June 3, 2013

MISS Ilitqusiat: Knowledge of Langange & Balanceby: Jacqui Lambert

There were a few times I got caught between an Eskimo word and an English word while trying to explain to my college friends what I meant. Trying to find the English equivalent for the proper uses of “adii” “irigii” and “arigaa” was a lot harder than I realized. These simple Inupiaq words that easily fell out of my mouth all my life made no sense to anyone around me. The different contexts theyʼre used in made it difficult to feel like I was giving them the right definitions. Eventually when they made sense of them and proudly smiled when they used them, I would surprise them with a new word: Pikpagiqpin!

This is the gist of the cultural conflict Iʼve been finding myself in for the past few years. Although Iʼm not a fluent speaking Inupiaq, I definitely felt pretty close to a foreigner while away from Alaska. The biggest problem was that nobody could notice it but me

because on the outside, I looked like an asian/mexican/american pacific islander. When I mentioned being an Eskimo, they obviously asked the typical igloo-making, polar bear riding questions. When I mentioned being from Alaska, they imagined the urban areas. Even when I tried to explain in full detail what my background is or what my hometown is like, I donʼt think anyone could fathom the cultural differences between their small town and our small town.

Finding the balance between two different cultures is becoming difficult as we are more influenced by the west. However, there are strengths that we can use from both sides in order for it to work. For example, the use of technology today can be used to preserve our culture. Since 2006, I have been a part of a youth media group that is putting together a documentary about

the connections of Eskimo song and dance between the coasts of Russia and Alaska. We have been professionally trained to film, interview, and edit interviews and stories from many different people. This helped us gain a lot of technological skills that can be (and have been) put to use for expressional pieces, educational use, or part-time jobs. On the other hand, meeting with a lot of people and hearing their stories of their experiences helped us gain a lot of cultural knowledge along the way.

I hear many older people complain about how much has changed and how the “new world” is influencing the younger generation, but change is inevitable. Change is always happening but that does not mean we have to fully commit to one or the other. Denali Whiting is an Alaska Native Studies major at UAF and has recently shown

With a couple weeks left in Morocco, I was hoping to hit fast forward. I wanted to be back in America: I wanted to run away from this country and all the inconsolable differences we had. I could see I wasn’t the only one. The fourteen girls who I had started this adventure with were tired and collectively we slumped through school and to the coffee shop, busying ourselves with schoolwork. We had all experienced serious sexual harassment, which seemed to be getting worse as the time went on. As much as I wanted to give up and just go home, I had two weeks left in Morocco and two more weeks of after program travel.

how easy it is to find balance between cultures. She created an Inupiaq Challenge Facebook page where she encourages people to share their piece of cultural knowledge on the Internet. This simple page can reach across regions and even states to help keep the Inupiaq way of life in motion. You can find it at www.facebook.com/Inupiaqchallenge

Around that time, I got word of the Take Back the Night events happening at my college, Lewis and Clark. I knew that is exactly what I needed. The night had taken so much from me, just as it has for generations of women before.

The first Take Back the Night Event (TBTN for more information takebackthenight.org) happened in Belgium in 1976, when over 2000 women from 40 different countries took to the street to protest the harassment they were experiencing on a daily basis. The meaning of Take Back the Night has transformed into an event that honors victims of harassment, sexual violence, and domestic abuse with events nationwide.

Take Back The Night in Morocco As a group of young American women in a medieval Moroccan city in Africa, we didn’t really have much to take back. Those streets had never been ours, and parading through the streets late at night was not going to achieve anything but more harassment. But we could reclaim our experiences in this country. Our group had had a beautiful semester filled with colorful landscapes, vibrant communities, rich food, and welcoming families. That is what I wanted to take back with me to America.

So together, we crafted an event for ourselves, and on a Friday night we walked in pairs quietly through the Moroccan medina. We

by: Hannah Atkinson

On that night we lit candles on the rooftop and in the safe space of the Moroccan rooftop we shared some of our hardest experiences in Morocco: experiences that we wanted to let go of and celebrated what we wanted to keep. We cried, laughed, sang, and danced. Our candles burned throughout, and I was reignited.

traveled the same route we took everyday for two months to our school and we climbed to the roof.

The Moroccan patriarchy has always been space based. Men controlled the outside and women controlled the inside. Traditionally, women only left the house for weekly trips to a communal shower called the hammam and funerals. The houses don’t even have any windows except for on the highest levels. That highest level as well as the rooftop was designated as the women’s space in the house. The wives and daughters could then look out to the streets without being seen from below.

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In Moroccan medina (medina means old city) the houses are side by side. There are narrow alley ways running through. There is no

front or back yard but if you climb up the stairs of the large houses and apartment buildings you will reach a rooftop terrace that looks out over the city and all the other rooftops with their

satellite dishes and laundry swaying in the breeze.

A moment of silence during our Take Back the Night event in Morocco. Photo by Lillian Tuttle.

Call for Volunteers! This summer MISS will be hosting a TBTN event in Kotzebue to raise

awareness of rape culture and sexual violence. Please contact us at

missmovement907@gmail.com or through our facebook page if you are interested in helping

organize the event.