Dinner with Leroy Oenga Jr. and family, part 2 of 7: his boys come out and dance

Both Leroy and wife Clara are from Point Hope and keep their ties to the village strong. Leroy put on a DVD of the 1993 Kivgiq and soon The Tikigaq Traditional Dancers of Point Hope were dancing on the screen. I had been there and had photographed it, but as we watched Tikigaq dance Leroy told me things about what they were doing I had not known.

His boys, Gevin Ryan Tigluk and Devean Bryan Tingook, heard the drumming and singing, came over and performed one dance with Tikigaq of 1993, their relatives and ancestors. These were the people and this was the dance group Leroy himself learned to drum, sing, and dance with, who he went to Kivgig with. In fact, I got to see him dancing with them on the screen, looking very much like his sons do now.

Text added at 10:09 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 57 and counting.

Dinner with Leroy Oenga Jr. and family, part 1 of 7: When you hear the traditional Iñupiat drum, you hear the sound of the bowhead whale

On Thursday, those who read my blog met Leroy Oenga Jr. and learned how his mother refused to pull the plug on him when the doctors told her it was time, but prayed and sang hymns for him instead. Leroy invited me over for dinner with his family this afternoon. He had heard his mother, Caroline Cannon, call me, "my brother," so now he calls me "uncle" and I call him "nephew," and her, "sister." Leroy is a Dallas Cowboys fan and was catching up on the day's football scores when I arrived.

Very shortly, he pulled out a new drum Joe Sage had made for him. The skin cover came from the liver membrane of a bowhead whale landed this fall by Edward Itta and crew. When you hear Iñupiat people singing and dancing to the beat of traditional drums made in this way you literally hear the sound of the bowhead whale. 

Uiñiq is trickling in to the Slope

It has taken longer than I had hoped, but Uiñiq is finally trickling into the villages of the North Slope. The US Post Office is slowly putting it into mail boxes. They have yet to deliver it to all the villages, but the process has begun. It should be done before too long - but don't be surprised if this "not too long" is still another week or maybe even two. When it comes to delivering magazine rate mail to Slope villages, the Post Office can be v--e--r--y s--l--o--w - especially to Barrow. Often Barrow is the last Slope community to receive Uiñiq in the mail.

There are copies in Barrow and because of this, I have received a number of inquiries from concerned residents wondering why they had not received theirs and asking how they could get one. I have also received some requests from former residents of the North Slope asking how they could get a copy. Former residents of the North Slope (once a part of the North Slope, always a part of the North Slope) can call Noe Texiera at 907 852-0200, request one and she will send it to you.

I would like to thank North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower for making this possible and those on her staff who worked to make it happen. I kind of hate to single anyone out, because they number too many and I will leave names out; probably some I"m not even aware of. I must thank Kathy Itta, my contract manager, and Noe, my primary liason, Richard Camillieri - Chief Advisor to the Mayor and Jack Frantz who worked closely with Richard and did what to me is the mystifying, impossible task of working through all the legalities to put the contract in order. Fred Parady has moved elsewhere in the Borough but helped initiate the process. My friend, Roy Ahmaogak, along with his father Savik and family, hosted me in Barrow.

As I wanted to follow one village through its final preparations, I began the Kivgiq 2013 season in Nuiqsut, where I was hosted by Kuukpik Corporation under the direction of Isaac Nukapigak and with the support of Joe Nukpapigak, Bernice Kaigelak, Nellie Nukapigak and all the staff, with full cooperation and assistance from the Uyaġaġviŋmiut and Kuukpikmiut dance groups, led by John Ipalook and Laura Kunaknana.

Then, of course, there were the 22 dance groups hailing from all eight villages of the North Slope Borough and beyond, from Aklavik in the Northwest Territories down to Kivilina and Nome, current home of the King Island people. Such strong spirit these dancers, singers and drummers brought! Such powerful energy! Such beauty performed with magnificent skill! What a privilege it was to be there, to witness, to participate.

Anyone who doubts the continuing power, strength, warmth, beauty and endurance of Iñupiat culture in this modern, swiftly changing and ever-threatening time need only to witness Kivgiq. Along with opportunity, the challenges this world has brought and continues to bring to the people of the Far North are numerous and great, the trials often hard and bitter, the tears many, but at the core there is laughter, strength, resilience and perseverance - manifest so beautifully in the dance.

Square dance in Nuiqsut, fiddle and guitar music provided by Canadians

Along with their traditional drums, songs and dances, the folks from Aklavik, Yukon Territory, brought a fiddle and guitars and staged a wild square dance. That's Andrew Gordon on the guitar and James Rogers on the fiddle. They play fast and good...

...and everybody had fun. Young people...

Angus and Alexander of Aklavik, Yukon Territory, play at the great square dance at Kuukpik's 40th anniversary celebration for Nuiqsut.

...and older people, too... Everybody had fun...

I should probably add... The entire celebration was alcohol and drug free. Not only was it fun, but everybody could remember it afterwards...

...those empty bottles and cans... water and juice...

...it was just a happy night...