The Yupik Language

We have heard that the Yupik language is one of the last of the Alaskan native languages to be retained. Some think the reason is because Yupik people have remained so secluded and isolated on St.Lawrence Island. Still, today, even on St.Lawrence Island, Yupik elders are watching their native tongue fade away. The pastors who lived here 20 years ago had a 2 year old daughter who spent the first years of her life here. She recently visited and is still fluent in the language. The elders tell us that will not be true of Logan and Owen because, as we have discovered ourselves, many of the children in the village do not even know the language themselves. Many adults are being very proactive to only speak Yupik to their children and beginning this year, it is supposed to be really taught in the school again. I wanted to let you view the song, "Jesus Loves Me" in Yupik so that you can get an idea of the difficulty of the language to this English speaker's ear!

Jesus piniqaanga liisimakaqa inqun Bible-et apeghvikaatnga;
mekestaaghhaat ellngan pikii; taakut kayaatut elnga iknaquq.

Chorus: Aa, Jesus piniqaanga, Aa, Jesus piniqaanga, Aa, Jesus piniqaanga,
Bible-et tawaten apeghvikaatnga.

I believe everyone in the village speaks English, but most adults still converse in Yupik. Thanks to a couple who has lived in Gambell for the past 50 years as Wycliffe Translators, we have a songbook that was created in 1983. It contains 43 hymns that were translated into Yupik and the other 110 songs are original Yupik songs written by natives living on St.Lawrence Island. Most Sundays, people from our church will share a song or two with us and some or the songs are also played on the radio station that comes out of Nome.

Logan and Owen, being twins and boys(that's my excuse, anyway!), have been rather delayed in developing their verbal skills. We joked that our fear was that they would begin speaking Yupik rather than English and then we would be in big trouble! For a few months, after first moving here, Owen would only say, "Dobboo" and "Dobbeddee". He said these words very consistently and one day, Jackson, a 12-year old boy who visited often asked what those words meant. I told him that I thought they were Yupik and I also wondered what they meant:) He assured me they were not Yupik words. I assured him they were not English words. Jackson decided that Owen was "Dobboo" and Logan was "Dobbeddee." He has called them by these names ever since. We hadn't seen Jackson for a few months when we saw him again last night. He said, "It's Dobboo and Dobbeddee!" Logan said, "No! Logan and Owen." I guess maybe their English language skills are developing after all:)

Ohhhh Appleseed

Before we eat lunch, we usually sing the Johnny Appleseed Prayer. Logan and Owen LOVE to sing. When they talk, they use many words now, but when they sing, they usually just sing, "Ya,ya,ya" or something of the sort very loudly. Today, I watched them set up a lunch party. They brought in a table and two chairs. They set the table and both sat down. I watched as they both folded their hands, bowed their heads, and sang, "Ohhhhh appleseed...Ohhhhh appleseed....Amen!" They clapped their hands and began "eating." :)

Before I sign off, I just thought of another story. Some girls came to visit today while I was busy hanging our clothes on clotheslines strung all over our living room. One girl said, "You have a dryer." I replied, "It broke." A big smile swept across her face and she said, "Now you have to dry your clothes like us." Fair enough:)

More Photos

Owen was very excited to have a 6 month old in the house. We have a lot of older kids visit, but not many under the age of 8.


I went into the church Sunday afternoon to find Owen "preaching" (so he told me!) and I guess Logan was the praise band??:)



I think it would always be a joyful thing to see your child enjoying his/her first greens, but extra exciting when you live in Savoonga where you don't see many fresh fruits or veggies. These were our first greens from our AeroGarden. After their first bites, both boys said, "Mmmm!" and finished the entire leaf asking for more. Yeah:)...now if only we cold grow mass quantities!! (Note: Apparently greens are more enjoyable with your eyes closed.)

Happy Birthday Mama!

Jacob and the boys helped me celebrate my birthday yesterday. The focal point this year was the cake! I promised some of you that I would post photos of the process. Papa let the boys crack the eggs...he fished out the shells and salvaged the egg off the table! But the final product was beautiful and quite tasty!







Logan and Owen gave me kisses for my birthday:)


We had impromptu visitors after dinner, so I called them my party guests!

First Picnic of the Season

We had a beautiful day on Saturday (upper 30's and sunny!) so we decided to go on a picnic. St. Lawrence Island is privately owned by the Yupik people, so we are only permitted to be in the village and on the roads unless we purchase a pass and are accompanied by a native person. These are pictures from our picnic spot. That is the road behind us that goes out to the dump. We kept being passed by hondas full of families out for Sunday drives! Good fun.


We watch this cliff from our window. This time of year, thousands of birds fly in and out of the cliff everyday to lay their eggs. Soon, people from the village will go out and gather eggs to eat.


The above picture is part of the mountain range and the below picture is of the village from afar.


The boys were very excited to jump in puddles with their "walking sticks". We only lost Owen once, but by the time we drug him through the snow on his bottom, the mud was all cleaned off and he was good as new for the ride home:)

A Long Week?!

"Best Friends"

My favorite mornings are when I awake to Logan and Owen holding hands or hugging each other and saying, "Best friends." If one awakes before the other, it's not long before I hear, "Wake up Brother! Play." And they play together all day. Sometimes it's happy...sometimes not! Sometimes it's constructive...other times mischievious! I find that very often they aren't "Logan" and "Owen". During Christmas, they often introduced themselves as "Mary" and "Joseph". Lately, they are "Sally" and "Mary" (characters from a book we read). Other times they are crocodiles or bears or you name it. The following are photos from the past week of them being together.


Jacob took them for his daily walk and they loved it! How exciting! I have sorely missed having that break in my day. Jacob took them out almost everyday of their lives until moving to Savoonga where weather and roads have permitted it...until now!


The other day, I overheard, "Owen! Help! Help! Owen!" When I peeked around the corner, this is what I saw. And I thought they were ready for bed!:) Later, when I asked Owen who took his pajamas off, he told me, "Brother did it." So, you can see, they enjoy helping one another!


Me: "How many cookies do you want Logan?"
Logan: "1,2,3,4,FIVE!"


Me: "That's way too many cookies! How many cookies do you want Owen?"
Owen: "10,10,10,10,TEN!"

I guess there's nothing wrong with trying!


This morning, I caught Logan pouring water into the "dog bowl" so that "his dog" could have a drink. (Fortunately, we don't have a dog, and the bowl that Owen was lapping out of was fresh out of the kitchen cupboard!)