The Alutiiq are also known in their native language as Sugpiaq and in English as "Aleuts" (which is what the Russians called them), and many Alutiiq, especially older people, still prefer the term. Alutiiq or Sugpiaq culture was strongly influenced by the Russians, and they are still Russian Orthodox even though Alaska hasn't been Russian for 150 years. The Smithsonian Institution has an online exhibit on Alutiiq culture that gives the basics. The first section, called "About the People," is an especially good overview. Also click through the pictures in the section on "Our Beliefs," for a survey of traditional beliefs before the Russians came.
In Alaska, Russian missionaries behaved differently than Americans did in the "Lower 48." The Russians left after Alaska was sold to the United States in 1867, but many Native Alaskans are still Russian Orthodox. "At the sale of Alaska, everyone thought that orthodoxy would disappear because all the Russians left," Bishop Nikolai, the Russian Orthodox bishop of Alaska, told BBC News. "Actually quite the contrary has happened - we are now the largest church in Alaska." An online Library of Congress exhibit on The Russian Church and Native Alaskan Cultures explains how Russian schools embraced Native languages instead of trying to eradicate them like American schools did. After the Americans came, Alaska Native children were punished any language other than English in school -- just like children in the Lower 48 -- and the other languages are dying out now. But for many years they flourished because the Russians encouraged literacy in more than one language:
Local parish schools offered reading, writing, and arithmetic, Biblical history, penmanship, music, and, at times, as many as four languages simultaneously: Russian, Old Church Slavonic, English, and a Native language. Indeed, the stories of the many remarkable graduates of the Church system, mostly Creoles [people whose mothers were Native Alaskan and whose fathers were Russian] like the priest Iakov Netsvetov ... are among the most moving in the history of Russian America.Netsvetov is also known as St. Iakov or, more commonly, St. Jacob. He is, to my knowledge, the only Native American who has been canonized in a Christian church.
Russian Orthodox churches put a lot of emphasis on art and music, and Native Alaskans were soon composing hymns for the Russian Orthodox liturgy. We will hear a couple of selections. First, go to the page of links to Alaska Orthodox Texts compiled by All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton, Ont., and scroll down to Aleut Orthodox Liturgical Music collection recorded in Anchorage in 1980-1981 and on St. George & St. Paul Islands in 1980. Click on the hymn "Christ is Risen." (It's near the bottom of the page, in the first set of links under "Audio Resources." To listen in class, you'll have to use earphones.) The language is Unangan Aleut, but the hymn sounds very Russian, especially in its complex harmonies.
Our other musical selection is a "troparion" (a type of Orthodox hymn) to St. Jacob Netsvetov (click on the mp3 file included in the CD "Yup'ik Orthodox Liturgical Music from the Kuskokwim, Vol. 2). In another window, you can see an icon (holy picture) of St. Jacob and read the troparian in English translation.
Do the melodies of the Easter hymn "Christ is Risen" and the hymn to St. Jacob remind you of anything? Congregational hymns in the West, the portions of Catholic (and some Protestant) services that are sung? Gregorian chant? What is the purpose of music among groups of people? How does Western music function like the singing and drumming we heard on the pow wow video? How is it different?
Another Russian Orthodox saint, St. Herman of Alaska, came to this country from Russia in 1794. But he is revered by Alaska Natives, and he is considered the father of Orthodoxy in America since the Russians were in Alaska before Russian immigration began to the Lower 48 in the late 1800s. The Rev. Andrew Tregubov, an Orthodox priest in New Hampshire, tells of a pilgrimage to St. Herman's shrine, when he sailed
... on a fishing rig made up primarily of Alaskans. Over the roar of the giant engines and the ocean wind came a spontaneous singing of the tropar [hymn] “Blessed Herman of Alaska, North Star of Christ’s Holy Church,” that went on during much of the trip across the open sea. The deck was covered with over a hundred people singing with joy to their beloved Herman. They sang and talked about him in the present tense, as if, no – not as if, but because he was with them and for them right then and there.On the website with his sermon, Fr. Andrew shows an icon of St. Herman, and cites two people who believe St. Herman appeared to them. One was a fishing boat skipper who says St. Herman guided him out of the water when he got drunk and fell overboard, and the other was a hiker who believes St. Herman appeared to him on Mount Denali (McKinley), warned him of bad weather coming and thus saved his life.
Do the stories that are still told about St. Herman today suggest anything about the role he and other Russian missionaries played in the transmission of Native cultures? Why do we tell stories about saints, anyway? How are they like the stories that Native Americans tell? How are they different? What role do stories, in general, play in the transmission of culture?
Painter Helen Jane Simeonoff, who is of Sugpiaq or Alutiiq heritage, has her artwork on sale in the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak. She consciously tries to restore traditional forms of expression, including the Sugpiaq langauge which was repressed in the schools after tbe American education system came to Alaska. So her work features seals, puffins, masks, hats, Russian Orthodox churches and other traditions. Study her work, and answer the last question.
How does an artist like Simeonoff blend Native, Russian and 21st-century American artistic traditions in their work. What does this tell you about the transmission of cultural expressions?
16 comments:
1. The alaskan Natives wrote many hymns or songs, that remind me of songs that we have heard in church. It sometimes is in chant like they do in Roman catholic church. The purpose of music among people is to relate words, stories to song. People will be more inclined to listen if it is to a tune instead of read from a book. It functions by tones of voice instead of using actual instruments such as drums in there music, they use there voices.\
2. yes, the church initially did not acknowledge the honoring of saints but he was recognized for being a russion missionary in the native culture. We tell stories about saints to glorify there existence. we make there stories seem better then most likely they were.
3. She used things that were native to her. things that were only found in those areas such as puffins, hats and arts and crafts of the areas. She used things that she was used to seeing but sped them up to todays culture.
1. Audio doesnt work.
2. Yes, he was reconized for being a russian missionary in native culture but saints were not commemorated or honored. We tell stories of saints to younger generations of the good deeds each saint or saints performed to set examples hoping that they live their daily life by those stories. They compare to the native amercian stories in the same sense, its kind of like a folklore where there is a point and a significant meaning. Their different in the sense that the saints stories are percieved as bettering the present world, indian stories tell of how to repect earth and etc.
3. She took what she remembered from childhood and combined it with present day objects. Their similiar in every way even down to the color tone of each painting. She's basically just modernizing her paintings with a different type of color scheme.
the song "christ is risen" sounds a lot like the music you would sing in a typical american church. It was kind of slow paced, but powerful. The second song "troparian" was at a faster pace than "christ is risen." it sounded more like chanting than singing. It would start out fast and then slow down and go fast again. these songs are similar to pow wows in the way that everyone is in tune and chanting at the exact same time. It didn't seem like anyone one person was off beat or out of tune. Everyone stopped at the exact same time and had the same tone of voice.The stories that were told about st. herman show that he was a loyal and helpful man. Even though he may not have been there in life he was always there with his people in spirit. The painting by Simeonoff of the Sappek and also the painting of the seal are similar to those paintings and drawings of the Aleuts that we first saw at the beginning of the semester. The person is in a boat and has the decorative hat on, just like in the other pictures. Teh seal is similar because it is widely used by the aleuts in everyday life and they cherish the seal. She uses a lot of color...more so than what we saw at the beginning of the semester. This i think is part of the 21st cent. aspect.
2. The stories suggest that they were helping to make the local culture a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the things they mentioned they did was: “responsible for creating an Aleut alphabet and translating the Gospel of St. Matthew in the vernacular.” We tell these stories to maybe see an example to live by. Like Native Americans these stories give us lessons to learn and values to uphold. They are different because in many Native American stories center on the Great Spirit and how to respect nature. Stories tell about the values the culture holds as important.
3. The artist paints natural things that inspire her. That is what any artist does. She also incorporates a story with these paintings. This is interesting because they are very like the stories told throughout generations of Native Americans. She seems to be trying to tie together her talent and her cultural history.
The stories that are told about St. Herman give us an idea of the role he played with the cultures. He seems to sort of be a protector of the people. The story about him and the mountain shows that he protected the people from being killed by the storm that was coming. We tell stories about saints to keep the beliefs going and to keep the faith. We also tell these stories to link to our every day lives. We like to see how we can make connections to the saints and our own every-day lives. Stories play a role in passing culture down from one generation to the next. The stories help pass traditions along.
Simeonoff’s artwork blends all three cultures by blending different things into one piece of art. She also includes the Russian Orthodox church in a few of her paintings, while making the colors and other items in the artwork reflect 21st century and her native art.
1. No audio
2. Yes, he was recognized as a russian missionary, however saints arent honored in their native american culture. We honor saints to sort of exemplify what they did. They were more about just the specefic meaning.
3. She liked to only use things that were native to her or familiar to her. She used different color patterns to sort of modernize her work
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2. Yes, at first the church did not recognize the honoring of the saints but he was honored for being a russian missionary in the native community.
3. She used what she knew from her childhood and intertwine it with present day objects. She made those things contemporary.
1. Audio did not work on my computer.
2. Yes, he was recognized as being a Russian in Native Culture. We tell stories about saints for their existence, and to younger people of the good deeds. I think they compare to the Native American stories in a similiar way.
3. She used things that related to her. She used hats, arts, and crafts.
1. All of the songs usually have a sort of prayerful meaning to them. They are meant to sing praise and give thanks most of the time. It is different from western music because it does not have to rhyme or go along with any instruments. In fact, it is more effective without instruments.
2. We tell these stories of Saints in order to help preserve faith. Some refer to all believers in God as "saints" but the church only recognizes a select group of people as saints. They are remembered in our church kind of like Native Americans remember the important people who paved the way for their lives, which in essence is what saints did. Many of them were martyrs who died to help keep the faith of their people alive.
3. Her artwork is based on Russian and Aleutian traditions, however she uses vivid colors in order to make her art stand out. This is how she blends the 21st century with the old Russian styles. Old Russian artwork was never colorful, but most modern artwork is.
I do not believe that the stories told play any part in the transmission of Native cultures. We tell stories about Saints because they are stories that can be passed from generation to generation. Because stories can be passed on then future generations will know what it was like and can continue the tradition.
She wants it to look old and new at the same time. This might be done by using all the bright colors that are in the pictures. The way she blends them together gives it a unique look that might suggest transmission of cultural expressions.
The hymns that I listened to sound very similar to songs that are sang in my church. Music among groups of people is a form of prayer and expression. It is also a way of telling stories, teaching tradition, and faith. The singing and drumming have the same role in our culture as they do in a Native American culture, however they are both gone about and used in completely different ways. Ours are used as a mellow form of expression, while Native Americans take much more pride and find that the music and song is the basis of their culture.
Simeonoff took the things that she remembered as being meaningful to her in her childhood, and added daily objects to make her paintings.
The Church does not follow any official procedure for the “recognition” of saints initially. We tell stories sbout the saits to glorify the existence of them. We make them better then what they are. The things she painted are bright and had all diffrent color shemes. she painted what she saw and put them in todays culture. they were such things like hats, art and crafts.
The Native hymns that were heared werent like many other hymns that i heared in church growing up babtist we didnt do any chants like this culture has but you can tell that the chants have to same passion behind them.
Her art work was very interesting and how much they sold for was even more interesting. I like how she used the tones and pictures to display events and activities from her childhood and the way she displayed them as being bright and warm so you get the feeling of relief and happiness from her paintings
All the hymns remind me of church and Easter. I am very familiar with the hymn of "Christ is Risen" because of the fact that i had have to of been going to church from kindergarden to high school and the song is just stuck in my head now. But i dont think of it as a chant, but in a way it kind of is if because it is repeated and sounds more like a chant if it is not sung. The purpose of music among groups of people is so that they can come together and praise louder. It is like a force that can be used to make a movement of statement. I really dont see any similarities with western music and pow wow's other than the come together and play togehter, but there are many differences with their styles of playing and singing.
Yes, the church initially didnt recognize the honoring of saints but he was acknowledged for being a russian missionary in the native culture. We tell stories about saints because it shows the good ways of people and to follow their actions.
That any type of art work is acceptable anywhere and can be sold. Any culture can get into it, and most people are interested in other peoples cultures.
2. The stories told about St.Herman recognize his mainly as just being a Russian missionary. Not to much was emphasized on him being a saint. Today, people glorify saints and tell stories of their honor and good doings. Also, saints honor those who are deceased and helped them keep their tradition alive.
3. Her painting were of things that were of importance to her and her culture. She used bright and bold colors in all of her artwork and depicted nature and life in many of her paintings as did the Native and Russians.
There are some additional references here, (the most famous Alaskan ever)
St Innocent of Alaska Bicentennial (Ioann Veniaminov) - http://13c4.wordpress.com/special-projects/st-innocent/
and another major Alaska Native song tradition is the Moravian Church of Alaska Small Business in Western Alaska - http://13c4.wordpress.com/special-projects/moravian-bookstore/
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