WAYK is very excited to announce—after months (and years!) of planning with the host community—that our 2019 Summer Intensive will take place in North Vancouver, British Columbia! This will be WAYK’s 9th summer project with a partner community. In 2019, we will continue our partnership with Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN). Due to the location and history… Read more »
Take notes like a pro, or like a 5th grader, so long as you do it! In 2015, during my first summer with WAYK, Evan and Susanna gave me a hunting book to use for tracking the chinuk wawa I was learning. I’ll be honest: I didn’t really like or use it. I found it… Read more »
Summer Language Intensives have a lot going on. All the time. Whether it’s lesson prep, an important conversation to be had, hunting language from elders over tea, or even just keeping the coffee station running, there’s always something that needs to be done. How does one keep everything going smoothly, especially with a larger team?… Read more »
I first met Evan and Susanna at a handful of WAYK workshops, which were each about two to five days long: three workshops at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and one at the Songhees Wellness Center in Victoria, BC. Because of my attendance at these workshops, I was lucky enough to find out… Read more »
Learning a language is exciting, but it can also be scary. I get nervous when I stumble over new sounds, hoping no one nearby noticed. My cheeks feel hot every time I ask someone to pronounce a word so that I can understand and copy the sounds correctly. Suddenly it feels as if my ability… Read more »
Before I arrived at the St. Paul Unangam Tunuu Summer Language Intensive, I wondered what we would do on a typical day. I knew that there would be no teacher standing at the front of the room, no textbooks. How would we fill our time from nine to five? I discovered here a variety of… Read more »
My name is Timothy A. Zaochney and I’m from Atka, Alaska. I’ve been doing the Niiĝuĝim Tunuu language program for three years. I’m joining the team this summer in Anchorage as an APICDA intern. I got involved in the language program when Evan came down to Atka for the first time in 2013. I’m interested… Read more »
Hi, my name is Junior Golodoff. I’m from Atka, Alaska. This here is my third year with the Summer Language Intensive. I’m joining the team as an APICDA intern. What got me involved with the language is my friends because without them I probably wouldn’t be here. What got me interested in the language was that… Read more »
My first introduction with Unangam Tunuu came during the fall of 2015, when I heard of classes at the Aleutian Pribilof Island’s Association building here in Anchorage. The need for understanding the words and the sounds was something that I was excited about. The classes at that time worked with my schedule, so I continued… Read more »
Hello, my name is Bobbi Dushkin. I got involved with the language project 2 years ago when Crystal came up to me at a Christmas party and asked if I would like to learn the Aleut language. So I went to Atka in 2016 and that was my first summer in the language project. Summer… Read more »
Hi, my name is Kira, and I live in Wasilla, AK, but I’m from St. Paul Island. Language has always been a part of my life since I was young; I got into the WAYK program three years ago with my mom and my brother. Since I got started, I have learned to teach beginners… Read more »
Hello, my name is Nathaniel. I am from Atka, Alaska. For those who don’t know where Atka is located, Atka is a very remote island westward on the Aleutian chain. I’m 16 years old and I currently live in Anchorage, Alaska. This fall I will be starting my senior year of high school. I have… Read more »
My name is Alex, and I am from Anchorage, Alaska. I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing at the University of Portland, in Portland, Oregon. I have now reached my sophomore year of the program and will begin going through clinicals next year. I work as a language intern through the Aleutian… Read more »
I finally made it to Alaska. My journey with WAYK is 8 years long this year. It started in 2010, searching for ways to survive the language classes I was taking in school; since then, I’ve worked at WAYK projects in Oregon, California, Vancouver, Beijing…but never Alaska. At long last, in 2018, I made it!… Read more »
When I walked up to the immigration counter in Seattle, the officer looked down at my Canadian passport and asked me if I was heading somewhere sunny and 75. I laughed and said pretty much the exact opposite, I’m going to Anchorage. He laughed and told me that he was certain I was the only… Read more »
Who Am I? waq lis ?aad, gew ?a seesas Joseph Dupris. ni ?a mbosaksaawaskni gi. ?ewskni ?an gi, moatt’akkni ?an gi. Big Pine nuumu ?an gi. Mnicoujou Lakota ?an gi. My name is Joseph Dupris and I am a Chi-Kid from mbosaksaawas (Chiloquin, OR). This is my first Summer Language Intensive with Where Are Your… Read more »
Aang, taanshi, boozhoo! Mekadebinesikwe indigo, migizi indoodem. Ozhawashko-Wiikwedong indoonjibaa, Gakaabikang dash indaa noongom. My name is Kai Pyle and I am originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Currently, I’m a PhD student in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, on the Dakota people’s homelands in Bde Ota Otunwe (Minneapolis, Minnesota), where I am working on… Read more »
About a year ago I went to a social dance event at my university, and on the very last waltz happened to strike up a conversation with my partner, a guy named Will Monroe. In this brief interaction I learned that Will had learned Alutiiq, an endangered Alaska Native language, through an internship at an… Read more »
Meet the 2018 Summer Intensive team that is joining WAYK in Anchorage, Alaska to work with Unangam Tunuu, an endangered Alaska Native language.
This summer, the WAYK team, including 4 WAYK interns, will live in Anchorage and work with a team of local and regional speakers and youth from both Eastern and Western speaking communities. The team that comes together in Anchorage will build on the work done since 2015 in St. Paul Island and Atka and will focus… Read more »
