Siberian and Inupiaq Traditional Reunion

Communal gatherings that celebrate sea mammal hunting have been held on the coasts of Alaska and Chukotka, Russia, for centuries. It is a celebration of the ages: skin boats racing across the open sea are an exciting sight to behold from the shore, where salmon and whale meat are cooking over open fires and people are dancing and drumming to celebrate the harvest. This drumming, singing and dancing is the ancient traditional art form of Atuq to the Siberian and Inupiaq natives peoples. the Siberian Yupik and Inupiaq people have lived on both sides of the Bering Strait for eons. . Unfortunately, because of the International border and politics they have been seperated by force. At the same time, in response to outside pressure, the ancient art of Atuq has faded in much of Alaska and the practice is only recently again gaining traction. This summer, two Atuq ensembles from Alaska, consisting of Elders, women, men, boys and girls ranging in age from 12 to +70 in age will travel from St. Lawrence Island and Little Diomede, two Alaskan islands in the middle of the Bering Strait, to Chukotka on the Russian side of the Bering Strait to reunite and revitalize the ancient art of Atuq with their relatives in Russia.



We are raising requested funds to help cover travel costs from the islands to Nome and across the Bering Strait.

Our organization will incorporate this material into our new initiative “HumanKind” launching in Spring of 2020. The HumanKind initiative celebrates the tapestry of humankind in a mission to foster understanding between people across the world. The gathering will provide a window of learning through online coverage on social media aimed at local Siberian Yupik and Inupiat in Alaska as well as the broader audience; and, serve as the foundation for the development of online education programming to be offered at beHumanKind.com—the documented materials synched with standard-aligned online lessons and activities geared for students in US classrooms.

This project is organized by the small Alaskan Non-profit GoNorth! Adventure Learning.