded on audio and videotape for educational use.

The workshop was led by Dr. Valene L. Smith, Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Chico. Over the entire 2-week period, topics were discussed including: social justice, survival skills, igloo building, weather, warfare, teaching-tales, history, games, songs, music and dance.

This 9-minute Preview has been culled from 4.5 hours of original recordings, which were shot on 1-inch black and white videotape. The Preview is a brief overview of the material available for further research into this priceless information. All of the elders from the workshop are now deceased.

As the elders spoke in the Inupiat language, translation into English is very difficult. However, for the purposes of this promo, several stories have been subtitled.

The Preview's original music - which is minimally added to suit the titles and introductory explanation - has been supplied by Quinn Vo, David Hurst, and Rob Warner.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• inupiat
• eskimo
• heritage
• kotzebue
• alaska
• anthropology
• valene smith
• NANA

[andrewaburnett]

Excellent video. In 1977 my wife and I spent a year in Alaska. We spent part of one summer in Nondalton, on six mile lake. This was an Indian (Athabaskan) fishing village of 150 people upstream from Bristle Bay. This is very important. Keep working on it. I am now working with the indigenous of Panama, the Embera, Wounaan and Kuna.