Yupiit Dance Headdress

My Ending

2009-11-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

I have had a great experience working with my object that I have chosen, the Yupiit Dance Headdress. I have learned so many new things that I for a fact would never know if I had never chosen it, let alone taken this class. Working with my object, I have made a strong connection with it because I also wear headdresses while dancing. Although my dance is Tahitian dancing, they do have many similarities that I have shared on my bloggs.

I highly enjoyed this experience, and although I am not Alaska Native I can see how much culture means to them. I have great respect for all the cultures, and I hope that it continues on to younger generations forever! This is now my last blog; I hope everyone enjoyed reading all of them. Thank you!

Modern Tahitian Dancing

2009-11-19T03:04:00.000-08:00

Kcocadiz. Jan. 21 2009. Tahitian Dancing ote'a.Retrieved Nov. 18 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QahgraRrYs.

As you can see this is a Tahitian dance performance. Simliar to the Yupik Dancing, the rhythm is fast, exciting, and they move to the beat of a dance. Headdress are worn at all times, along with shells around the neck, and raffia around the hips. Ote'a means "the opening" which is always done first obviously because you are opening up the performance or show. If you have ever been to a luau, you would notice they tend to do tahitian first. As you can see, there are many similaries between cultures.

Modern Yupik Dance

2009-11-19T02:41:00.000-08:00

Angalga. April 20, 2008. New Yupik Dance. Retrieved November 18, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHNFxZEwPo.

This is a video of Yupik dancing. What is nice about this video is that it shows a younger generation continuing the culture. From my guesstimate, I think they modernized it because I noticed dance moves from American moves like the "Young Joc move". Nevertheless, they still keep the tradition by hearing headdresses and using other such objects. The rhythm is very fast, exciting, and they dance to the beat of a drum. I personally have never seen a performance by Yupik dancers but I think I would really enjoy it.

One More Yup'ik Headdress

2009-11-17T01:29:00.000-08:00

Alaska Native Collections Sharing the Knowledge. (2002). Retrieved 17 November 2009. Smithsonian Institution. http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=220.

This website basically shows a nasqurrun from the Yup'ik culture. This type of headdress was worn by men who were the song leaders during kevgik (Messenger Feast). It goes further in depth to explain what it is made out of and then there are comments on the bottom of people guessing what kind of material and animal goes with what part of the headdress. This nasqurrun is now displayed at the National Musuem of Natural History.

The Passion

2009-11-17T00:46:00.000-08:00

Speaking for all cultures who dance, I believe that everyone has a passion behind the movements. I don't think someone can truly go through dancing without having a special feeling within, connecting with the story one dances. Like the Yupiit dancers, they really have a connection with the animal spirits. By dancing, they show great appreciation to the animals because they really believe that by doing so, it will bring them good luck. This is PASSION. During the competition period I have every year, it gets very stressful, yet in the end its not about winning, its about showing "aloha". By this I mean showing our love, and passion toward the people or things we dance about, and it usually gets a little emotional. Dancing is so much more than movements, beats, and objects. There is a strong meaning all around, and only a true dancer can feel and understand that.

Compare and Contrast

2009-11-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

As I talked earlier about Yup'ik dancing and how they tell their stories through their motions, and garment; That brings me to compare and contrast their dance with Hawaiian Dance, something that I have been doing for over 10 years. First off, they both tell stories through their motions and garment. For example, as you can see in this picture of me, I am talking about Maui, one of Hawaii's islands. One will know this information because I am wearing pink, the color that represents Maui. Another example is if I were talking about a flower, pua, I would have extended my arm, palm up, and have my fingers come together to make it look like a flower. In this picture of me I am thinking about something, obviously because my finger is pointing at my head.

Just like in Yup'ik dancing, hula dancing talks about several different subjects including: royality, gods, and relationships. In Yup'ik culture, they tend to give much respect to animals, and with this, they dance about them. In Hawaiian culture, we give our respect to our past kings and queens, but even to our Gods. One commonly known goddess is Pele, the goddess of fire! She represents a valcano and is known for being a creator and destroyer. I have danced about her a couple of times, and when I dance about her I wear black and red with my hair long, curly, and volumized just like Pele. It is very intense dancing about Pele, because she is so powerful! The link below is when I competed last year at a Hula competition. My group and I dance about Pele in this hula number.

PELE DANCE

Alaska Native Heritage Center Museum

2009-11-15T17:38:00.000-08:00

Generation- Clik (2008). Alaska Native Heritage Center Yup'ik & Cup'ik. Novemeber 14, 2009. http://www.alaskanative.net/en/main_nav/exhibits_collection/yup-ik/.

This website shows a Yup'ik headdress displayed at the Alaska Native Heritage Center where valuable tools and such objects are showcased. Although the headdress has an unknown creator, it is very detailed, consisting of seal skin, wolerine, muskrat, fabric, beads, thread, and two metal pins. The description paragraph states more information on what it is made out of and who wears this specific headdress.

Continuing Yup'ik Dancing for the Future

2009-11-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Yup'ik dancing today, known as the Inviting- in, has relatively stayed the same throughout all the years of dancing, even with the stop of dancing because of the missionaries. Dancing is a part of the Yup'ik culture and it will be carried on throughout the years. How is this? There are and have been different ways the dancing has been carried on. Older generations, elders have tried to pass their ancient dance heritage by teaching the next generation. For example, Nick Charles and his wife with their workshops. Younger generations also sign up for costume classes at high schools, practice the dance, and even travel to different places to represent not only their culture but their community. There are also Yup'ik dance festivals that are held yearly, and Yup'ik dancing is held here at UAA as well. While dancing, dancers still use the traditional outfits and objects like fans and headdress, and they use sequence of motions which tells the story. While dancing men are still in front of the women with the drummers behind the women. As you can see, the Yup'ik dancing is still being carried out today, and as long as the culture is being passed generation to generation, Yup'ik dancing will remain in the present and furthermore to the future.

Just a little something EXTRA

2009-11-09T01:39:00.000-08:00

Something very special about Nick Charles that relates to my blogs is the fact that he was the first one to bring back the Yup'ik mask dance traditions after the missionaries had taken them away. I personally think this is very courageous for someone to do this and stand-up to represent his culture. Doing so, I believe this is the reason why him and his wife opened up the workshops to get people started on practicing their culture again, passing them on to younger generations. I think Nick Charles is a Yup'ik Legend (:

Mr. Nick Charles

2009-11-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

Fienup- Riordan, Ann (1986). The Artist Behind the Work: Nick Charles, Sr Worker in Wood. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Museum.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Artists-Behind-the-Work/Ann-Fienup-Riordan/e/9780931163029

The author, Ann Fienup, wrote about Nick Charles and his great work with wood carving, his powerful masks, and his lifestyle of living in Alaska. Starting with learning from his father and other men he lived with, Nick Charles was able to wood carve at a young age. Nevertheless, although all men were carvers, only some made masks. Fienup mentions Nick Charles' most achieved piece in which he received the most recognition was the Double- Headed Hawk Mask that he entered in the 1980 statewide Native Woodwork Competition, and won a merit award for it. To continue the mask traditions, Nick Charles and his wife set up a mask-making workshop that also included performances of masked dancing. The Artist Behind the Work: Nick Charles, Sr. Worker in Wood gives readers a great experience of a knowledgeable Yup'ik man, how he lived his life, and the traditions he wants to pass on to younger generations.

The Eye of the Dance

2009-11-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

The eye of the dance represents the holes carved out of masks, fans, and other such objects. As you can see many masks have holes in them that symbolize the connection between the dancer wearing the mask and the spiritual world. This is so that the dancers truly "see" the spirits, and that the spirits truly see them. With masks, the holes are carved at the eyes, although there can be even more holes added to the mask. For example, the Spotted Mask. This mask has the holes on the eyes, and then is covered in black spots all over the mask. This tradition was stopped by the missionaries because the missionaries thought they were worshiping demons and such evil spirits, nevertheless within time this eye of the dance was brought back.

Meaning behind Yup'ik Dance

2009-11-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

Every dance has a meaning behind the movements. A very known dance of the Yup'ik culture is held at The Bladder Festival. This is where the Yup'ik dancers give respect to the animals they have hunted. By doing so, they paint the bladder of the animal, hang it up, and dance to it so that it brings them good luck the next time they hunt. It seems there were two main types of dancing, one category being the hunting rituals and the other talking about social issues. There are other dances called dodgeball dance, friendship dance, kissing dance, and many more.

The Dancing

2009-11-03T23:17:00.000-08:00

Nasqurruns, headdress, are usually worn by women along with heavy fur parkas known as gaspeqs, and piluguuk, decorative sealskin dance boots. Nassqurruns are used and worn during dances known as object art, being that they use objects to tell their story through dance. Wearing a mask is a common form of object art. The dancing is fast, exciting, and extremely rhythmic, using hand gestures and little movement of the feet. Men and women typically dance to the beat of a hooped drum, said to represent the beating of the spirits. In the older days, drums were usually made out of walrus stomach or caribou hide. This too is also similar to tahitian dancing because while dancing tahitian, you dance to the beat of a drum; although while dancing tahitian it is all movement, and no meaning.

A Connection

2009-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

Headdress are very common throughout different cultures. What inspired me to work with this Yupiit Dance Headdress, was the fact that I used to wear headdresses while dancing too! Back home in California, I belonged to a halau, otherwise known as a hula group. Although our main focus was dancing hula, we also danced Tahitian, the dancing of Tahiti. While dancing Tahitian it is common for the dancer to wear an elaborate headdress full of feathers, shells, thread, and beads. I think it is amazing that two very different cultures can share the same objects and use them for the same things, dancing. This picture shows my little cousin and two other young, tahitian dancers. These young dancers are wearing headdresses that complete their dancing.

Yupiit Dance Headdress

2009-10-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

This is the Yupiit Dance Headdress that I have been studying this past semester located in the Anchorage Museum. Otherwise known as nassqurrun in the Yup'ik language, it is used for dancing to the beat of a drum. As you can see clearly this headdress is very elaborate, filled with many beads, buttons, and thread. The top of the headdress is made out of wolf fur, and the band is made out of seal skin, nevertheless covered by the cloth and thread. From my observations, I could see how inline all the thread work was, and it made me question how long it must have taken to make this headdress that is full of design. Who ever made this dance headdress was very skilled.