Our Team in Anchorage is doing very well - they got a spot in the news last night! My daughter's cousin Kenny Vaska and the others had us cheering and clapping in our living room. The internet made watching a bit blotchy and had us on edge for a few minutes throughout the games. The community has the opportunity to view the games at the gym. This is the third year in a row Russian Mission made it to State! Woo Hoo! All but one of our teachers went to provide additional support for our team.
I just had to mention also about the blog before this - clear up some confusion my shock and cauldron of emotion caused when I was writing. Such a provocative statement to say "a certain criteria of rightness." What I was trying to express was that society in general has a common rigidity of standards that for the most part we strive to live up to. Some are very fortunate to live up to those expectations, but some do not. The stigma that is superimposed as a consequence of not adhering to the standard of living can cause much distress and heartache for many of our youth. The good intentions of these standards are honorable, and such standards are needed as a visual of social "order" to some extent. Growing up, the standard was to live doing what was best for another - as a female member of our society in the Yup'ik tradition I was groomed to be a caregiver: help with chores, learn to provide childcare, learn to cook, attend to elder's needs... but at the same time I was groomed to try to find a career. My standards were very high... My time was at the mixed up time where the standards between Yup'ik tradition and western tradition mixed in the villages. Before the teenage years where this mixture was happening was in boarding schools outside the village. In a large part I believe this is what caused many suicides in times before, because both societies demand such rigid standards on their youth. Needed, but with such a long fall when we slide. Unlike nature where there is only one way a species lives, us humans have a kaleidoscope of living conditions. All I was trying to convey was that in my life I have learned that all I can do is try to live the best way I can and provide what love I have for all those God has given me to love, and deal with what life has given me to live with as best as I can, despite our conditions compared to societies high standards of living.
2 comments:
I don't know what it's like to have a "culture" in the sense that you and your family do. I don't identify with any particular ethnic group, and, while I am aware of my ancestry (mostly Italian and Scotch-Irish), it was never part of my upbringing. Some people identify with being "Southern," which I am, but I don't identify at all with that culture. I guess I'm just a cultural outsider.
So it interests me very much to hear that you are coping with having two cultures, especially two that are sometimes in conflict with each other. I can understand how that must feel. Your eloquent writing always conveys a strong sense of homage to your Native culture, which I admire. But I sometimes wonder how much we may be "trapped" by culture. When a tradition comes in conflict with a modern reality, which takes precedence?
There must be some way to work successfully between both cultures?...
There has been times when I have felt "trapped", labeled, criticized and otherwise disadvantaged by culture, but I believe I would have felt a the same even if there was not affiliation to one or more cultures. For example, although I excelled in school, my academic achievements had no direction other than "do good in school." Looking back I remember being told what to do at home, in the community but no interest or questions like "what are you interested in doing after high school? What career are you planning for?" In a way that is not culturally identifiable, but it made me wonder just what the expectations for our youth was back then and now because those are important thoughts for everyone. As a parent I try to ask my children thought provoking questions so that they are at least thinking of the future and the possible niche they can prepare for.
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