S2E17: Golga Oscar (Yup'ik Nation)

2022 Artist in Business Leadership Fellows, Golga Oscar (Kasigluk Elders Traditional Council - Yup'ik Nation) weaves a narrative of his personal odyssey back to their Indigenous roots. Through their vivid recounting, we're transported to a world where ancient parka making and beadwork are more than mere crafts; they're lifelines to a heritage persistently navigating the torrents of Westernization. Golga's voice resonates with a passion for the painstaking reclamation of ancestral wisdom, which blossoms into an urgent call for the current and future custodians of Yupiq traditions to preserve the irreplaceable artistry ingrained in their identity.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm currently trying to influence younger generation
to create artwork that emphasizeon the culture and recreate
what was once discontinued.
After 2000s, after mygrandparent's generation, there
were the ones that really heldonto the cultural art creating

(00:25):
parkas, creating makwa.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
First People's Fund presents the Collective Spirit
Podcast.
The Collective Spirit moveseach of us to stand up and make
a difference, to pass onancestral knowledge and simply
extend a hand of generosity.
The Collective Spirit Podcastfeatures Native artists and
culture bearers who discuss thepower of indigenous art and

(00:57):
culture.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
My name is Golva Oscar.
I am from the Yupik Nation outhere in southwest Alaska,
specifically from the Kasegolvillage, and my father is
affiliated with Tanunik, locatedin Nelson Island.
So my exclusive medium is skinsewing, speed work and color
work.
I mainly focus on the skinsewing, such as creating fancy

(01:22):
parkas, slash contemporaryparkas.
I also incorporate quilt workand beadwork into my work.
The way that our parkas arestructured, are adorned with
beads and geometric designs.
Geometric designs are a sourceof family and other
embellishments of the parkas.

(01:43):
It's also family historyBecause in the parka there's out
these one embellishments thatis placed in the parka to tell
the story of what happenedduring their ancestral times.
My people were assimilated intheir early 1900s and to this
day that assimilation stillcontinues, although growing up I

(02:05):
grew up in a family that wasreally westernized and also part
of indigenous knowledge,indigenous system.
So the Yupik Nation reallyintertwined between indigenous
and western system, althoughit's more westernized because
most of the knowledge that wasindigenous based was slowly

(02:27):
being forgotten and most of thechurches took away that
knowledge from us because mostof the Bibles were translated
into Alaska Native language tolure more people in, to be more
connected with the westernaspect After I first started

(02:47):
attending IAA back in 2016,during that first semester, when
I observed my friends andpeople in the community.
So from there, that's when Istarted to focus on my culture
identity.
And the way that I started tofocus on my culture identity is

(03:11):
doing my research on thetraditional and contemporary
knowledge through reading booksthat the corporation created,
our corporation here in Alaskaand something that I never
effort while growing up, becausethroughout my childhood, all I
was ever taught about wasChristianity was about Bible and

(03:31):
being part of the Americanmainstream.
Having a chance to conduct myresearch through these books was
a healing journey and I know inthe first reason why I wanted
to initiate myself my cultureidentity is because no one in my
family is going to initiate it.
So who's going to start it?
And I thought about am I goingto be the only one that's going

(03:53):
to pursue this format to keep myidentity alive?
How can I indigenize the futuregenerations?
How can I help those who aregoing through tough time?

(04:14):
That's the whole reason why I'mfocusing on my artistry all
these text artwork, parka making, beadwork.
I've come a long ways lookingback and learning all these
aspects of traditional knowledge, those stories, legendary
stories, the eupig system.
I've got to say thattraditional knowledge,

(04:37):
traditional art, saved my lifefrom western lifestyle.
I'm currently trying toinfluence every generation to
create artwork that emphasize oneupig culture and recreate what
was once discontinued.
After 2000s, after mygrandparents' generation, there

(05:01):
were the ones that really heldonto the cultural art creating
parkas, creating muclucks andthen one of the craziest things
that I really think of comparedto early 2000s, there were over
at least 50 mucluck makers ineach community and then now it's

(05:21):
only at least one to two peopleper community that makes them,
because they don't know thestructure of how to make the
tools.
Those are some examples thatI'm trying to pursue.
Oppression through sexism is oneof the most common things in
many communities around theUppek Nation, because

(05:41):
oceanization has really greatlyimpacted many people.
So for me, I will challengemyself that how can I make my
people understand where theycome from, of who they are and,
most importantly, of who theirancestors are and how their
ancestors lived?
Back in those days there wereno gender, there were no gender

(06:07):
roles.
Most of the men that didn'thave any wife or most of the
widowed people were how to takeover because there wouldn't be
anyone that would take care ofthem.
It was going to fill thatposition.
If you don't have that, if youdon't have a park maker, who's
going to fill that position ifyou don't have a provider for

(06:28):
the materials?
So I'm trying to make my peopleunderstand that it was a
balance between nature andpeople.
Other challenge that I facedwas how can I get a support

(06:50):
system?
How can I have access tosupport systems to speak about
these topics?
How can I hear someone?
How can someone, how can Ilisten to someone that agrees
with me and goes further of whatI said?
Those are some obstacles that Iface each day, especially when

(07:12):
I'm traveling within the epicnation, although my goal is to
indigenize that atmosphere,using indigenous methodologies
to inspire that atmosphere, toinspire people to have an open
discussion about these topics.
So I feel like when I thinkabout that, it opens up a lot of

(07:33):
dialogue.
Partake in the grant for thisopportunity to see if I would
get in.
And the reason why I wanted toget in is because amazing people
that are making change, eventhe ones that are trying to
apply, trying to reapply.
I find inspiration in manyplaces, in many spaces and being
part of one thing that I reallyenjoy watching First Peoples

(07:55):
Fund is because they take theirtime to listen to many
indigenous voices all overindigenous country and it's
inspired me to be out theremaking change within my
community not only within mycommunity but other girl
communities as well to advocatefor their people.
So being part of thisopportunity is also making me

(08:22):
explore many ideas on how I canvery much inspire myself and
inspire the future generationsto spread awareness of
indigeneity, traditionalindigenous knowledge instead of
Western knowledge.
But yeah, those are the thingsthat I really admire about First
People Fund.
My project proposal isemphasized on expanding my

(08:47):
merchandise and new businessthings.
Third generation art the reasonwhy third generation art is
because I was born when mygrandmother was alive and I'm
the third generation of thefamily.
The most important things thatwe have to do so then we can
understand what we want so thatwe can get the message from
nature, starting our healingjourney.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
The collective spirit podcast is produced by First
People's Fund, whose mission isto honor and support indigenous
artists and culture bearersthrough grant making initiatives
, culturally rooted programming,and training and mentorship.
Learn more at FirstPeople'sFund.
Dot o r g.