KOTZEBUE TEACHER HOPES OLD ESKIMO CULTURE WILL BE RECORDED
By Jerry Bowkett
(Reprinted from the Anchorage Times)
Mrs. Emily Ivanoff Brown,
intensely proud of her Eskimo
blood and cultural heritage, says
the ways of the Eskimo people
and their unwritten native lan
guage are being forgotten, and
she is concerned about the
situation.
She doesn't quite know hqw to go
about it. but she wants to record
for future generations Eskimo mu
sic and legend and the other things
that make the culture a distinctive
one. - : ^
Mrs. Brown, for the past 20 years
a teacher at the Bureau of Indian
Affairs . school gt Kotzebue, is a
widow who has raised three $ons
and insisted that they seek after
higher education.
One of the sons; Melvin, is a
freshman at the University of Alas
ka and a member of the universi
ty's basketball team. He is major
ing in physical education and hopes
to obtain a coaching job at a na
tive school on graduation, she says.
Apologizes for Pride
She apoligized for speaking with
pride about her sons. “It is taboo in
Eskimo to talk about the children
but I do—I can't help it." she smiled.
The reasoning behind that taboo,
she explained, is that shows of af
fection tend to spoil the children.
“When American men go away they
hug and kiss their ehii^en-riyjhen
gan Eskimo man goes he just goes
and that’s all. The young must learn
to take care of themselves.”
Mrs. Brown has made a number
of attempts in her own way to per
petuate the Eskimo culture, the most
successful being the writing of a
Anchorage Girl
Weds Local Man
A grouo of over 30 friends were
on hand to see Patricia Ann Martin,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Martin of Anchorage marry Theo
dore James Clark, son of Mrs. Mar
guerite Clark of Fairbanks.
The ceremony was performed at
the Zion Lutheran Church on June
3 bv Reverend Raymond Ernst.
The bride, given by her father,
wore a onlerina-Iengtb ,silk taffeta
gown wi‘h chiffon overskirt-and a
‘lace jacket with three-quarter
sleeve*.
Lynn Chambers, a friend of the
bride, was bridesmaid.
Fred Sharp was the best man.
Following the ce~emony, a recep
tion was held at the Church. Assist
ing with the reception were Sandy
Clark. Gail Phillips, and Lynn
■ Chambers.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Clark will
make their home at 708^ Tenth.
small book on Eskimo legend, the |
proceeds of which went toward the \
establishment of the new Kotzebue
public library.
The community formed an asso
ciation to promote the library, be
lieved to be the first in northwest
ern Alaska.
Take Turns
“We all take turns sitting in the
j library, and we recently joined the ]
state library association,” Mrs.
Brown said.
I She has encouraged the young
people to take up writing so that
the story of the Eskimos will be
told, but most have shown no en
thusiasm for such an activity.
The extension of education to the
Eskimos ironically is*-helping to
wipe out their native tongue. “We
; have. 1©. teaciv .aur.classes inJEng
lish and many of the young people
l don’t even know Eskimo any more,”
i Mrs. Brown said.
! The teacher has a number of ideas ;
about other problems with which
her people are confronted. * |
Someone ought to impress on the
, Eskimos the need for building fall
out shelters, she said. “Many of
I the people out there aren’t con
cerned and if another war comes
we’re dead if we don’t have shel
ters.”
Ideal Shelters j
The type of habitation which the
Eskimos have been encouraged to
give up—the barabora, built be
neath the surface of the ground and
roofed over with sod—would make
an ideal shelter, she said.
BLM Nome Office
Open June 14,15
The June opening of the Nome
Information Office is announced by
the district-manager of the Bureau
of Land Management, Richard L.
Quintus. ’.' •
On Friday and-Satiirday; June 14
and T5, Daniel Jones, Fairbanks
Land Office manager, and A1 Hol
ley, operations manager, 'Anchorage
Land Office, will be in the office
located in-Room -104 of the Federal
Building in Nome.
In April the Nome office was
manned by Mr. Jones and in May
by George Gustafson. Alaska town
site trustee. The next opening will!
be July 12th and 13th. followed by
August 9th and 10, September 13th
and 14th and October 11th and 12th.
On these days persons wishing to
telephone the office may do so by
calling 443-2264.
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The natives all have radios and
could run to the shelters from their
Erame houses above ground when
word of danger came. These shelters
could be built “without even paying
$1 for them,’’ she said.
In the economic realm, Mrs.
Brown suggested that the Eskimos
might do well marketing the many
varieties of berries which grow in
abundance in western Alaska.
“We have sweeter blueberries
than you have here and the moun
tains are full of them. We could
put them in plastic bags and freeze
them through some central clearing
place. This particular berry is rich
in vitamin C.
“We’d have to organize under the
new Area Redevelopment Adminis
tration to do this. We also have
rosehips, cranberries, blackberries
and two kinds of currants. There
are so many berries and the Eski
mos don’t even pick them any
more.”
Mrs, Brown, in Anchorage on
business, said she wouldn’t want to
live in the city.
Next to Nature
“The Eskimo people live next to
nature—they don't know time. In
your city, people worry about
money.
“It’s so interesting to live in west
ern Alaska — there are so many
things you can do. I wouldn’t want
to live here.”
Mrs. Brown says when she re
tires she will not leave Alaska.
Although she learned of life Out
side while acquiring her education,
she has no desire to return there,
except perhaps for a brief vacation.
Her idea of retirement is to set up
a camp at some place like Shaktolrk
on Norton Sound, believed to be the
site ofihe oldest Eskimo ^village in
Alaska, and Just fish or watch the
hunters go after ,tliejcing,sealsjhat
can be taken nearby.
‘1 love my country—it’s a beauti- .
ful place. Near Shaktolik there’s a
river and you. can catch trout. I
would like to just sit there in the
month of June and look at all the
' beauty.”
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