A Yupik Wedding

On Friday, half of our staff left school for a wedding in the village.  The Yupik women approached the principal and said, "We are all going to this wedding - after all, we are all related to the bride in some way!"  The nuptuals occured at 1 pm in the Catholic church - so I was not able to attend that part.  But I had been invited to the feast that was afterwards.  I was not planning on going since I did not know the bride, but was told that since I had been personally invited by the aunt of the bride (a special education aide at our school) it would be an insult if I did not show up.

I was told to bring my own plate and flatware, since they often run out - so I did just that - a plate and a fork.  I arrived at the community center to find chairs lined up on either wall, with long sheets of red butcher paper spread out on the floor.  Children were running all around, and people were busy putting bowls of food out on a long tables.

The Buffet Line

Seal-Blood Soup

Soon, an elder relative of the groom stood up and said a blessing, then asked everyone to join the feast.  Elders are to serve themselves first - which put me somewhere in the middle of the pack, since there were quite a few older people. I watched them pile their plates and bowls up high! I had always said that I would try anything once - but was a little reluctant with some of the proffered delicacies.  The first was Bird Soup - a very popular dish - where the actual heads, beaks, webbed feet, and wings are all floating luxuriously around in the broth.  I wish I could have gotten a photo of that (but would have had to stop the line and stir around the pot a bit - and I didn't want to make a scene!).  The next was seal-blood soup - at which point, I was grateful I had not brought a bowl.

Akutaq

Thank goodness, someone brought spaghetti!
I did enjoy the dessert - akutaq  (pronounced ah-goo-duk), also known as Eskimo Ice Cream.  It is a mix of Crisco, sugar, and berries.  This one had crowberries, salmonberries, and blueberries, and was actually delicious.  (I had had two other versions earlier this week with just the local crowberries that were a bit too tart for my taste).

Once you have your food, everyone just sits down on the ground, using the paper strips as the tablecloths.

Mary eating bearded seal ribs

As I mentioned, people were piling their plates up high. Well, it wasn't long before the foil was being passed around and everyone wrapped up the leftovers to take home!

 

 

 

 

We all went home around 6:30 pm when it appeared everyone was cleaning up and leaving, but by 7:00, a fellow teacher was knocking on my door saying the dancing had started, and to get back over to the community center! 

 

Dance Fans

 

 

 

 This is my favorite photo: These men were having such a great time singing and playing the drums!!