Ban on Native dancing in Noorvik overturned

Published on November 19th, 2009

By VICTORIA BARBER

Growing up in the Inupiaq village of Noorvik, 17-year-old Chaylen Jackson had only ever seen traditional dancing from afar.

"I'd see them on TV. I would try to copy them dancing and sing with them," Jackson said.

That's because, as far as anyone in town knows, there has never been Native dancing in Noorvik, until now.

Last September, the Noorvik elder's council and Noorvik Friends Church body voted to allow traditional dancing in Noorvik for the first time. The tradition has never been a part of the village because dancing, associated with shamanism by the church, was forbidden by missionaries around the time that Noorvik was settled by fishermen and hunters out of Deering and Oksik in the early 1900s (the name "Noorvik" means "a place that is moved to" in Inupiaq).

"It's a long story of how Eskimo dancing was taken away from our culture," said Hendy Ballot Sr., tribal administrator for the Native Village of Noorvik. "We're a generation that is pretty much losing all our Native culture, language, lifestyle and traditions, like dancing."

School principal Doyle Horton said that the idea to bring dancing to Noorvik came from the upcoming U.S. Census. On Jan. 25, Noorvik will be the first town in the United States to be counted, a high-profile event that will include congressmen and national media. The eyes of the nation will be on Noorvik, and the city wanted to have Native dancing as part of the celebration.

But no one in the village knew how to dance, and so Noorvik looked outside for help. The City of Noorvik and the Noorvik IRA brought in the Northern Lights and Kotzebue Dance Team Oct. 26 to 31. Twice a day, the visiting dancers would hold classes, once in the afternoon for students and a later class for whole community, which lasted "from 7 until people dropped."

"They picked it immediately, it was wonderful to see that it was welcomed so warmly," Horton said. "This is history - history in the making,"

Horton said that one dancer, Amil Burns from Noatak, wanted to instruct in Noorvik so badly that he has moved from his home in Noatak to teach for the rest of the year. Burns is now teaching village residents so that they can pass along the tradition. Even after the census celebration is over, Horton said that the school plans to include the dancing as part of its curriculum.

The dancing has revived other traditions as well. Clarence Jackson is chairman of the Noorvik elder's council. For about 20 years he has volunteered at the school's shop class, teaching young people how to make sled frames, sea mammal spears and other traditional Inupiaq tools. When the school started to prepare for dance classes, the principal asked Jackson if he could use his woodworking skills to build drums for the dancing.

"I didn't even know how it was supposed to work, or how it was supposed to look, so I was kind of puzzled when he asked me," Jackson said.

Jackson found a drum in town, which he was told came from Savoonga. After taking a good look at, Jackson figured out how to bend the hardwood frame, glue the pieces together and secure the nylon drum skin. He has made four drums so far and is teaching a high school student how to make his own.

"I was surprised that I could make drums, but right now I think I got it," Jackson said.

Jackson said he didn't participate in the dancing or performing but "I love to watch them."

High school junior Chaylen Jackson said that she couldn't wait to be a part of the dancing when she heard it was coming to town. At first she was shy about participating but "once you do it two or three times you eventually get the hang of it.

When asked why there had never been dancing in town before Jackson responded, "I guess nobody thought of it and thought of how fun it was."