Aang! Amilaayam Tunuu ilan Nathaniel asax̂takuq. Unangam Tunuu ilan Tanĝaaĝix̂ asax̂takuq. I am from Anchorage, Alaska but I live in Atka, Alaska. I go to Yakov E. Netsvetov School. I have always wanted to talk with my elders in Unangax̂. I was told about the Atka Summer Intensive by my Godmother, Crystal Dushkin. She has worked with WAYK for several years, and she asked me and a few other teenagers if we were interested in participating in the WAYK Summer Intensive program. We all said yes. I thought it would be pretty fun and useful.

One thing I really liked was Community Language Night. Community Language Night is a time every Thursday night for the community to get together and speak in our language and play games like 1, 2, 3 Ukux̂taax̂t, and Go Fish in Unangax̂. There is a Go Fish game for beginners and another one for fluent speakers of the language. I personally like it because we get to show the elders what we work on in the language, and they are proud of us youth for keeping the language alive.

I will always remember Evan Gardner, Susanna Ciotti, Samuel Catanach, Erin McGarvey, Robyn Giffen, and Bobbi Dushkin because they helped me learn and teach Unangax̂.

Post authored by Nathaniel, a participant in WAYK’s 2016 Summer Intensive and a student at the Yakov E. Netsvetov School in Atka, AK.

Written by Evan Gardner