Faith, Food, and Family in a Yupik Whaling Community

Appendix

328 Appendix a. selection from paul silook’s 1930 diary (box 3, henry bascom collins collection 1982) (Winter whaling ceremonies are italicized.) Jan. 15—Clear in the evening. During the night I went to Iyaketan which he sings. Jan. 31 Friday—N. clear. Dick Ung. prepare to have a moon worship and he will serve to-morrow by the rising of the sun. During the day I shot a walrus but wounded it. Frank Iyek caught 1 fox. Feb. 2 Sun.—N. Part clear and part cloudy. Sleet in the morning Yoghok held a moon worship which he prepare yesterday. Booshu prepared to have moon worship to-morrow morning. Wallace killed 1 walrus and several men killed seals. Tatoowi & Nunraela arrived from Camp Collier. Feb. 3 Mon.—N. high wind sleet. Soonog, Bolowon & Nup each caught 1 fox. Carl killed 1 mukluk. Booshu held a moon worship. Koonooku prepare to have one. Feb. 4 Tues.—N. clear, sleet in the morning, clear up in the evening. Womkon & Chester each caught a fox. Several men killed seals. We prepare to have moon worship tomorrow morning. Koonooku held one this morning. Feb. 17 Monday—N. clear all day. Womkon prepare to have dancing ceremony which they have every year. Andrew & Ernest each caught a fox. Feb. 18 Tues.—N. clear all day the wind is not so high. Womkon is having a dancing worship. No body go hunt. Feb. 25 Tues. 2 p.m. 70, 4 l.b. 8 p., N. Clear.12 Oscar killed 3 seals. Womkon & 1. In these entries, “1 b” means “number of seal or kerosene oil lamps burning”; “8 p” indicates how many people were in the house; two-digit numbers show the house temperature inside of the aagra. his people came to sing at 2:p.m. 3:p.m. 88, 3 l.b. 26 p. some dances. N. cloudy. They all leave out at 5: p.m., Observe at 6:p.m. 84 Feb. 27 Thurs. 82, 4 l.b. 11 p. S.E. cloudy and snowing all day. Womkon went to sing in Koonooku’s house & Dicks Feb. 28 Fri 78—4 l.b. 11 p. N.E. cloudy & snow. Yavoghseuk prepare to have a moon worship—I killed 1 seal. Lost 1 mukluk & 1 walrus. They day we get our traps from its places. March 1 Sat. 6 p.m. 72—4 l./b. 11 p. N. high wind cloudy & snowing all day. Yav. held a moon worship.Yav. held a moon worship. March 2 Sun. 6 p.m. 74—4 l.b. 10 p. N.E. low wind part clear & part cloudy. Few men killed seals. some went to get their traps Andrew caught 1 fox. Lawrence prepare to have moon worship. March 3 Mon. 6 p.m. 74—4 l.b. 11 p. N.E. high wind cloudy. It was clear in the morning. Lawrence held a moon worship. Lloyd & Henry each caught 1 fox. Arrival of Pungowiyi, Noongwook, Penin, Annogiyok, Rookok & Mr. Sam Troutman & Marvin from Seevoongu. March 5 Wed 74—4 l.b. 11 p. N. clear but high wind. The Seevoongu men did not leave. Several men killed seals on the beach. I killed 1 seal.—Every evening the young boys and girls having tag between Jimmie’s old house and James’ house. b. traditional whaling ceremonies from henry collins’ notebooks (box 4, ibid.) In 1928, when Henry Collins was excavating Punuk Islands’ dwellings and other sites, he kept both a diary and a notebook filled with stories told him by Paul Silook, James Aningayou, and others. He was very curious about whaling as were all of the men who came to conduct research on the island. Below are several pages from his “Ethnology” notebooks which he recorded from Silook between 1928 and 1931: B.1. Jimmie Otiohok, a member of Imaremkeit tribe made a trip to Indian Point [Chaplino], Siberia, a week before the Northland arrived to get a certain kind of plant needed by his brother Burscha [Booshu [or Busaa}—Silook’s relative and the man who allowed Geist to participate in his ceremonies], for a ceremony, a “whale worship” in commemoration of the whale he (B) had killed some weeks before. The Imaremkits claim to have come from Indian Point and whenever one of them kills a whale he must have for the ceremony that follows this particular plant used by Appendix 329 Appendix 330 his forefathers. The Imaremkit people say they...