|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On St. Lawrence Island live Eskimo people known as Siberian Yupik. St. Lawrence Island is in the middle of the Bering Sea. It is closer to Siberia in Russia than it is to Alaska. This island has been inhabited by these people for several thousand years. By the end of the 19th century over 4,000 people lived on the island. When European traders arrived on the island it opened up a path to the outside world. In between the years of 1878-80 there was a famine that lowered the population. In the year 1900 people brought a herd of reindeer to the island. Within a matter of years the herd grew from just a few animals to over 10,000.
|
There are two villages on the island now. They are called Gambell and Savoonga. These villages have a subsistence lifestyle where they hunt sea mammals like bowhead whales and walrus. Since the island is so isolated most of the people are bilingual. This means that they can speak English and Siberian Yupik. Today the people on St. Lawrence Island have mixed the past into today's lifestyle.
|
|
Most of the homes on the island do not have running water or toilets that flush. They haul water to their homes from a 100,000 gallon holding tank. When they have to use the bathroom they use a honeybucket. A honeybucket is a bucket that you use for a toilet.
 |
Siberian Yupik Eskimos have a subsistence economy. Most of the cash money they get comes from carving ivory and making dolls of the Eskimo people. A few people on the island fish for money also. Foxes are trapped and sold as another way to make a few dollars.
|
St. Lawrence Island is in the Bering Sea, and is 164 miles west of a city called Nome. It is 100 miles long and 20 miles wide. It is only 38 miles east of Siberia, Russia. The people of St. Lawrence Island are the only Siberian Yupik Eskimos in the United States of America. Their language is called Siberian Yupik and it is only spoken on St. Lawrence Island and in mainland Siberia.
Savoonga is known as "Walrus Capital of the World." The people on St. Lawrence Island live a subsistence lifestyle. That means they hunt, fish, gather, and trade for most of their needs. Each year the villagers hunt for walrus. They will share the meat with everyone. They will use the skin to make boats that are used during whaling.
|
Most of the island's activities focus on the land and the sea. During the summer the villagers will head to their family fish camps scattered around the coast. They will fish and hunt marine mammals, gather greens, bird eggs, and pick berries.
|
|
The ivory found on the beaches of St. Lawrence Island is very old and valuable. Many villagers make money by carving and selling ivory.
Neither village has a water or sewer system for individual homes. The community provides a central laundry and shower facility. Most people haul water daily and take it to their homes. Waste is put in honey buckets and picked up daily and taken to the city landfill.
One of the most exciting times for the Siberian Yupik Eskimo is the springtime. The long winter is over and it is whaling season.
|
|
|
|
|
