Stebbins dancers

These dancers were one of my favorites. The dance uses many of the same hand motions as other native dances, but these dancers are more energetic and upbeat. You can see, they move their feet and lower bodies, not just their upper bodies, esp the guy in the red qaspeq. A kaspeq is a traditional shirt worn by the native people of Alaska (more on that in another post soon).

I believe this dance is about taking a steam(bath). You can see motions for washing in the dance. Notice...when the dance is over there is just enough time to wipe the sweat off your brow before the drummer starts the dance again. This is typical for all native dances that I've seen. They dance the same dance over and over, progressively getting more and more expressive and exaggerated in their facial expressions and hand motions. The drummers control the pace of the dance. Also, the dance usually starts off with a slow version and then has a fast version of the same dance right after.

The other science teacher in the classroom next door(she's native) said that she thinks this dance has something to do with subsistence and hunting. That over the head motion is when they are unloading their pack. And that wavy motion is the river.


She says that these dancers are Yup'ik dancers that have a Inupiaq influence. The Inupiaq are a group of native Alaskans that live up North, mostly above the arctic circle. On the map below, the arctic circle would run just south of Kotzebue. (I'm going to Kotzebue next week, more on that later). She says you can see the Inupiaq influence in their dancing and mukluks(native boots).
That's all for now...Enjoy!