Yupik (Eskimo)

The Yupik or the Eskimo is famously kn deliver for its ice dwellings known as igloos. Their reconciling characteristics to environment especially in the snow caps are very extraordinary. This paper shows the background including the origin and expansion of this group of raft. It withal tackles the culture and the composition of the Eskimo kin as well as their ways of lifespan. Background on the Yupik People The Eskimo is a group of interrelated tribes who occupies the location from Siberian Arctic up to Canada and Greenland.The password Eskimo comes from the Algonquin language which means raw flesh eaters. The Yupik are classified as a sub-group of the Eskimos and also referred to as the Siberian Yupik or Siberian Eskimos (Vajda). The Yupik people spend their time living in the along the watershed coasts of the rivers of Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers. These rivers flow towards to the west passing by southwest Alaska and ends at the Bering Sea. The Yupiks are regarded as the most (prenominal) numbered groups among the Inuit groups in Alaska.Origin and Expansion. The ancestors of the Yupik people are believed to turn over reached the ice caps of Alaska and Russia during the third and final migration from Asia which occurred ten to eleven thousand years ago at the latter(prenominal) part of the Ice Age. Edward Vajda cites that archeological and linguistic evidences show that the direct ancestors of the Yupik people over the Bering Strait through the figurehead of the Bering land that time. Their ancestors are said to have lived in the areas of Siberian Bering and Arctic Sea coasts before the arrival of Chukchi and Korak tribes from the SouthFrom their base in the current location in West Alaska, they separated into 2 (2) distinct groups (1) the Eskimos, and (2) the Aleuts. After some time, explorers, traders and settlers from Europe and Russia came during the 1800s. However, this event created setbacks to the Yupik beca office their communities suffered dea dly epidemic di seases like smallpox, influenza, and tuberculosis. Ways of Living The homes of Yupik are designed to be flat, with treeless tundra landscapes with binary numbers of lakes. In the previous times, they were found residing in houses made of wood and giantbones as the fundamental structures.The walrus skins are covered into the sides and the insides were lightened by bowl molded clay lamps, or those made of carved stones. During winters, they stay in walrus hide and plank tents although before, they lived in the so-called igloos which are also known as nynglu. At summer time, their homes are made of wood covered with walrus skins forming the shape of a rectangle. Today, the Yupik now live in modern houses powered by electricity and petroleum oil instead of seal oil which was used by them previously. They also have glass walls around their houses. unitary difference mingled with the American and Siberian Eskimos as pointed out by Vajda is the presence of mens communal house or popularly known as kashim which is common among the American Yupik rather than the Siberian Yupik. For their livelihood, the Yupik people rely on the oceans and rivers since there are located along the shores. They still continue to hunt and get their own food even if there are suppliers of food on stores coming from ships and planes of other countries. Hunting fish is the major source of food for the Yupik especially for those living on the islands.During summer, salmons caught from rivers are dried for the winter season. Walrus meat were dried and stored in a semi-cold temperature so that they can be fermented and boiled up as food. (Vajda) Other varieties of available fish include (1) cod, (2) hali simply, and (3) herring. For additional dietary supplements, they also hunt down seals and walruses which are very common along the Bering Sea and they also consume shellfishes, terrestrial mammals (moose and caribou), birds, bird eggs, and plants.According to Vajda, they hun t the walruses by using open leather boats known as angyapik and small canoes known as kayaks. They use a whalebone clapper which produces the killer whale sound that drives the walruses and seals towards the shore where the hunters with spears are awaiting for them. Whale hunting was also a routine but save rarely because one whale can feed the whole village of Yupik. The Yupik people use dogs as their pack animals. (Vajda) They store their food in metro caches located in their houses. For their transportation, the Yupik people use land vehicles and snow mobiles.For sea transportation and hunting, they use the Umiaks which are boats made from walrus skins. Before, snails and oars were used in move the boats but as the world modernizes, so are their boats which use outdoor motors. Culture and People Characteristics Yupik are said to be well adaptive to juvenile surroundings and strong individuals. On the other hand, upon going with the flow to new ways of living, the Yupik custo ms and culture remained strong and intact. Their customs are mainly think on the rituals of hunting and sharing.Their relationship with other groups such as the Chukotka brought back the practices of trade and intermarriage. The Yupik are composed of male exogamic grades or lineages. Each clan or lineage has a unique myth or origin of existence and every clan member who dies is buried in a individual location exclusively for the clan. The returns from hunts and foragings are equally shared among the clan members. According to studies, the clans in the pasts owned large dwelling houses which can house around cc to 400 members of their respective clans.(Vajda) Language, Writing and Education. The language being used by the Yupik people belong to the Yupik branch of the Eskimo family. The Yupik language and writing were developed by the missionaries in the 1800s who formulated a way of inserting the Latin alphabet (shown in Figure 1) in writing Yupik. The language was named after a missionary named toilet Hinz and was also used in publishing translations of the Bible and other religious scriptures. In Siberia, the use of Cyrillic language (shown in Figure 2) was developed by scholars although some who know the way of writing Yupik tend to write in Russian instead.By 1960s at the University of Alaska, a group of scholars with the assistance from aboriginal Yupik speakers gathered together in order to formulate a new orthography for Yupik. One of their objectives was to devise an orthography that could be encoded on an English keyboard, without the presence of accent marks or extra letters. Aside from that, they also desired to symbolize the individual sounds or the pronunciation of the language with separate letters. (Vajda) The Yupik language is verbalise by approximately 11,800 people who live at Alaska and Siberia.The Yupik writing is composed by the Latin alphabet in Alaska and Cyrillic alphabet in Siberia. In Russia, 800 of the 1700 Yupik speak the Yupi k language fluently. Most Yupik also speak the Chukchi and the Russian language fluently. (Vajda) According to Ray Barnhardt (1999), the education is reaching the people on Alaska particularly the Yupiks. One of the good signs that were reported by Barnhardt (1999) is the enhancement of knowledge and skills of teachers and soon to be teachers in the region through short education courses.These developments are essential for face-to-face growth for the Yupiks through education aside from lessons learned from experiences. Figure 1 (Latin Alphabet for Yupik) Figure 2 (Cyrillic Alphabet for Yupik) Beliefs and Religion The Yupik according to Vajda are animists whose beliefs in resemblance with those of the Chukchi people. For them the killer whale, raven and wolf are considered sacred and must not be executed. The Yupik, as well as the the Chukchi and Korak, believes that Raven had created the world. The swallow (bird) is also paid respect and honor because it was thought to protect hun ters at sea.Killer whales are also revered as protectors of hunters it was also thought that the killer whale turns into a wolf in winter and devoured the reindeer unless some of the reindeer submitted to the hunters. Ritual meals are concluded by throwing a piece of meat into the sea to bless and thank the killer whales which are believed as the cause of their catches. More than among American Eskimo groups, Siberian Yupik shamanism is inclined toward placating or giving richness to the sea animals in which the clans depended on for nourishment.There are also special ceremonies which were held before the departure of hunting boats as asking for guidance and bounty for food. (Vajda) conclusion The culture of the Yupik / Eskimo people is amazing because of two things. One is because of their ability to adapt to environment for survival. Surviving in a low temperature location like in Alaska, Greenland or Siberia requires expertise in keeping oneself warm at all occasions. The suppl y and availability of food is not that high in lower temperature places but the ability of this group to find ways in order for them to adapt and be well versed in this kind of environment.This paper has shown way beyond the pictures of igloos and the Eskimos on textbooks of students. Second and most importantly is their ability to retain its culture and customs despite the adaptive measures and global changes that happen frequently. This is manifested through their religion and beliefs which if compared nowadayss beliefs and the existing religion will make theirs primitive. Beyond these changes and adaptations, the notion of keeping ones identity despite changes is what people and clans can admire and imitate from the Yupik people.