Monday, November 26, 2007

Tech 429 Kivalina Project - Slide Show

Finally got my slide show posted. Took forever, but thank God it's done. If you want to view the notes on the slide show, please click on the photo and you can view the notes on the right side. This is a plain jane show, no music, no narration, but good ole notes. Enjoy.

Tech 429 Slide show?

Here's where I posted my slide show, I think. Enjoy.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Friday, November 23, 2007

ED 429 Flickr Slide

My slide show is at this URL. I lied that time. It was no where to be found. It wasn't even posted because there was something wrong and it didn't show on my blogspot. Anyways, it's up now and you have no need for this URL whatever this meant.

http://www.flickr.com/slideShow

Sorry if I misled all of you.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Student Subsistence Activities

Being that Kivalina is a whaling community, all family members do their share of work on the crew. Students who are children of a captain have not choice but to be on the crew and/or learn as the go. The boys are called boyers, they have to get ice, snow, chop wood, take thermos bottles back and forth to the boat from camp, etc. Professionally, they'd earn the title of expeditor. After several years of being boyers, than they are promoted to deck hand so to speak. They get to go in the boat and become a crew member. If they get lucky after being a member in the boat, than maybe they'll get a chance to become the one who gets to shoot the whale gun and/or harpoon. After they've been there and done that, maybe they get promoted to co-captain. If they're really really lucky, than maybe they get to be the captain of the crew. Most likely in their dreams.

The students, be it boy or girl, learn the traditional hunting ways of the community. Parents take children hunting, fishing, berry picking, egging, and/or whaling. Students get to know the traditional hunting areas. They get to learn the weather conditions. They tell when it will become stormy just by looking at clouds. All these traditions have been passed on from generation to generation.

Girls help cook, wash dishes, babysit, etc. Girls also learn a way of preparing and/or storing wild game. They get to learn how to prepare skins for drying for use as parkas, mukluks, hunting equipment such as pouches, pokes, soles, etc. If they're lucky to have an elder in a home, than they really, really, learn the traditional ways of measuring by use of a hand, elbow, use of one size string, etc. By learning all these skills, than they are able to make traditional clothing for use, show, or to subsidize the family's income.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Community Project 1st Draft

First draft of the Community Project - Kivalina.

Kivalina is located in the Northwest Arctic approximately 80 air miles from the main hub, Kotzebue. Its location sits on a 8 mile barrier reef between the Chukchi Sea and the Kivalina River. Our village is the only whaling community in the Northwest Arctic Borough where people hunt the bowhead whale. The school was established in 1909 and there are approximately 127 students today. The U.S. Post Office was established in 1940, airstrip was built in 1960, and the City was incorporated in 1969. The Native Village is a federally recognized tribe which consists of approximately 97% Alaska Native. The community depends mainly on subsistence, consisting of whale, caribou, bearded seal, and fish. Economically, majority of the residents of Kivalina depend on Public Assistance even tho the largest zinc mine is in its back yard. Kivalina people live in third world conditions, example, no running water, no sewer, and even now, the honey buckets are not in museums yet.

In Kivalina there are water storage tanks, a 700,000 gallon tank and another that holds 500,000 gallons which are filled once a year. Toward the end of the school year the tanks will be closed to the public in order for the school to have running water for the duration of the school year. If there is any water left, than the tanks are opened back up for the public's use. Kivalina averages about 57 inches of snow, at times homes are buried under snow where people have to be dug out from their houses. The health facilities consist of a clinic which is serviced by Maniilaq Association. In case of emergencies, people are flown out of Kivalina and taken to the Maniilaq Health Hospital for treatment. There is no local public safety so the community is highly dependent on their own relatives to handle public safety issues and also dependent on the Alaska State Troopers, providing they are not busy in the other communities.

Erosion on both sides of the beaches are threatening people and their homes. This past year a three million dollar sea wall was built to protect the beach front, but that didn't stop mother nature from doing more damage. At thepresent time, the community is looking to relocate to another site which is more safe and that will provide growth. The present location has no room from expansion. No new houses can be built, so some homes have approximately 17 to 20 occupants.