Waves Of Wisdom

They say that when that guest arrived and told a story that someone from a far away village somewhere had passed away They said that that village would mourn with loud wails over him. I wonder why he said this, and I recognize it now: "Later, when the world is going to end, people will die off more quickly. "They will also start hurting themselves." And he said that they will no longer mourn loudly anymore, but laugh at them instead. They said that when the world is close to ending, we people will all become foolish. I used to hear this. It’s probably true. I recognize it. When I used to hear of it far off [in the future], my heart would skip a beat. And I am worse than those who do wrong, by abusing alcohol. I heavily abused alcohol, and it would be the only thing on my mind when I was coming back from the wilderness.

I realized that I was destroying my precious body of my own accord. And my regret to this day is that I used to do that in front of my children here. I taught them [to do that]. That is my greatest regret today. And I am heartbroken Because I taught them this detrimental thing that would destroy me when I reached this age. Indeed, what those people said back then is quite true. They said that the descendants of our descendants will establish what people will be like on this earth.

They will establish it. Then they said that their descendants It seems that people are starting to do this these days. It seems they spoke watching [the future]. It turned out that when I reached this age, I would remember them. It seemed that they spoke of it watching the future people of these lands. Pity, they said, when they reach that point where they will become like that Even their young people will become like puppies. You see?

Now, I fully understand them. It seemed that the people back then truly watched this time as they spoke of it. Oh my goodness, and people have reached that point, every person from the lands. And without leaving any out, all of the lands have come to that point. They said they will definitely become like that when young people depreciate their traditional wisdom. Because I grew up in the wilderness back then, I would eat everything when it started to grow in the spring when I started playing outside.

RIght when I started playing outside, I would eat [?cungakvak] roots. I am not ashamed, and even tell these to my children. But the only thing I didn’t eat was poison water hemlock. And I found tree leaves tasty. When I became an adult, I found that I wouldn’t get tired. I’ve never been tired, you see. I haven’t been tired, but I get short of breath when I run. And when I started working, I found that though my peers said they were tired, I haven’t been tired. And I don’t get cold often. And though my peers dressed very wamrly, I didn’t dress warmly. I grew up without dressing warmly. And my mom would stop after trying to have me dress warmly. These plants are truly beneficial for the body.

If you want to live right, you must not preside over yourself And even though you live as an adult like that, you must be mindful, you must think of some belief. You must believe in God’s will. Then if you can’t do that, you must believe in traditional Yup’ik instruction.

If you live life all by yourself without any form of faith, thinking that you’re smart, prideful of yourself I don’t know how you’ll end up. This traditional wisdom is how God takes care of all people, all people on this earth. So that’s why when the weather is bad, they say that the weather is bad when it’s good

Because apparently, this is what bad weather is like: Because it’s bad weather when it stops raining Stopping everything, including plants, from growing well. Because it stops raining and getting foggy, keeping moistrure from the land here. Then, this is also considered bad weather for the West, these people who eat crops. Before this, we hear that they have a famine when their crops don’t grow well

And many starve to death. And sometimes, we hear about people having water shortages. That is how God takes care of us. And those elders used to say that something here And it’s no wonder that they say that even blackfish become scarce like this. It turns out that God does this when he looks at people’s behavior and disapproves.

He apprently does that depending on their behav ior when they become too foolish So that they will realize their wrong behavior. He causes those who eat crops to have a shortage of crops And those who eat from rivers to have a shortage of river [animals]. We know that plants grow on the earth between cold and hot temperatures.

The other will keep them from growing well if they are not in harmony. Our food sources from the water are also like that. It seems they are also between cold and hot in their little environments. That bad weather that brings about famine shows that. It shows that. So that’s why they say even little blackfish become scarce during a famine. Those that show the signs of famine, show the signs.

They say there are two types of famine. The other is a male, and the other is a female. They say in the male, summer comes later. They say, however, that in the female, summer comes earlier. They say bad weather happens in all of the world, not just experienced by a few lands. Instead, all lands experience it.

I think they’d say that the one of our time was a female one. Also, many people starved to death And some villages became ghost towns. That’s probably why people, even if it’s not every last person, the ones who are alive relocate. They also said that the dogs die off first. Some villages start having bad people. They also said that when bad weather is nigh, the starts at the end of the night become smoky. They also said that the world would “crack."

They said that it crackles as it "cracks," with the side areas having saw-like teeth. They say that the people who starved are looking down. They also say that many people notice when it cracks. You see, these are the signs that they spoke about. They say that when bad weather is getting close

There’ll be no more people talking about what famine is like, and they will sit and wait for others to work for them. Also, because we who were born in time to see them do not speak about what we used to hear As Paul said in the Bible. And I didn’t receive anything from the ancestors. They’re probably ancestors. We who were born in time to see them must be the mouths for what they said What they used to say about these young people.

Without having heard what that’s like, how will the people who reach that time use the traditional instructions concerning it? They say that though bad weather is nigh, there isn’t a complete lack of food sources. But they said that their food sources seem to [deplete] quickly. And at what point in the winter do blizzards become frequent? They say the weather isn’t good, with blizzards happening all the time. And a person does not travel anywhere with good paths. Sometimes, after dawn breaks on a wonderful day, the wind shifts and the weather turns bad long before the day is over.

And the men who subsist cannot subsist well. They also say that blackfish traps are filled with frost. When they take them out of the water, they clang. The frost in the fish traps clang. Sometimes, there is one blackfish visible among the frost. There in the water, the cold may be coming into contact with them.

These days, there is no frost in the currents. There seems to be frost in the currents during famines. Instead, he brought home a blackfish Then when he brought it home, he filled a pot with water to try to have it swim

With the mind to make the water a little cloudy. Then when it got cloudy, he cooked it. When it got cloudy, they cooked it. The family ate it. They broke apart one blackfish and added mare’s-tails, tall cottongrass tubers, and sourdock. Apparently, they would eat one mare’s-tail. They were also afraid of having no fish roe.

Dried fish roe does not spoil no matter how old they get. They made those in day old blackfish stews. They also said that even if they take solid or watery ptarmigan feces and eat it, their stomach will not be upset from it. They said it’s because it’s [?clean] since they eat trees. If one sees a blackfish fry, a small blackfish, in a fishing hole in the ice or a place where the ice was picked out

Though his stomach rumbles, they say that he shouldn’t covet it. They that he should instead bring it home, cook it, and eat it. They have this traditional wisdom concerning that small blackfish: Because if he eats it raw, they say their stomach "shoots an arrow" at such wonderful contents, and kills himself. They say that when a person’s stomach has no more fat, it becomes volatile, and shouldn’t be given anything bad. He should take care not to eat too much oil or fat, or eating too much.

People were evidently strong back then when water wasn’t their food source. Because those who were subsisting were so skinny, they would stuff their anuses when they were going to travel Because they get drafty since they’re so skinny. This dangerous summer has appeared now.

We also wander through the water now. This misfortune that alcohol brings And how it destroys people It’s time we’ve realized this. It’s also time that those who’ve abused it realized this. But it’s unfortunate that those who want to use it abuse it, though he is told not to. They practice what they value. These days, a person is like this:

After being spoken to, after he stands without doing anything as he’s spoken to Then when he goes, he drinks. And before an hour is up, one falls from his boat because he [drank] too much And the boat leaves him. And he can’t be saved by any means. He kills himself. That is very clear. He kills himself. It truly seems that it is no different from shooting oneself, or stabbing oneself with a knife, or hanging oneself. It’s no different.

When he falls into the water [drunk], he kills himself. I want people to understand this now. Though I am a bad person, turn away from me I want them to turn away from me and remember this And I want these precious young people to understand it Their behaviours that make them destroy themselves. And their parents, their parents take care of them when they’re children out of love.

But when they stand by themselves Some of them truly seems as if they raised themselves And they disparage their parents and do not respect them. They also don’t remember or heed what they said. And because they don’t heed them, they give their parents shame That terrible thing. They make them ashamed, like they pay their parents back the wrong way. If they understand their behavior and they give up the alcohol they are prone to abusing

That would be greatly beneficial. And one who gives it up is cause for great thanks. These are also the examples for those who abuse alcohol: Some people, from what I’ve seen, are heavily alcoholic until eventually he grows up, and he eventually takes a wife. Then as they go, some of them gives up their alcoholic behavior. They don’t repeatedly take it up, but give it up and turn away from it. Oh my goodness, even though we don’t always say it, we are so thankful for them in our minds. This is all I’m going to say about this.

During that time, they traveled with kayaks. Then when the wind starts blowing on them, they also had thin pullover garments made of bearded seal intestines The seal gut pullovers that they put on. With those, the kayak rims, you know how they’re round? Did you see kayaks before? You know how they’re round?

He puts the kayak rim inside his hem. Then they would bind it with something that wasn’t twine, but handmade ropes of spiraled sealskin. They called that securing it with a cord, "ket’garluku". Though the waves do this to him, it can’t go in his kayak. That’s what they used to do. The water can’t go into his kayak because he’s holding it [secure] with his garment. Then these boats haven’t sunk. But this thing that they abuse leads them to misfortune. What is called alcohol is what brings them to misfortune.

When there was none of that, there was no one who got into misfortune. We didn’t hear of people getting into misfortune in the summer, those who drowned. People from every village do not want young people to abuse this [alcohol]. They also do it even if they’re not young. It’s like it makes them drop [dead]. That’s how I compare it, like it makes from drop [dead]. You know when we scatter things, they drop, and what we call a salt shaker scatters [salt]. It truly seems that, when I think about it, what they abuse makes them drop [dead] like that. Those people didn’t know of any [misfortune] when there was none of that.

Now, they have floatation devices that keep a person afloat. One shouldn’t be without those. And they’re easy to bring along since they’re not heavy. In the summer, people always travel in the summer now. Back then, however, there were none of those for when people fall into water. And they wouldn’t travel by boat, but row kayaks.

They used that kayak to travel. Now, however, they have boats, boat motors. They travel with ease. That’s why people need to keep those floatation devices. Now, we know, we found out that a person’s [potential for] misfortune is right in front of him. Now, you know that after a pesron is happy and laughs, then when he leaves his peers, he’s gone. You see, a person’s [potential for] misfortune is right there. It’s right in front of him. That’s why these instructions, these Western things, should not be disregarded.

That’s why they should keep those floatation devices with them, and they’re not heavy. Because our elders are going, beacuse no one is speaking about that traditional wisdom from our elders, no one is talking about them anymore. Some people probably also know them.

He probably hears that ancient traditional wisdom. It’s because no one speaks about them anymore. You see, the people I was born in time to see didn’t change the instruction they were given. They spoek of one thing as one and the same. When one spoke, he spoke of it. Before long, when another spoke, he spoke of it [in the same way]. Because they have no more elders to speak to them They don’t speak of this traditional wisdom anymore

Because there’s no more of those who used to speak of them. But we would also be instructed. And our father would instruct us like this: He said to clean the debris in the house. He said to clean everything, the floors. And though feel gross, to dump them. He also told us to think as we dumped them That we want to be good at hunting and gathering, or that we want to live long, or that we want to live well without sickness.

Or, he also said to carry the debris in our front hems and take them out, like this. He said to take them out, putting them in the front hem here. Look, he said, the people back then who wanted light Those people who wanted to have light would always clean up, the ones he said wanted to be pure. He same some who always do that would never get sick. He also said those people never got sick. And with their hems, he said that though they weren’t baptized, they would emit light from their hems, and the tips of their sleeves, and here from their neck openings. They emit light like this. And though they walk outside, it’s not dark for them.

That’s what he used to tell us. And though they weren’t baptized, they knew that. Then he said that we should not be squeamish over those who are sick and clean them up though we get dirty. He said that impurities do not affect people. He said that a person who serves others does not become impure. These days, our houses are excessive.

We’re rich right now. We have everything in the house. We have everything, like we’re Caucasian, yet we’re Yup’ik. Then me, with Johnny Samson having a trading post in Nunapitchuk, I mostly stayed there with Cakayak and family as a girl. His wife, you see, didn’t do much. You know, it seemed like she was being careful. You see, I would wash dishes. And I didn’t menstruate [until] maybe ten years old, or nine back then. And I would wipe things down since his wife told me to. Apparently, it’s because they were Caucasian. Half breed, because her husband was half. I’m not sure what his wife was.

That’s how I grew up. And when I went home, because I didn’t stay there all the time, when I went home to my family I would do at home what I did at the Caucasians’. I would work on these things, and I’d apparently dust things out. You see, I would thoroughly [clean] things. I learned from them. These days, there are high schools, colleges. I think, "These people know so much, including how to clean up the inside of a house." That’s what I think. Because of what I was like when I stayed with Caucasians for a while, I learned that. Then during that time, an old woman there in Nunapitchuk, she hadn’t been a very old woman during that time.

I used to visit her. I would go in, and that woman would be washing her things. And she would wipe her kettles like this on top of her stove. Then when I went in, since that woman had burnt sugar candy, you know how people make burnt sugar candy? It seemed there was no candy back then to me. That woman would give me burnt sugar candy, and I’d put it in my mouth. It tasted good like sugar. I liked to go see that woman for that reason. Sometimes, that woman would say to me, "Cousin," because I was her cousin Cousin, when you’re on your own like me, when you get married, do what I do. Watch, you’ll have things [to use and eat]. "If you don’t wash things in your home," I was a little girl, "if you leave them alone

"Watch, dust will cover them until eventually you don’t keep it since it got bad, and you throw it away." And it may be new, but dust makes it very dirty. Then it becomes undesirable and not good to keep. That’s what she used to tell me. Then these days, they also say this: "A woman with female children, watch, that woman will watch her mother in the house. "Then what she does, that woman’s child can copy what she does."

These are true. And now, I have nine children, five girls, four boys. And these five girls are all different. You know, they’re different. And I love all of them. Then when I started working, and I started sewing, and my daughters here grew up and started living on their own I would always make them things, and sew for them. I sometimes go in their houses and see what I sewed on the floor. My mind would be hurt. It turned out that what they were supposed to keep well was on the floor. I would go into one of my daughter’s [houses], [and it’s] neat.

Oh my, and the ones I made would be treated with love. Then when I did that, among my children, five girls, two of them, I won’t mention their names From what I’ve seen, [they’re] neat. As they say in English, neat. They’re good. Actually, all of them are good. Then I realized this: those two would take good care of what I sewed, the clothes I made. The other one especially takes good care of them, since we see them when I go in her house. In the summer, what I made by sewing, parkas, skin boots, furs, fur clothes I never see them in her house in the summer, nothing. She put[s] them away.

You know, she puts them away. In Caucaisian homes, I know that fur [clothes] have places, appropriate [storing] spaces. It’s not hot, not cold, maybe medium. Then their fur is good. You see, when things made of skin hang for years and years, they [?come apart] and can’t be worn anymore. Then when I take this parka, it rips. It [?comes apart]. These days, it’s worse because people are too rich, since things are God’s gifts.

THings in the home are God’s gifts. A woman must take good care of them. Some men do that, you see. Now, I have different sons-in-law. Some of their husbands like to help his wife. Some of my children are like that. And some of their husbands is sedentary. The woman is hot as she works alone, and the man doesn’t help because he’s a man. Because men are supposed to work out there, outside work, and women in the house, inside work. But because people are different, my daughters have different spouses.

I really like some of their wives. Their spouses take care of their spouses. Oh my, that’s really good. We tell them. They are dear. Those who are sedentary like this, how should I say it? These days, they say, "weird." I don’t understand this word, "weird." And it seems one who’s sedintary like that is weird. You see, when I speak, I add in some funny things. This is especially what I want to talk about. These teenagers these days I [am] sorry for them because they don’t do much.

And their mother would do chores, while the daughter here lays down and reads. It’s probably because they’re skilled with books. And some [do] what they call video [games], ding ding ding ding ding ding. He sits for how many, couple hours During the time to work, standing up and helping their mother or father. I am speaking of these, also because they are acquainted with God. It turns out, we must take good care of God’s gifts in the house. Since people back then used to say this, I remember them:

They said that for women, our children, for those of us who are mothers, can copy what we do. It’s true. If I always sew, my daughters can copy me, and start sewing. But these days, this school is too much [of an obstacle]. I will not praise my children. I can use them as examples. Now, I have one child who goes to college. It’s been many years now. [S]he drops out, as they call it. What’s going on with these people? And, you see, [s]he doesn’t know how to live here and work. And [s]he doesn’t want to work, only read.

And using another as an example, it’s okay to use them as examples. One of my children would be disinclined to go to school. He loves to work. The boy loves to work, outside work. I know he liked to pack ice when he was small, never letting me be without water. He was very hard-working. I would have him do this, you know, because he was my only provider. I see him these days, being very knowledgeable about how to work outside. From the beginning, not waiting until he becomes an old man, but one who is active from the beginning As they say in English, he will train himself.

I can also provide an example of that through one of my children. These days, the youngest, the youngest of my many children I depend on them for outside chores. They work like an adult, very knowledgeable. I am speaking about these, using them as examples. We can learn things by what we see with our eyes. You know, my mother wouldn’t clean up, but she was always sewing Because there was nothing to clean up in our house. But I just said that with Cakayak and his spouse, they’d [?] since they were Caucasian. But it wasn’t like here; there were no phones.

Did they have TV’s? I can speak of them, what I learned from them. It seemed that I didn’t learn anything when I went to school because I had so little school, because it was too short. Though I ached to go to school right away, they took husbands at young ages back then. They had me take a husband, and I was at a young age. And when we were going to get a marriage license here

That one who gave out marriage licenses was called a commissioner. Somtimes now, I say, "That person who thought himself important lied." I was 16. I think I was 16. After he said he couldn’t give a marriage license, he wrote on it and gave it. He falsly wrote that I was 18 and gave us the marriage license, raising my age. Now, I go by that, how my age was raised. I’m certainly younger than that. But since they could, you know, prove it with that marriage license, they fixed my documents when my spouse passed away. I speak of that. Those people raised ages back then. These days, they become old women, or a man takes a wife as an old man.

Or a woman takes a husband as an old woman these days. Did our ancestors back then consider it important for a child to get married? Probably because my parents thought it was important, they would also have others encourage me. You see, back then they would choose their [children’s] spouses by examines their potential spouses characters, and how much they work. You know, they wouldn’t choose a dumb man. These days, I should call it, tamian [dumb man]. Some take a husband, and their husband doesn’t know how to do anything. I’m not lying. Am I lying? Or a man takes a wife... There you have it.

I will not keep myself from speaking about these truths. My parents chose a husband for me, and it turned out that my groom to be was a young man who was extremely knowledgeable about how to do things. Nick, Nick O’Nick. And the one I married was apparently very young. Our ages were on the marriage licesnse, Nick was 22, and I was 18 when we married. My mother used to tell me this: I should not be lazy as I work with him. He is our provider. She said my husband will provide for us. My older brother was incapacitated by TB and couldn’t do anything. Because I would also worry about my older brother And if he dies, you see, we used to think of the future. Though I was young in age, I used to think of the future.

Then I would think this: "My husband’s wife, ’Step up,’" because she encouraged me. Then I started thinking like this: I will not, because I loved another. These days, I will say that I loved another. That other one was charming, and I loved him, you see But without having dated my groom to be, I was withdrawn around him. Then at that time, my mother also used to tell me, "He’ll be our provider. Look, our provider can’t do anything." Sometimes, you see... they also used to tell us this: we should sit and ponder for a while. I used to do that.

Sometimes, you see, I would think like this: "If my brother over there dies who used to provide for me, I will regret it." I knew about being worried at 16, as a little girl. I would visit others. You see, I would think like that. Then one day, I agreed. Oh my, it turned out that when married him, I was withdrawn around my spouse. I would go to bed by him fully clothed like this. You know, they undress, put on gowns or something, and go to bed now.

I would go to bed fully clothed by my spouse. You see, at that time, I would be with my family downriver since they were downriver and my spouse was upriver. The village upriver, you know how they split inland. When I went downriver to my family, I wouldn’t want to go back, you know, not want to go home. My mother would start telling me, "Go home already." I would go out when I got tired, and my mental state would be smashed as they say in English. Pity me, I would go upriver to my husband’s. I would start to go in and it would be dead silent. I’d go in and he’d already have gone to bad. I acted so improperly. I had so little proper conduct. Then since I knew that my spouse was laying here I’d lay next to him fully clothed.