Yupʼik cuisine explained

Yup'ik cuisine (Yupiit neqait in Yup'ik language, literally "Yup'iks' foods" or "Yup'iks' fishes") refers to the Inuit and Yup'ik style traditional subsistence food and cuisine of the Yup'ik people from the western and southwestern Alaska. Also known as Cup'ik cuisine for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking Eskimos of Chevak and Cup'ig cuisine for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking Eskimos of Nunivak Island. This cuisine is traditionally based on meat from fish, birds, sea and land mammals, and normally contains high levels of protein. Subsistence foods are generally considered by many to be nutritionally superior superfoods. Yup’ik diet is different from Alaskan Inupiat, Canadian Inuit, and Greenlandic diets. Fish as food (especially Salmonidae species, such as salmon and whitefish) are primary food for Yup'ik Eskimos. Both food and fish called neqa in Yup'ik. Food preparation techniques are fermentation and cooking, also uncooked raw. Cooking methods are baking, roasting, barbecuing, frying, smoking, boiling, and steaming. Food preservation methods are mostly drying and less often frozen. Dried fish is usually eaten with seal oil. The ulu or fan-shaped knife is used for cutting up fish, meat, food, and such.

The Yup'ik, like other Eskimo groups, were semi-nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers who moved seasonally throughout the year within a reasonably well-defined territory to harvest fish, bird, sea and land mammal, berry and other renewable resources. Yup'ik cuisine is based on traditional subsistence food harvests (hunting, fishing and berry gathering) supplemented by seasonal subsistence activities. The Yup'ik region is rich with waterfowl, fish, and sea and land mammals. The coastal settlements rely more heavily on sea mammals (seals, walrusses, beluga whales), many species of fish (Pacific salmon, herring, halibut, flounder, trout, burbot, Alaska blackfish), shellfish, crabs, and seaweed. The inland settlements rely more heavily on Pacific salmon and freshwater whitefish, land mammals (moose, caribou), migratory waterfowl, bird eggs, berries, greens, and roots help sustain people throughout the region.

The akutaq (Eskimo ice cream), tepa (stinkheads), mangtak (muktuk) some of the most well-known traditional Yup'ik delicacies.

Traditional subsistence foods are mixed with what is commercially available. Today about half the food is supplied by subsistence activities (subsistence foods), the other half is purchased from the commercial stores (market foods, store-bought foods).

Yupik Cuisine

Both the Yup'ik (and Siberian Yupik) and Inupiaq: [[Iñupiaq]] cuisines are also known as Eskimo cuisine in Alaska. The oldest, most stable cuisine in North America is found above the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Long overlooked and pitifully misunderstood, the cuisine's roots lie buried in Eastern Asia, whence Iñupiaq and Yupik ancestors ventured to Siberia, across Beringia, and on to Alaska during the last ice age, 50,000 to 15,000 years ago. The remoteness of the Inupiat and Yupik cultures accounts for their rich and intact food history.[1] The Yupik-Inupiaq split probably occurred about one thousand years ago.[2] The Arctic cuisine is composed of a high-protein diet without grains, supplemented with wild greens, roots, and berries. Fortunately, dietitians consider the diet nutritious and balanced with abundant vitamins, minerals, proteins and valuable unsaturated fats derived from a vast array of sea and land mammals, fish, fowl, wild plants and berries.[3]

Yup’ik cuisine is different from Alaskan Inupiaq: Iñupiaq, Canadian Inuit, and Greenlandic diets. Yup'ik communities varied widely in what foods were available to them, but everyone used similar food processing and food preservation methods, including air drying and smoking, food storage in cold water and oil, fermentation, and freezing. Some foods were eaten raw.[4]

Prehistoric Yup'ik Eskimos probably relied upon a mix of anadromous fish (salmon and char), terrestrial mammals (caribou), and marine mammals (seal and walrus) for subsistence foods.[5]

What meals the Yupik eat

The type of meal (Inupiaq: neruciq) eaten at any given time varies by custom and location.

The Nunivak Eskimos (Inupiaq: Nuniwarmiut in Cup'ig, Nunivaarmiut in Yup'ik and Cup'ik) eat frequently in the course of a 24-hour period. They go to bed at sundown or early evening in the spring and fall, and well before sundown in summer, but arise early, often at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and regularly at 5:00 or 5:30. The time of rising depended on the sea tide and the time when tomcod or other fish are running. The first meal of the day is eaten at this time and another about 11:00 a.m., with snacks once or twice in between depending on the work schedule and the availability of food. The evening meal is usually at 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. with additional snacks between the main meals. In winter the entire meal schedule is likely to be moved forward, with the first meal of the day being eaten at 10:00 or 10:30 a.m. The most common food is dried or frozen fish dipped in seal oil. The evening or late afternoon meal, the hot meal of the day, frequently consisted of boiled fish or other boiled food and tea.[6]

Food preservation and preparations

Food preparation techniques are uncooked raw (Cassar- "to eat raw flesh or meat", arepa- "to eat raw food"), fermentation, and cooking (keir-). In the past, the Yup'ik nourishment consisted of raw meat, including its blood, and sometimes the meat was cooked.[7]

Food preservation

Meat or Flesh (kemek in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, kemeg in Cup'ig) is primary main food.

Fish in the food industry

Fish as food, especially Pacific salmon of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae or in some places, non-salmon species, such as freshwater whitefish of the subfamily Coregoninae in the family Salmonidae, are primary main subsistence food for Yup'ik Eskimos. Both food and fish (and salmon) called neqa sg neqet pl in Yup'ik.[8] [9] Also for salmon called neqpik ~ neqpiaq sg neqpiit ~ neqpiat pl in Yup'ik, means literally “real, genuine food”. But, main food for Iñupiaq Eskimos is meat of whale and caribou (both food and meat called niqi in Iñupiaq, also for meat called niqipiaq “real, genuine food”).

Salmon as food, herring as food, smelt, halibut, flounder, tomcod, pike, and capelin were gutted and air dried or smoked.[4] The fish heads they made into qamiqurrluk (cut and dried fish heads), and some they made into tepa (aged fish heads).[8] Fish eggs (roe) were dried and stored.[4]

Uncooked

Traditionally, most people continued to make tepa in the summer.[5] Heads (pakegvissaaq is head of fish including pectoral fins) of chinook (king), sokeye (red), chum (dog), and occasionally, coho (silver) salmon were prepared by burying them in the ground and allowed them to ferment before eating. The traditional way to prepare tepa was to bury the heads in the ground along with most of the fish guts in a wooden barrel covered with burlap material.[12] [5] Earthen pits lined with grass were used for this process. Salmon milt and eggs were added to the heads which were then covered with another layer of grass before being covered over with earth.[5] The fermenting process took from one to two weeks depending on temperature of the ground.[5] One salmon production unit prepared four pits of tepa. The pits measured approximately 18 inches deep and 2 feet square and contained approximately 75 salmon heads each. The heads of 1,000 chinook, 726 sockeye, 1,246 chum, and 41 coho salmon were prepared as tepa by Kwethluk households during 1986. One resident told the researchers, "to the Native it's like candy or bubblegum, sweet and sour, in between the two."[5] However, with the introduction of plastic buckets, the danger of botulism has surfaced and informants stressed the importance of avoiding these types of modern containers since the "oldfashioned" methods allowed oxygen to circulate and prevented the growth of bacteria which causes botulism.[5] Heads stored underground in plastic bags are more likely to develop botulism than fish stored in grasses. It was soon discovered that the traditional method of preparing the tepas was safer than the modern way.[13]

Most of the salmon that was dried and smoked was eaten without any further preparation. Dried salmon sometimes eaten with seal oil.

This fish is usually dog (chum) or king (chinook) salmon. The salmon whole (except the guts) aged through the process of burying them into the marshy, muddy lowland (maraq). The hole is dug until the permafrost is exposed. The bottom of the hole is then covered with dry grass, moss, and cardboard. Then several salmon are placed in. The top of the salmon is again covered with grass, moss and or cardboard, then the remaining dug up groung is placed back into the hole, tightly covering the contents. The aged salmon fish are usually dug out during the early winter, and eaten as a delicacy.[14]

According to the Yup'k dictionary, a single herring egg is melucuaq or qaarsaq, herring eggs (plural)/herring roe are called elquaq, while herring egg on kelp is called qaryaq. Also called herring "spawn on kelp", this is a mass of fertilized eggs or roe (var. qaarsat, meluk, imlauk) of the Pacific herring attached to eelgrass, seaweed or other submerged vegetation. Herring spawn-on-kelp is a favored food among the majority of households in various communities in the "Togiak district" around Bristol Bay (Togiak, Manokotak, and Aleknagik). Residents of Twin Hills, Dillingham, etc. in the bay's area also eat spawn-on-kelp. In the Togiak district, harvests of spawn-on-kelp took place between late April and early June. "Spawn-on-kelp for subsistence use is generally picked by hand, though rakes are occasionally used". "Today, freezing and salting are the most common methods of preservation. In the past, spawn-on-kelp was preserved by drying and storage in open-weave grass baskets" (kuusqun, kuusqulluk). "As in the past, people today prefer to eat spawn-on-kelp dipped in seal oil. The product of the harvest is commonly shared with relatives and friends in the harvesters' home community during feats celebrating birthdays or holidays".

In all four Nelson Island communities (Tununak, Newtok, Toksook Bay, and Nightmute), and "much of the roe-on-kelp is consumed soon after it is harvested, but a portion of the harvest is preserved in seal-skin pokes filled with seal oil".

The practice of collection of herring roe on kelp in the Stebbins area community has also been field-studied.

"The sac-roe (imlacuaq) is dried into product resembling golden chips. The dried roe is placed in containers and stored in the cache. It is soaked in water prior to eating but is also eaten dried. All sac-roe from subsistence caught herring was processed in all four Nelson Island communities".

Number of salmon processed for subsistence use by Kwethluk households during 1986[15]
Species Harvested Cooked
(keniraq) 		Smoked strips
(palak’aaq) 		Smoked "dry fish"
(neqerrluk) 		Frozen
(kumlaneq) 		Salted
(sulunaq) 		Canned
(paankaraq) 		Stinkhead
(tepa) 		Dog food
(qimugcin)
King or Chinook 5,8244176544,292129142121,0002
Red or Sockeye 5,4232761363,1535007261,790
Dog or Chum 9,7387708,03184001,2461,543
Silver or Coho 3,54594301,0843301571241902
Humpback or Pink 619160845000484
Total salmon 25,14988082017,546544299244,721

Cooked

Cooking (kenir-) is the process of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat. There are very many methods of cooking. These include roasting (maniar-), barbecuing, baking (uute-), frying (assali-, asgir-), smoking (puyurte-, aruvarqi-, aruvir-), boiling (ega-), and steaming (puyiar(ar)-).

All parts of the fish except the guts are used. Over an open fire, a green branch or drift wood is used by inserting the stick in the mouth of the fish, then pushing the stick though the fish along the backbone until the stick emerges at the base of the tail. the stick is then propped up near the open fire to begin roasting. a modern alternative is to wrap the fish in foil and piece it in the camp fire.[11]

The meat of fish baked whole is slit in the middle lengthwise on the other side. Fish are placed in a baking dish, seasoned, oiled, and baked. Younger people seem to prefer this over the plainer boiled fish. It is often eaten with boiled rice.[11] It is derived from Russian (zharkóe) ‘roast’.[8]

The half-dried salmon (egamaarrluk) which was cooked after being partially dried.[15] Egamaarruk is split and half dried fish. these are prepared much like neqerrluk, but are not fully dried and may not be smoked. The half dried fish are boiled and eaten with seal oil.[11] The egamaarrluk involved a similar process but the fish were kept as fillets rather than sliced into strips.[5]

All parts of the fish except for the entrails are used to prepare umlikqaq. Fresh fish that have been dead for less than a day make the best umlikqaq because the meat is still firm. If a freshwater fish is caught with a hook, it is best to kill the fish by hitting its head soon after capture so the meat will stay firm for cooking. The main ingredients of umlikqaq are cut-up fish, water, and salt which are boiled for about 29 minutes. This is a preferred food for elders because it easy to make and is not strongly seasoned. First heads are good prepared as umlikqaq.[11] Also, Ungelkaaq is fish steak cut transversely.[8]

Mammals as food

Marine mammals as food are only seals and beluga whale. Seals were the primary marine mammal hunted.[15]

Seal oil (uquq) was used by most households.[15] Seal oil is a source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Dried fish is usually eaten with seal oil.

The hide and flippers from fresh walrus may be fermented to make taaqassaaq.[17]

Dry moose meat was a favorite food among Chuathbaluk and Sleetmute inhabitants.[18]

Birds as food

The flesh of virtually all waterfowl in the environment was eaten, either fresh or dried, usually with oil or a sourdock leaf soup. Even cormorants were considered edible and the meat of these fishy-tasting birds was dried or boiled when freshly killed. The eggs of waterfowl were sometimes sucked raw, but were usually boiled. Unlike Eskimos of the adjacent mainland, the Nunivaarmiut did not boil eggs hard and pack them in pokes for use during the winter. Instead, if there were more eggs than could be consumed at the time of collecting, they were hard-boiled and, still in their shells, placed in wooden dishes of seal oil to be kept for a short while.[6]

Plants as food

Akutaq (in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, akutar in Cup'ig, akutuq in Iñupiaq) or Eskimo ice cream, also known as Yup'ik ice-cream, Yupik ice-cream, Inupiaq ice-cream, Inupiat ice-cream, Alutiiq ice cream is a mixture of berries, sugar, seal oil, shortening, flaked fish flesh, snow, etc. Akutaq is most common Eskimo delicacy in Alaska, and only dessert in Eskimo cuisine. Both Eskimo ice cream and Indian ice cream are also known as native ice cream or Alaskan ice cream in Alaska. There are different types of akutaq.

Akutaq is served on all special occasions. Like Yup'ik dance, akutaq is not an everyday dish. It is a special treat, an honor to receive and a responsibility to give.[19] "Mouse akutak" is made from roots found in mouse holes. Only a portion of the mouse's stored roots is taken, and some people replace the roots with something else the mouse can eat.

The mousefood or mouse food (ugnaraat neqait) consists of the roots of various tundra plants which are cached by voles in burrows. Mousefood are grains gathered by a mouse and buried in shallow tunnels that sprout in the fall or spring rains. The tender green sprouts are often one of the first fresh foods available. Mousefood is eaten much like one would eat a small salad or fresh greens.

Pastry

Bread (kelipaq Yukon, Kuskokwim, Hooper Bay and Chevak, Nelson Island, Canineq, Bristol Bay, Nushagak River, Lake Iliamna, Egegik, kelipar in Cup'ig from Russian хлеб khleb; qaqiaq bread in Yukon, Unaliq-Pastuliq from Iñupiaq qaqqiaq; qaq'uq in Yukon, Unaliq-Pastuliq from Iñupiaq qaqquq; kuv'aq in Yukon; tevurkaq in Unaliq-Pastuliq, tuurkaq in Lower Yukon from English dough) The uutaq is hard candy or other hard-baked food; bread[8]

Flour (mukaaq in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, mukaar, muk'ar in Cup'ig from Russian мукá muká)[8]

Fried bread (uqulek Hooper Bay and Chevak, uqurpag in Cup'ig; alatiq in Bristol Bay, alaciq in Egegik from Russian alad’i)[8] The maniaq (Yup'ik and Cup'ik), maniar (Cup'ig) is pancake; fried bread; roasted thing[8]

Frybread or fry bread (uqup'alek in Kuskokwim) is the characteristic widespread Native American homemade deep-fried biscuit, sometimes called “Eskimo doughnut” locally, known as “bannock” in Canada.[8] Both frybread and pancake are also known as asgiq or assaliaq (Unaliq-Pastuliq). The verb assali- "to fry; to make pancakes or griddlecakes" from Russian жа́рить zhárit’ The Eskimo doughnut is a deep-fried biscuit, a little like fry bread in doughnut form or fried bannock. Iñupiaq style Eskimo doughnut (aka "mukparuks"; muqpauraq or uqsrukuaqtaq ~ uqsripkauqtaq in Iñupiaq) is pretzel-like Eskimo doughnut and basically a mixture of seal oil, flour, and water, baked and fried in seal oil.[20]

Pilot bread or cracker (cugg'aliq ~ sugg'aliq from Russian sukhari’; qaq'ulektaaq in Yukon, Unasliq-Pastuliq) specifically means the manufactured, substantial unsalted crackers known as “pilot bread” (or “hardtack”) common in the North but not elsewhere.[8]

Cookie (cugg'alinguaq in Egegik)[8]

Easter bread (kulic'aaq from Russian kulích) Russian Orthodox Easter bread.[8]

Drinks

Tea (caayuq in Yukon, Unaliq-Pastuliq, Hooper Bay and Chevak, Nelson Island, Upper Kuskokwim, Nushagak River, Lake Iliamna, Egegik, saayuq Lower Kuskokwim, Canineq, Bristol Bay, caayu Nunivak Cup'ig; from Russian чай chay)

Coffee (kuuvviaq in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, kuupiaq in Unaliq, kuuvviar in Cup'ig; from Russian ко́фе kófe). The kuuvviapik ~ kuuvviapiaq is real coffee (in contrast to alqunaq or instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or ersatz coffee)

Nutrition

Nutrition is the selection of foods and preparation of foods, and their ingestion to be assimilated by the body. Human nutrition is the provision to obtain the essential nutrients necessary to support life and health.

Alaska subsistence communities are noted to obtain up to 97% of the omega-3 fatty acids through a subsistence diet. The cardiovascular risk of this diet is so severe that the addition of a more standard American diet has reduced the incidence of mortality in the native population.[21] Still, many market (store-bought) foods are high in fats, carbohydrates, and sodium; and these may lead to increased weight gain, high cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia), high blood pressure (hypertension), and chronic diseases.[22] Increasing EPA and DHA intakes to amounts well consumed by the general US population may have strong beneficial effects on chronic disease risk.[23] Yup’ik Eskimos have a prevalence of type 2 diabetes of %3.3, versus %7.7 in the U.S. overall, even though the Yup’ik Eskimos have overweight/obesity levels similar to the rest of the U.S.[24] In a preliminary study initiated by the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, elders were significantly enriched in δ15N, but depleted in δ13C, relative to younger participants.[25]

Food storage

Food storage

Dried and smoked salmon were usually stored in smokehouses, freezers, or caches belonging to the head of the salmon production unit. Salted fish were kept in buckets or wooden barrels and were stored in the house, entryway, cache, or smokehouse. Frozen salmon were kept in household freezers. Whole frozen coho salmon, used for dog food, were sometimes stored outside in pits.[15]

Elevated cache or raised log cache, also raised cache or log storehouse (qulvarvik sg qulvarviit pl [Yukon, Kuskokwim, Bristol Bay, Nushagak River, Lake Iliamna], qulrarvik [Egegik], qaivarrvik, neqivik [Hooper Bay-Chevak, Yukon, Nelson Island], enekvak [Hooper Bay-Chevak], mayurpik [Hooper Bay-Chevak], mayurrvik [Nelson Island], ellivik [Kuskokwim], elliwig [Nunivak]) is a bear cache-like safe food storage place designed to store food outdoors and prevent animals from accessing it. Elevated cache types include log or plank cache, open racks, platform caches, and tree caches. The high cabin-on-post cache was probably not an indigenous form among either Eskimos or Alaskan Athabaskans. Cabin-on-post caches are thought to have appeared in the 1870s. The cabin-on-post form may thus have been introduced by early traders, miners, or missionaries, who would have brought with them memories of the domestic and storage structures constructed in their homelands.[26]

Dog food

For thousands of years, dogs (qimugta sg qimugtek dual qimugtet pl in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, qimugta sg qimugteg dual qimugtet pl in Cup'ig) as sled dogs, have been tightly interwoven in the Yup'ik way of life, for transportation and companionship. Except for dogs, there were no important domesticated animals in aboriginal times.

Dog food (qimugcin, qimugcitkaq, qimugcessuun) refers to food for the dogs. Alunga is homemade dog food (a boiled mixture of fish and meat products) and Alungun is dog-feeding trough.[8] Salmon is the best food to feed (nerqe-) dogs. Chum, coho, and pink salmon were the species most frequently processed for dog food. In addition to dried salmon processed for dog food, whole uncut salmon and the heads, entrails, and backbones, not preserved or prepared for dog food, were also used as dog food. Chum salmon harvested during August for use as dog food were usually dried. Between late August and early October, coho salmon harvested for dog food were preserved by burying whole in earthen pits.[15]

Beluga (especially late fall hunting) are used for feeding dogs in the Bristol Bay areas.[16]

Food sources

The Yup'ik, like other Eskimo groups, were semi-nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers who moved seasonally throughout the year within a reasonably well-defined territory to harvest fish, bird, sea and land mammal, berry and other renewable resources. Subsistence is the practice of hunting, fishing, or gathering food to live on (not to resell), and is practiced by almost all the Yup'ik. In the inland, fishing for red salmon and gathering berries in the summer as well as hunting caribou or moose in the fall and winter constitute the primary seasonal subsistence activities of the inland Yup'ik villages.

The Yup'ik region is rich with waterfowl, fish, and sea and land mammals. The coastal settlements rely more heavily on sea mammals (seals, walrusses, beluga whales), many species of fish (Pacific salmon, herring, halibut, flounder, trout, burbot, Alaska blackfish), shellfish, crabs, and seaweed. The inland settlements rely more heavily on Pacific salmon and freshwater whitefish, land mammals (moose, caribou), migratory waterfowl, bird eggs, berries, greens, and roots help sustain people throughout the region.

Subsistence foods are generally considered by many to be nutritionally superior superfoods. Wild salmon, game meat, and berries harvested by Alaska Natives are world class fare compared to processed, canned, high priced items they find at their local mercantiles. Lonner (1986) compares the generally high carbohydrate foods of local grocery stores with “vital proteins and fats” in subsistence foods. In addition, the hunting and gathering of subsistence foods are favored activities among many rural Alaskans if not spiritually and culturally necessary.[27]

The primary subsistence food in the Bristol Bay region and in most of rural Alaska is salmon, followed closely by big game hunting of caribou and moose in the more inland areas, and marine mammal hunting in the coastal areas.[27]

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is the State of Alaska's regulatory agency for the management of fish and wildlife resources.[27]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission is similar to that of the Alaska Department of Fishand Game in its goals to “protect, conserve, and enhance” fish and wildlife resources—however,for the good of the nation at large.[27]

Fish

Fish (neqa sg neqek dual neqet pl in Yup'ik and Cup'ik neqa or iqallug in Cup'ig) is one of the most common Yup'ik foods.

Sea mammals

Marine mammals or sea mammals (imarpigmiutaq sg imarpigmiutaat pl in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, imarpillar in Cup'ig) are only fin-footed species, such as seals and walruses. There are four species of seals in Alaska that are referred to as ice seals (or ice associated seals) because they use sea ice for some important life history events such as pupping, nursing, molting, and resting. This ice seals (ringed, bearded, spotted, and ribbon seals) are all used for subsistence by coastal Alaska Natives for food, oil, materials, clothing, and handicrafts.[28]

Land mammals

Terrestrial mammals or land mammals (nunarmiutaq sg nunarmiutaat pl in Yup'ik) are game animals and furbearers.

Birds

Birds (tengmiaq sg tengmiak dual tengmiat pl or yaqulek sg yaqulgek dual yaqulget pl in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, tengmiar sg tengmiag dual tengmiat pl in Cup'ig)

Eggs of some species were collected.

Waterfowl were prepared in a variety of ways such as boiling, baking, and in soups.[15]

Plants

Berries and edible plants supplemented meals consisting mostly of fish and game. Plants foods also provided a variety of essential vitamins and nutrients to the diet. Berries were preserved by freezing. The most popular use berries was when making akutaq, a whipped mixture of the berries, sugar, and shortening or fat. Households also made jam, jellies, and breads from berries.[15] Sourdock leaves were prepared by boiling, like spinach.[15] Labrador tea was boiled to make tea and was consumed much like commercial teas.[15] Green spruce needles were also used for tea.[15]

Chuathbaluk and Sleetmute residents have harvested green plants both historically and presently for food, medicine, and ceremonial purposes. Greens are most commonly harvested and processed by females, although males and children may also participate in harvest activities. Most green plants are gathered close to the winter village and fish campsites or in the course of local boat travel. Greens are generally harvested by one or two females together during short morning or afternoon excursions for use by their household group. Formal organized gathering activities take place for the purpose of harvesting berries.[18]

Famine foods: reindeer lichen (tuntut neqait) was soaked in seal oil or mixed with cranberries to make it taste better.[37]

Indigenous plants were an integral part of the year-round diet of Eskimo people in addition to their incorporation in other facets of their life. Contrary to the popular perception of Eskimo people surviving solely on fish and meat, the Nunivak Cup'ig utilized a large number of local plants for food, medicinal, and utilitarian purposes.[38]

On Nunivak, most indigenous plants were traditionally gathered by women and children when the men were harvesting other available resources (e.g., caribou, waterfowl, seal). While fresh spring greens provided a welcome addition to the diet, which in winter was based largely on dried and stored foods, other greens were harvested throughout the year as they ripened, and used with some of those stored for winter use. With the melting of the island's snow pack, local greens and berries not picked during the previous fall's harvest, begin to appear and were added to the local diet. Depending on the time the ice pack began to break up, Cup'ig families would leave their winter villages and move to spring seal camps. Cup'ig men would journey out along the ice to harvest arriving sea mammals (i.e., seals, walrus) while the women would spend much of their time harvesting available plant resources (greens and seaweeds) and shellfish. Early spring plants included: marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), sour dock (Rumex arcticus), wild celery (Angelica lucida), wild lettuce (Draba borealis or D. hyperborea), wild parsnip (Ligusticum hultonii), wild rhubarb (Polygonum viviparum), mountain sorrel (Oxyria digylla), Pallas buttercup (Ranunculus pallasii), and Labrador tea (Ledum pallustre decumbens).[38]

After the completion of the hunting season, families would move to summer fish camps. Fish were the most prolific and essential subsistence resource for many Alaskan Natives living in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region and its harvest would occupy the majority of the families' efforts for several months. Traditional plants would continue to be harvested as they ripened and. were eaten fresh or placed in underground caches for temporary storage. By late summer/early fall, several berry species (e.g., Rubus chamaemorus, R. arcticus, Empetrum nigrum) and local greens (c.g., Rumex arcticus) were ready to be harvested and women and children would spend most days on the tundra gathering plant resources.[38]

Most plants were available in a variety of locales and their harvest did not dictate moving the family to specific camps. Plants that grew in abundance in specific terrain, such as several varieties of cliff greens, usually offered other resources that could be harvested at the same time (e.g., fish, Sandhill cranes). Greens such as Rumex arcticus (sour dock) could be found throughout the island and all old camp sites are said to contain buried cache pits once used for plant storage.[38]

Before placing the "wild spinach" or sour dock in the caches, the cooked leaves would be drained of juice and the pit lined with woven grass mats. Berries were stored in much the same way, except that these pits would be lined with rocks. The berries would have no juice when removed, since they would have dried out while being stored underground. In the fall, people would return to their seasonal caches and transport their stored berries and greens to their winter village.[38]

See also

References

Citations

Notes and References

  1. Zona Spray Starks (2007), "Arctic foodways and contemporary cuisine". Gastronomica: the journal of food and culture 7(1): 41–49.
  2. Steven A. Jacobson 1984, Central Yup'ik and the schools; a handbook for teachers. Alaska Department of Education, Bilingual/Bicultural Education Programs, Juneau, Alaska.
  3. Zona Spray Starks (2000?), "Memories of a vanishing Eskimo cuisine". In Harlan Walker (ed.), Food and the Memory: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2000. Prospect Books 2001.
  4. Yuungnaqpiallerput : Neqkiuryaraq Neqnek-llu Qemagciyaraq = Food preparation and storage
  5. Janet Schichnes and Molly Chythlook (1988), Use of fish and wildlife in Manokotak, Alaska. Technical Paper No. 152, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Dillingham, Alaska, December 1988.
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  13. [Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley]
  14. John Pingayak (1998), The Cup'ik People of the Western Tundra: A Curriculum. University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER); Kashunamiut School District, Chevak, AK. Also, Alaskool.org
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  16. Molly Chythlook & Philippe Coiley (1994), The Subsistence Use of Beluga Whale in Bristol Bay by Alaska Native, 1993. Technical Paper No. 231, Alaska Departement of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Juneau, Alaska, July 1994
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  18. Susan Charnley (1984), Human Ecology of Two Central Kuskokwim Communities: Chuathbaluk and Sleetmute, Technical Paper No. 81, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Juneau, Alaska, December 1984.
  19. James H. Barker (2010), Yup’ik Dancing Is Like Akutaq: A Rich Mixture. Fairbanks : University of Alaska Press.
  20. Jim Crotty (1997), How to Talk American: A Guide to Our Native Tongues
  21. Low incidence of cardiovascular disease among the Inuit—what is the evidence?. Atherosclerosis. 2003-02-01. 0021-9150. 12535749. 351–357. 166. 2. Peter. Bjerregaard. T. Kue. Young. Robert A.. Hegele. 10.1016/s0021-9150(02)00364-7.
  22. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/AlaskaTraditionalDietProject/AlaskaTraditionalDietProjectHC071911.pdf Contaminants in subsistence foods from the western Alaska coastal region
  23. Zeina Makhoul, Alan R Kristal, Roman Gulati, Bret Luick, Andrea Bersamin, Bert Boyer, and Gerald V Mohatt (2010), "Associations of very high intakes of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids with biomarkers of chronic disease risk among Yup'ik Eskimos." The american journal of Clinical Nutrition 91:777–785
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  25. Michael J. Wilkinson, Youlim Yai, and Diane M. O’Brien (2007), "Age-related variation in red blood cell stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) from two Yupik villages in Southwest Alaska : a pilot study". International Journal of Circumpolar Health 66(1):31–41.
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  27. Marie Lowe (2007), Socioeconomic Review of Alaska's Bristol Bay Region. Prepared for North Star Group. Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage.
  28. Alaska Department of Fish and Game : Ice Seal Research
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  30. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) 2005-5-23. Retrieved on November 15, 2014.
  31. University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) :Reindeer … Caribou … What’s the Difference?
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  34. Web site: Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), US Fish & Wildlife Service . Fws.gov . 2011-11-09.
  35. Chuck Eisenhower, Nunivak musk ox with bow and arrow
  36. http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/iks/hail/JulieWolves.html Honoring Alaska's Indigenous Literature
  37. Jernigan, Kevin (Editor in Chief), A Guide to the Ethnobotany of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region.
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