Alakanuk Potlatch Feb 2010 (5).AVI

Potlatch at Alakanuk, Alaska on February 2010
It's a celebration--a night of native dances. (Kind of like a Hawaiian luau, but indoors and without the food.) The whole event takes place over two nights, and lasts about 8 hours each night. And they practice for weeks beforehand. It was very enjoyable. Each dance is short, but repeated as long as the audience says "more" or "again" in Yup'ik. Usually, the dancers are up there for about 20 minutes doing the same dance, but sometimes they can be doing it for 45 minutes or more. It can be quite exhausting for them.
It only takes place during the winter. Each village usually puts on two Potlatches a winter. People from other villages attend as well. Getting to other villages is much easier during the winter, because they can use snowmachines (snowmobiles). The Potlatches help to break up the long winter. (The summer and fall are busy times; people leave for fish camp, hunt, gather berries, etc. No time for a Potlatch.)

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Alakanuk
• Alaska
• Yup'ik dance
• Yup'ik
• Eskimo
• native dance