Susan Patkotak was not allowed to participate in Iñupiaq dancing growing up. But last week, the 19-year-old’s performance got a standing ovation from hundreds of people. It was a new dance she created herself that told a story of reconnecting to the tradition.
“It's about how I wasn't allowed to dance when I was younger,” Patkotak said.
Patkotak is a member of Barrow Dancers, one of 11 dance groups that participated in the biannual festival, Kivġiq. The event, also known as the “messenger feast,” brings Iñupiaq residents together to celebrate a successful harvest with a feast and dancing performances.
About 700 people went to the six-day festival in Utqiaġvik this year, and thousands more watched online, said Angela Cox, North Slope Borough spokeswoman.
For performers like David Elavgaq with Tagiugmiut Dancers, the event was a chance to reconnect with relatives and friends and uplift each other through the traditional art form.
“It's like healing part of us coming out of the long, dark winter days. It brings us joy, so that for the rest of the year we can carry it on into all the things that we do culturally,” Elavgaq said. “It really brings us closer.”
Anaktuvuk Pass elder Sollie Hugo said that gathering for Kivġiq was important for residents who have lost relatives throughout the year.
“We've been in sorrow and disdain for quite some time, and we needed to lift ourselves up, so this Kivġiq was good timing,” Hugo said. “We needed to do that to come together.”
Kivġiq is a longtime tradition, where coastal Iñupiaq tribes traded their catch and products with their inland neighbors. The fastest runners would travel to the neighboring villages to invite people to the celebration.
In the early 20th century, the tradition was discontinued because the church viewed Iñupiaq dancing as pagan. It was not until 1988 when the festival restarted.
“It's something we've been doing for thousands and thousands of years, and we would not want it to stop because it's so strong,” Elavgaq said.
The event always starts with the Messenger Race. Last Monday, runners from each dance group sprinted for about 150 yards outside the Barrow High School. A runner representing Wainwright arrived at the finish line at the gym first. His victory meant that Wainwright dancers opened Kivġiq with their performance.
Participants enjoyed maktak, caribou and goose soup and other traditional foods during the event. Some gave each other gifts, like whaling bombs and ulus. On Wednesday, the city of Utqiagvik had fireworks – something they hadn’t done for Kivġiq in previous years, the city mayor Asisaun Toovak said.
This year’s theme was “Community strength through individual action!” or “Iñulaam savaaģikpuaŋ Nunaaqqim suaŋŋatigigaa!” Pearl Brower, the president of the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, said that to her, the theme meant taking initiative to improve things.
“If you see something that needs to happen, just make it happen, be that catalyst,” Brower said.
The dance performances went on for hours each day. They included traditional ceremonial dances, such as the box drum dance performed by Wainwright and Utqiaġvik. The legend behind it describes the Mother Eagle teaching Iñupiaq people to drum and celebrate.
The event featured some brand-new dances as well.
Anaktuvuk Pass elder Sollie Hugo created one dedicated to the raven, a moiety in his community. Hugo, who works at Simon Paneak Memorial Museum, said that the raven is a big part of the Nunamuit culture of the Anaktuvuk Pass area, but residents don’t put the creature on a pedestal. Instead, they view him as a hunting partner who tells people where the caribou are.
In his new dance, Hugo portrayed the raven as someone who changes his motions every time he performs.
“I called him Raven the lousy dancer,” Hugo said.
And there was Susan Patkotak’s dance. Patkotak, with Barrow Dancers, was not allowed to dance until she was 17 because of her parents’ religious beliefs. She said it was hard for her as a young girl to be left, but she emphasized that she does not blame her parents or the church.
Two years ago, Patkotak started to learn about the Iñupiaq tradition to sing and dance, and her own song just came to her. Her former teacher Bernice Kaigelak helped Patkotak translate it into Iñupiaq. The lyrics of the song describe the joyful feeling of being a part of the dancing tradition.
“We create songs and dances to express ourselves and to express our stories,” Patkotak said.
Patkotak dedicated her dance to elders and to everyone else who yearns to reconnect to their culture.
