This bilingual volume focuses on the teachings, experiences, and practical wisdom of expert Native orators as they instruct a younger generation about their place in the world. In carefully crafted presentations, Yup’ik elders speak about their “rules for right living”—values, beliefs, and practices—which illuminate the enduring and still-relevant foundations of their culture today. While the companion volume, Wise Words of the Yup’ik Peopleweaves together hundreds of statements by Yup’ik elders on the values that guide human relationships, Yup’ik Words of Wisdom, highlights the words of expert orators and focuses on key conversations that took place among elders and younger community members as the elders presented their perspectives on the moral underpinnings of Yup’ik social relations.
The orators in this volume—including Frank Andrew from Kwigillingok, David Martin from Kipnuk, and Nelson Island elders Paul John and Thersea Moses—were raised in isolated Yup’ik communities in Alaska and were educated much like their parents and grandparents.
Translated, edited, and organized for a general audience, this bilingual edition is for those who want to know not only what the elders have to say but also how they say it. A new introduction explores this book’s impact over the past decade.
Recenzijos
Significant and timely. . . . Wise Words of the Yupik People and Yupik Words of Wisdom together honor the richness of oral tradition among Alaska Natives while addressing a broader audience of the next generation of Yupik people, scholars of various disciplines, and policymakers alike.-Andrea D. Robertson, Pacific Northwest Quarterly [ Yupik Words of Wisdom] will prove to be a valuable record of Yupik tradition and knowledge not only for young people who might want to spend a few minutes reading, but also for scholars of oral history in the future.-Polar Record
Valuable. . . . These texts are important vehicles for both the preservation and use of Yupik traditional knowledge for self-determination.-CHOICE
Introduction to the New Bison Books Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Yupik Transcription and Translation
List of Yupik Contributors
1. Tegganret Qalartellruut Ayagyuat-llu Niicugniluteng
Elders Spoke and Young People Listened
2. Umyuaq Tuknilria
A Powerful Mind
3. Qanruyutet-gguq Egelrutaakut
They Say the Qanruyutet Guide Our Lives
4. Angayuqat Mikelnguut-llu
Parents and Children
5. Angutet Arnat-llu
Men and Women
6. Ilameggnek Tukuulriit
Those Who Are Rich in Relatives
7. Tuqluucaraq
The Way of Addressing Ones Relatives
8. Eyagyarat
Abstinence Practices
9. Tuarpiaq Yuuyaraat Yupiit Teguqaqsi
Catching the Yupik Way of Life
Glossary
Tuqluutet: Yupik Kinship and Relational Terms
Ann Fienup-Riordan is an independent scholar. She is the author and editor of many books, including Hunting Tradition in a Changing World: Yupik Lives in Alaska Today and Wise Words of the Yupik People: We Talk to You because We Love You, New Edition (Nebraska, 2018). Alice Rearden is a Yupik speaker and leading translator for the Calista Elders Council.
