In partnership with APIA (the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) and with support from ANA (the Administration for Native Americans), the WAYK team returns to Anchorage for 10 days of sessions in May 2017. We will continue to work with the Niiĝuĝim Tunuu and Qawalangim Tunuu language teams based in Anchorage and Wasilla. As always, our goal is to work with small groups of learners… Read more »
In partnership with APIA (the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) and the Atka IRA, and with support from ANA (the Administration for Native Americans), the WAYK team returns to Atka for 10 days of sessions in May. During this visit, the WAYK team will provide additional training and support for members of the local core team who attended previous WAYK workshops and participated in our 2016… Read more »
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… Read more »
My name is Timothy and I am 15 years old. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and I was raised in Atka. I go to Yakov Netsvetov School and I am in 10th grade. When I heard about the 2016 Summer Intensive, I was interested in joining because I hear elders in our village speak… Read more »
Aang! My name is Junior and I’m from Atka, Alaska. I go to school at Yakov E. Netsvetov School. The reason why I was interested in this Summer Language Intensive is because my language (Niiĝuĝim Tunuu) is dying and I want to keep it going. The activities I liked from this summer were the icebreakers… Read more »
As APIA (the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) enters the second year of their three-year language initiative with support from ANA (the Administration for Native Americans), the WAYK team returns to Atka for 10 days of sessions in December. During this visit, the WAYK team will provide additional training and support for members of the local core team who attended previous WAYK workshops and participated in… Read more »
As APIA (the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) enters the second year of their three-year language initiative with support from ANA (the Administration for Native Americans), the WAYK team returns to Anchorage for two weeks of sessions in the Fall of 2016. Week 1: October 10 – October 14, 2016 Week 2: December 5 – December 9, 2016 During… Read more »
Learning another language is tough—new sounds that our mouths are not used to pronouncing, unfamiliar words, and grammar structures that just don’t feel normal. It is completely natural to want an explanation or a translation for all the new concepts and patterns in our first language. Just tell me what it means! If the word… Read more »
As APIA (the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association) enters the second year of their three-year language initiative with support from ANA (the Administration for Native Americans), the WAYK team returns to Anchorage for two weeks of sessions in the Fall of 2016. Week 1: October 10 – October 14, 2016 Week 2: December 5 – December 9, 2016 During… Read more »
Perhaps one of the most common questions I have had about Where Are Your Keys is about Sign Language and why we use it so much for language learning. Some people look at WAYK and assume that all we’re doing is adding hand signs to vocabulary in another language and then going around in a… Read more »
At the time I’m writing this post, it’s nearing the halfway point of my internship with WAYK and my summer in the community of Atka, Alaska. As the days go by, they only seem to pass ever more quickly. But new experiences have been plentiful, just as has my acquisition of knowledge regarding the WAYK… Read more »
By way of the prior experience I’ve gained through my involvement in the language revitalization efforts taking place within my own community, the Pueblo of Pojoaque, I’ve been able to correct many misconceptions related to the practice of learning and teaching a second language. My time as an intern with WAYK has further contributed to… Read more »
One of my favourite things so far as a WAYK intern is the color-coded organization of the WAYK house. Months before we arrived in Atka, each member of the WAYK team was assigned a color. Now, in the WAYK house, we each have our own set of dishes in our individual colors. Our bedding and… Read more »
My first two weeks in Atka learning Niiĝuĝim Tuunu have been interesting. I am learning a whole new lauguage, meeting a lot of new people, eating new things, and learning about the Orthodox religion also. This experience isn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be. I thought that it was going to be… Read more »
The WAYK team returned to Anchorage in October of 2015 for our biannual visit to work with the many members of the Unangam Tunuu core team that live in the city. We were especially excited for this visit, since we were able to bring back all of the lessons that the St. Paul team developed… Read more »
This summer, Bobbi Dushkin joins the local team and the WAYK team at the Atka Summer Intensive as APIA’s regional intern. We are thrilled that she’s here! Hello my name is Bobbi Dushkin, I was born and raised in Alaska. I grew up and lived in Sand Point, an Eastern dialect speaking community. My family… Read more »
My name is Robyn and this will be my second summer as a WAYK intern. Last summer I was a WAYK intern helping out with the Unangam Tunuu project on St. Paul Island Alaska, learning and teaching the Eastern dialect, Qawalangim Tunuu. My internship last summer was my first experience with WAYK. I had a… Read more »
Bahpibo! (Hello!) My name is Samuel and I am from P’osuwaegeh Owingeh (meaning ‘Water Drinking Place Village’), more commonly known as the Pueblo of Pojoaque, a Tewa speaking American Indian community located in northern New Mexico (the keyword being “new”). Furthermore, I am a graduate student in the master’s in American Indian Studies (AIS) program… Read more »
Hi, I’m Erin McGarvey. I am originally from Jordan, a very small town just outside of St. Catharines, Ontario. My school only had about 160 kids and my house had grape vineyards behind it and woods in front of it. When I was nine, I moved to the city, but I have will always… Read more »
When we opened up our application for summer WAYK interns in January, our summer intensive in Atka, AK seemed very far in the future. This year, it is wonderful that we are once again able to offer three sponsored intern positions for the summer, thanks to the support of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, the Aleut… Read more »
