Identifying & explaining
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Making
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Design
2002
Identifying & explaining
John Phillip, Sr.: Tua-i-w’ qanernarianga. Nalqigcugyaaqaqa maavet ciumek taisqumalqa Washington D.C.-meng wangnek tailriarunrilama makut taugaam pitekluki wani ciuliamta wani akluit wallu atulallrit nalqigcessqelluki wangkutnun taivkaitkut makut tua pitekluki maa-i taigukuk. Makut-llu nalluvkenaki akallat makut ilait nalluvkenaki wiinga wani.
(Then it’s time for me to speak. I first want to explain that I was asked to come here to Washington D.C. because of these implements and clothing that our ancestors once used. They’ve asked us to come here. Because of these we have come here. And these are known to me. Some of these old things here are known to me.)
Atulallruluuki-llu ilait makut-llu qantat. Qantangqellruunga-llu wii makucimek. Tuaten pitaluku man’ qanrutkaqa.
Quyanaqvaa-lli tuaten. Mana-w’ tua-i elpeci wangkutnun taringyullra tayima ellaita ukut ikayungyaqluki wani-w’ matumek piukut atunem.
Wangkuta-llu ikayuusqumalaryaaqluta matumek wangkuta yuuyaramtenek. Makut-llu taringesqumaluki wangkuta yuuyara . . . yugni atuuqengaput.
(I used some of them, also these bowls. I had my own bowl like this. That is all I had to say about that. I am very thankful for that. And then this, you want to better understand these things from us and some of us have helped here on these same ones. We also want your help with these things on our way of life. We want you to understand our way of living and these . . . what people used in the past.)
Una qantaq wani-wa muragauguq. Piliaruluni mimernaq. Mana-w’ pertaq. Makut maa-i ciuliamta piliaqelallrit qantat makut qasgimi caliaqaluki, cali calivimegni.
(This here is a wooden bowl. It was made from a tree stump. This part is bent wood. These here, our ancestors worked on them in their men’s house, also their workshop.)
Neva Rivers: Qantangqellrukut-llu wangkuta tamalkumta makucineng. Tangrerranarqenrituq una qantaq. Elpengua muraganeng waten qantangqetullinilriakut engelqerramteneng. Aataput angturpagneng, aanaput mikellritneng, anngamteneng ayagluta tamalkumta qantangqerrluta.
(We all had bowls like these. This bowl is recognizable. When I became aware of life we already had wooden bowls like this just our size. Our dad had a large bowl, our mom had a smaller sized one and beginning from our oldest brother we all had bowls.)
Yuum-llu atuyuinaku waten qantaput taugaam wangkuta pitatekluku. Neqliuruput tava. Amllertaciatun eknaurait. Pitalqeggiluku wangkuta aqsillerkarput nalluvkenaku. Neqput nerciqaput makuneng qancirluta.
Cimirnariaqan tauna qantaq uyuraanun engelqayagutaqaku pikevkaraqluku allameng-ll’ angenraneng pililuku.
(And no other person used it, our bowl like this, it was sized just right for us. They served our food there. They put in enough to fill it. They knew the exact amount that would fill our stomachs. We ate our food using this kind of bowl. When it is time to change it that bowl is given to a younger sibling who it is the right size for and a different one, a bigger one is made.)
Qantaput makut kenugquratulqaput. Eruriyuitellrukut qantaneng. Nernermeng taqaqamta neqput nangellruaqamteki tekemteneng aturluta iliit makut puyallerkait piluki. Kenugciskumteki puyaciqngata. Eruriurayuitellrukut. Caqapiaraqameng taugaam qantat avurluki atuqataraqamegteki camun imumun picaqekngamegnun atuqataraqamegteki tam’ erutulqait.
(We always made our bowls look nice. We never washed bowls. When we were done eating, we used our index finger to clean these out so that it won’t get rancid.
We tried to clean them, because they will get rancid. We didn’t wash dishes all the time. Only once in a while they would gather the bowls and wash them, especially when they were going to eat their favorite meal they would wash them.)
Ayuqevkenateng akuyvingqerrluteng. Akutessuutengqerrluteng angelrianeng. Makut angenritneng. Tumnaruarneng. Tumnapaarrluut-llu tamakut angturpiit waten cal’ ayuqluteng. Angluteng taugaam. Kalukarrsuutekluki. Akutameng tauna tua imirarkauluku neqsuyugssuutekluku qantaq. Yuum-llu allam aturngaunaki wangkuta taugaam.
(They were different and one was for mixing Eskimo ice cream. They had a large one for mixing Eskimo ice cream. They were larger than these. They were large oval wooden bowls. Those largest oval wooden bowls also looked like these. But they were large. They used them for feasts. They used that bowl for food and filled it with Eskimo ice cream.)
Making
Neva Rivers: Qancilrianeng tangtullruunga taqumavkenateng taugaam kisianeng piaqluteng akulikun qaygimi itraqama makut apa’rrlugaurtellriit. Teggenret caliaricunateng qanciluteng ilait piaqluteng. Ilait-ll’ caneng keputerluteng tayim’ cakiurluteng-llu pillrit nallutulqanka taugaam makut tangellritgun elirqumallrit-ggun tangraqanka qantat.
(When I walked into the middle of the men’s house, I used to see bowls being made by elderly men, and some would not be completed. Elders had work to do and some would be making bowls. Some would use a kind of adze to prepare to make something, but I didn’t know what they were going to make. I only saw the cut pieces for the bowls.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Cali wani-wa wangkuta wani qasgiiruqanemtenek wani tamakut tamaa-i tamakut makunek caliviullruut. Qasgiiruqanemtenek elitnaurvingluteng yuut tuaggun wani amllermeng wani makut wani piciryarait augarluteng.
We no longer have the men’s house. That was the workshop for those kinds of things. Since we have no more men’s houses but replaced them with schools, that took away many traditions.)
Qasgiirucameng elitnauristeput akallat nangluteng. Tamaa-i wani nani tamatum arcaqerluki maa-i ici-w’ makut alaicugngallruyaqut-llu wani qasgingqerkata waten makut calivillratggun. Makut yuaryaraugut special-aanek makunek qantanek-llu piliqatarqameng yuarluteng teguqaulluteng piciatun piiyuitut. Taugaam yuarluteng pikarnilrianek makulilartut. Canek-wa tua-i makuunrilengraata allat pissuuteteng tuaten ayuqluki pingnaquuteklallruit. Cat atuurkat yuarluteng taugaam pikarnilrianek pilitullruluteng.
(Since there are no more men’s houses, there are no more elderly instructors. At the time when those things were available and visible, there was a men’s house that was a workshop for making those items. They looked for a special type of wood to make these bowls.
They didn’t use just any type of wood to make a bowl. But they looked for good ones to make these. Even if it’s not this carved wood, they would try to use different things like that. But they would look for good strong wood to make things.)
Joan Hamilton: Significant to him is the men’s house—what we call the men’s house, more like community house—since that is no longer in place, they are no longer able to teach as they used to, and that’s where they used to make things in a communal setting, in the men’s house. In that house would be young and up to the oldest man there, and so you’d have all these teachers to teach you, guide you on how to do it better. And to him, the loss of men’s house signifies that loss.
Design
Joan Hamilton: Alngaami?
(What about the symbol?)
John Phillip, Sr.: Qaralia-w’ una wani tuntunguaq.
Una aipaa cauciitaqa taugaam tuntuuguaq.
(This design here [on bowl E038644] is a caribou. I don’t know what the other one is, but this one is a caribou.)
Joan Hamilton: Kenekngamiu tava tuaten qaralillrua, wallu-qaa nallunailkutaa-qaa?
(Did he make that design because he liked it or as an insignia?)
John Phillip, Sr.: Ilait wani qaralimegnek nunat kingunermegni nunat qaralingqelartut waten ayuqenrilngurnek. Nunat, nunami tuani wani qaralingqerraqluteng tuaten ayuqellriamek. Wangkuta-llu cenarmiuni allakamta cal’ qaralirluta.
(Some have designs from their home villages that are different. Villages, they have designs like that in their village. We from the lower coast [(Kuskokwim River delta)] have different designs.)
Neva Rivers: Alngagnqerrluteng. Ayuqenrilngurneng alngangqetuut.
Ilait kanaggun nayiruaneng. Augayui. Augaqainauvkenateng eruyuilameng. Tamakut minguit makut taqeqapigluku. Qakircenaku taqsuitait. Waterrlainaq qaralirluku uitermeng citerluku-llu pituat.
(They had symbols. They always have different symbols. Some had ringed seals at the bottom. They never came off. They couldn’t come off, because they weren’t washed. Those paintings made these complete. They never finished them looking plain. They always colored them with red ocher, and then they put designs.)
Joan Hamilton: Nallunailkutaami?
(What about an insignia?)
Neva Rivers: Nallunailkutangqerrsuitellruuq wii qantaqa. Waten tua qaraliinani pingqetullruuq. Caqapigtaqameng taugaam ilait qantat waten qaralingqetullruut. Auggluki augmeng mana avulukuli. Aumameng-llu ciqumvikluku ilakluku uqirluku tavaten pituat.
Taqautiin atuyuitaat. Kinenqegcaaraaqata neptenqegcaaraaqata taugaam pituit. Manigcilngurmeng tangyuitua, waten taugaam ilungqerrlainalrianek.
(My bowl didn’t have an insignia. It didn’t have decorations like this. But once in a while some bowls had decorations like this. They used blood, they added blood to this. Also leftover ember is crumbled and oil is put in it they say. It isn’t used as soon as it is completed. They use them only after it has adhered and is completely dried. I never saw flat ones, only the ones that have the insides like this.)
Joan Hamilton: She said that she thinks the best kind of paint to use for something like this was something that had like blood mixture in it because it adheres to the wood itself and lasts longer.
This painted wooden dish, which has a carved bottom and bentwood rim, is from the old village of Nulukhtulogumut on Nelson Island in the Yukon-Kuskowim Delta area. Smithsonian collector Edward W. Nelson recorded that the painted figures were mythological figures with caribou heads.
Bentwood dishes for serving, storing, eating, and cooking food were once common items in Yup’ik and Cup’ik communities. Everyone had a personal eating bowl, larger for adults and smaller for children. A woman served her family’s food in their dwelling house, but only the women, girls, and youngest boys ate there. Men and older boys ate in the qasgiq [men’s community house], receiving meals brought by their wives, daughters, or sisters. The women waited until the men had finished and then took the eating dishes home. Annie Blue of Togiak said that a woman treated a man’s bowl with great respect and never picked it up with palms facing down, because “it was said that the future catch of the man was being covered” and as a result he would lose his ability to bring home game.
Men made dishes in the qasgiq, from driftwood pieces they collected during summer. Making new dishes was part of preparing for Nakaciuryaraq, the Bladder Festival, an important winter ceremony when seals were honored and their souls returned to the sea.
Edward Curtis, writing about Nunivak Island in 1927, described how the dishes were produced. During the first night of Bladder Festival preparations, men shaped rim pieces for the dishes while they took a sweat-bath in the qasgiq. They covered the wood with wet moss, placed hot stones all around, and steamed it until it could be bent around and the ends sewn together. On the second night, they carved solid wood bottoms for the dishes and fastened them to the rims with seal-blood glue. On the third night, they painted images inside the bowls. Curtis wrote that “these symbols, which are handed down from eldest son to eldest son with the family names, are derived from some great deed done in the past at the time when the family name originated, and they also represent animal, bird, and fish spirit-powers.”
The bowl spirits were often ones with which a man had a special relationship for hunting. Black paint was made from charcoal, gunpowder, or coal; the red from red ocher, both mixed with seal blood.
Food dishes were central to Qaariitaaq—the Asking Festival—and Aaniryaraq, two community events that took place in the days before the Bladder Festival. During Qaariitaaq, men led children with painted faces and bodies around to each house in the village, entering noisily to demand that the women fill their old dishes with choice foods including dried fish, walrus meat, and akutaq [“Eskimo ice cream,” a mixture of berries, sugar, seal oil, shortening, fish, meat, etc.]. During Aaniryaraq, new dishes were filled and carried to the qasgiq. This ritual gathering of food, and the beauty of the newly made bowls, were intended to please the seals and to “clear the path” between the village and the spirit world.
Deg Hit’an Athabascans, known for their craftsmanship in wood, made and traded bentwood dishes to Yup’ik communities on Norton Sound, the lower Yukon River, and other areas.
On Nunivak Island, one bowl traded for a whole fox or bearded seal skin.
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