Gallery • 5 Photos

Rowan Bean

Angela Tinker

Seward contains a handful of different students, but how many of those students are Alaska Native? How many of them are females? 

We interviewed several students to see what their role is as a female Alaskan Native in their household. Many didn’t have a big role. Sophomore Hannah Schilling said, “Only my mom is Native, and she grew up in the village. I never really experienced a lot of Native culture, and I don’t really know a lot about it.̈  Same goes for her cousin Sophomore Emily Unrein. 

Senior Angela Tinker, on the other hand, had a bit more expectations. ¨I have to know how to cut fish and sew and clean.¨ When asked what she did in the village, she said, “I had to watch kids a lot; that’s usually the woman’s job.̈  Junior Linda Jack agrees and adds “…we gather berries and prepare food.”

Senior Priscilla Stoltz, who was born in Colorado then moved to Seward, watches Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) with her mother to stay connected with their culture. Though, she doesn’t have a role in her household.  

We noticed that all the girls we interviewed were part of the Yupik tribe. The Yupik people are a tribe located in Southwestern Alaska. They  are very cultural, and use their land for resources. The girls who had more cultural responsibilities were the ones who lived in the villages previously before living in Seward. 

Although these girls are all from the same ethnicity, they do not share the same stereotypical responsibilities. They express their culture differently.