Public Radio for Alaska's Bristol Bay
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

An afternoon of Yup’ik dancing celebrates community and culture

On a windy Saturday this month, ten women gathered in the tundra for the Women’s and Two Spirit Dancing Circle, organized by Dillingham resident Maria Dosal.

These women, along with their young children and handmade Yup’ik drums, gathered on the tundra near Vortec for an afternoon of dancing. Maria Dosal, who’s Unangax̂, brought her one-year-old child, Hazel, with her. In the flier for the event, she described the event as a way to “celebrate culture, summer’s bounty, and community.”

Tish Olson stood next to a bluetooth speaker on the ground. It played Pamyua’s version of Tarvarnauramken, a Yup’ik blessing song about tundra tea that became a viral dance video at the start of the pandemic. She talked through the movements, teaching the women circled around her. They raised their arms above their heads and gently brushed them down through the air.

“It's about Ayuq,” she said. “It’s tundra tea, or Labrador tea, and using Ayuq to bless hunters and gatherers before they go out on the land in the water.”

Dosal said she had wanted to do this for a while.

“Since becoming a mother I've been really feeling like I need to get in touch with my roots and my culture more,” she said. “And so I've been just searching for a way to get outside and move my body. And this seemed like the way to get outside and dance on the tundra. I mean, what more can you ask for right now?”

Neither Olson nor Dosal are Yup’ik, but Dosal used a construction metaphor to describe the way the Unangax̂ and Yup’ik peoples hold each other up.

“Have you heard of the term sistering in construction, where there's beams that help with each other up? I feel like the Yup’ik people here are really proud of their culture and they help me as an Unangax̂ stand taller and more proud. And so they help sister me,” she said.

Olson, who’s also Unangax̂, grew up learning Yup’ik dances at the elementary school in Dillingham and now teaches them herself at the middle/high school. She said that dancing out on the tundra is a different feeling than being in front of an audience.

“I feel super relaxed,” she reflected. “I usually get stressed out when you're doing an actual performance, but being out here on the tundra, it was really, really nice. Like usually you're either busy with your kids and kind of a little bit stressed, have to get here and there. But being out here and being able to dance with other people out here on the land and on the tundra was so relaxing. And I don't know, I got goosebumps while I was dancing.”

Over the course of an hour, Olson and another woman led several dances, including the Akutaq song, which honored the tundra’s bounty, and Irpit Pingayun, a song about the power of the mind and banishing bad thoughts. Tish learned both of these dances from community elder Sophie Woods.

The kids explored nearby, playing and picking berries in front of a mountain backdrop. Sunshine swept across the tundra in waves, and the wind was strong enough to keep bugs away. Dosal described being out on the tundra as rejuvenating.

“I feel like nothing else in the world matters and all that we can focus on is just the movements and the happiness from the endorphins that are flowing through our souls.”

The afternoon ended with Cauyaqa Nauwa, which means “Where’s my drum,” in English. The knowledge from this song and dance passed on to the group’s leader from a local community member. Dosal said she wants this to be a recurring event and hopes that more Yup’ik people will join to dance and teach the group.

Anyone interested in joining future dance circles can contact Maria Dosal at (907) 532-7004, maria.l.dosal@gmail.com, or message her on Instagram at @mariamarialiliana.

Get in touch with the author at Katherine@kdlg.org or at (907) 842-2200.

Katherine is covering local stories in Dillingham and the Bristol Bay area for the summer of 2022, and she's excited to be in Alaska for the first time. She's passionate about all forms of storytelling, and she recently graduated from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, a 15-week intensive in radio and podcast production. When not working on stories or hosting the morning news, Katherine enjoys cooking, reading, and going on aimless walks. She'll pet any dog that wants attention.