August 8, 2024 • 13 mins
Have you ever wondered how art can be a powerful vessel for preserving cultural heritage? Meet 2024 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award Honoree Golga Oscar (Yup'ik), who shares their profound journey from a childhood fascination with Inuit art to becoming a celebrated textile artist rooted in the rich traditions of the Yupik Nation. Golga recounts their awe-inspiring experiences at the Yup'ik dance ceremony, Kuvvigik, and how these cultural moments propelled them to create traditional attire that honors her ancestors. Discover the pivotal role their community and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) played in shaping their artistic journey, and how their art becomes a bridge to her spiritual connection with nature.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
When I started to realize the importance of my
culture, identity, along withthe traditions that it has, the
more I found beauty in it, andwhat I mean by beauty is that
the significance of the stories,the color and number system, of
how my people used to be deeplyrooted into the spiritual
(00:22):
system and of how the spiritualsystem really connects with
Mother Earth and sky.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
First Peoples 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
(00:59):
culture culture.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Hello everyone, my name is Cookie.
My English name is Golga.
I am from the Yupik Nation,specifically located in the
southwest of Alaska.
My artistic medium is textilework.
I do a lot of work thatemphasizes around Yupik culture,
such as Yupippie headdresses,yippie parkas, mukluks, beadwork
(01:26):
, quillwork.
Yeah, so the way that I startedwithin working with these
materials was back during myfreshman year in high school.
As a kid, while growing up inmy mother's village, kasigaluk,
there was a display case out inour school over at the lobby and
the display case was filledwith a lot of Inuit art
(01:47):
specifying Yippie culture.
So as a kid, I was alwaysintrigued by that display case.
Every time when we used to lineup for gym time, we would walk
towards the gym and we wouldpass that display case, and
every time when we we would passit, I would have my eyes like
looking around that display case, exploring it.
(02:08):
But yeah, it wasn't until.
2010 is when I first experiencedmy first Yupik ceremony out in
Tununuk, my father's village.
During that ceremony, it was myfirst time experiencing such a
beautiful Yupik dance ceremony,and that ceremony is called
Kuvvigik.
Kuvvigik all translates to amessenger feast, and during that
(02:32):
time, each beginning of theyear, the spring season is when
the ceremony starts and whendances happen, they have their
own headdresses, they have theirown maklaks, their own dance
fads and their own qasbaks andnecklaces.
I mean, while I was observingthat each of the pieces with
(02:54):
Nyiipik attire had its ownuniqueness because it was
different from one another, andone of the things that really
caught my eye was beauty of theattire, of how it flowed during
the dance, and then, from thatpoint on, I started to explore
(03:18):
hippie headdresses.
One of the things that I forgotto mention is that my father's
region, since they live on theBering Sea, they really rely on
ocean to see mammals.
It was my first time stretchinga seal hide and this really
inspired me from seeing sealskin mukluks.
I had help from my mother,which was a very special
(03:40):
opportunity from learning fromher.
As the years progressed, as mysewing progressed, I started to
explore other projects, such asmittens, fur hats and a pair of
muck looks.
But yeah, that's where myinspiration came from.
(04:04):
When I started to progress in mysewing career, the community of
Aie Aie really helped me instrengthening my identity, my
Yupik identity.
The community of Aie Aie reallyhelped me in strengthening my
identity, my Yupik identity.
When I first started Aie Aie, Iwas culturally shocked by the
culture each tribe had and howtheir culture are deeply rooted
(04:27):
into their art and I was veryinspired by that.
So when I started to realizethe importance of my culture,
identity, along with thetraditions that it has, and I
found beauty in it, and what Imean by beauty is that the
significance of the stories, thecolor and number system, of how
(04:48):
my people used to be deeplyrooted into the spiritual system
and of how the spiritual,spiritual system really connects
with mother earth and sky.
In yuppie culture or inindigenous culture, you can do
so many things within producingart.
(05:09):
We, by using, utilizing naturalresources, that you're
practicing your ancestors' workand you're focusing on the
spiritual significance of anitem.
I think, because Alaska is oneof the top three states that is
known for its higher rates ofsuicide, is because a lot of
(05:32):
Alaska N natives don't know whothey are.
It's because of that culturalgenocide that I was wiped out,
wiped away from them.
So I'm very thankful that Iattended IAIA and it's really
benefited me throughout thoseyears of attending, because
exploring other forms ofcultural art was very
(05:54):
inspirational.
I'm very thankful for how muchthey've taught me, especially
the friends that I've createdthat became family.
It's all about supporting oneanother, because when you
support one another, then yousupport your own career as well.
My current inspiration isconducting research about my
(06:19):
culture, my people, throughstories and through kanroo yutut
oral instructions, and throughthese stories I've been gaining
so much information about my ownpeople that my family hasn't
told me about.
It really strengthens myspiritual identity of how my
(06:41):
ancestors used to practicepraying through using a yippie
drum, through dances a yippiedrum through dances and in our
culture we say that every timewhen we dance we have to think
of our loved ones or the thingsthat we want to achieve, or the
(07:02):
things that we want, because alot of elders say that mind is a
is a powerful thing.
You have to be careful of howyou use it.
The challenge that I facedwithin my career is being the
only family member that focusedaround the aspect of Yupik
(07:23):
identity and excluding thisWestern lifestyle, excluding
this Western ideology.
There were times where I wascalled the devil.
I mean, for example and Ididn't really take that as an
offense, because that's more ofa Western aspect other than
indigenous aspect there are144,000 Inuits and there are
(07:49):
144,000 ways to be Inuit, andthe more I practiced, the more I
started to understand thatthere are different ways to be
Inuit and each one has their ownbelief system, their own ways
of overcoming the challenges.
And every time when I came uponthat challenge, I also would
(08:16):
reflect back on how much workthat I've been doing throughout
these past years.
It really eases my mind and itreally makes me proud of how
much I'm making my ancestorsproud, of how much I'm making my
loved ones proud.
So what I'm currently doing iscoordinating workshops within
(08:37):
the community of Bethel.
So far I've been sharing thisknowledge within my people and
those people that are affiliatedwith my tribe and
non-Indigenous people.
Every time when I share it, Ifeel gratitude towards those
(08:58):
elders that were sharing whatthey used to hear.
I'm hoping to travel intovillages more often this coming
fall and winter to spread moreinspiration among the younger
generation and this currentgeneration.
I want them to realize thatArabic culture has its own
(09:21):
beauty, as its native culturehas its own beauty, that it can
save one's life from substanceuse to trauma, abuse and all
forms of Western lifestyle, oncea person excludes that from
their identity and when theyfocus on their native identity,
(09:41):
they'll find beauty in it,they'll find meaning of it,
meaning in life in it.
So what Community Spirit Awardmeans to me is I'm a culture
bearer and being a culturebearer is an important factor in
today's generation.
And after receiving this awardit really opened my eyes on how
(10:05):
I can pursue more within mycommunity by inspiring the
younger generation to pursuecultural arts, because you never
know who you're going toinspire.
So focused on the aspect ofproducing work, and producing
work to a point where we forgetwho is watching us.
Our Yippik way of life isreally important to us.
(10:28):
When I taught that to thiscurrent and younger generation,
I was in joy.
When I held that aspect ofknowledge and sharing it with
(10:52):
the people my surroundings,especially the community that I
grew up in, it was a great senseof joy.
In our Yiddish culture thisaspect of giving is a sense of
gratitude and giving.
It doesn't only have to becertain material giving, but it
(11:14):
can also be knowledge giving.
Material giving but it can alsobe knowledge giving living.
Through that aspect of giving itreally shows of how one.
It really shows of how onereally loves their community,
(11:35):
their own people, the way thattheir future holds.
They want them to pursue thesame aspects so that they can be
more successful.
And that's what communityspirit means to me is meaning of
(11:56):
how I want the futuregenerations to be and of how it
means to be a leader and how aleader should work within the
community other than being theonly one to lead other forms of
(12:22):
work.
I want to create a safe spacewithin decolonizing Indigenous
folks who are pursuing theirarts.
I want them to feel theimportance of creating art
within this modern society.
I want them to know thatsharing knowledge is a sense of
(12:47):
gratitude, and having thatgratitude has been practiced for
thousands of years, and theysay that meaning if you pursue
good within your community, thenyou will pursue good in life
(13:25):
the collective spirit podcast isproduced by first people's fund
, whose mission is to honor andsupport indigenous artists and
culture bearers through grantmaking initiatives.
When I started to realize the importance of my
culture, identity, along withthe traditions that it has, the
more I found beauty in it, andwhat I mean by beauty is that
the significance of the stories,the color and number system, of
how my people used to be deeplyrooted into the spiritual
(00:22):
system and of how the spiritualsystem really connects with
Mother Earth and sky.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
First Peoples 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
(00:59):
culture culture.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Hello everyone, my name is Cookie.
My English name is Golga.
I am from the Yupik Nation,specifically located in the
southwest of Alaska.
My artistic medium is textilework.
I do a lot of work thatemphasizes around Yupik culture,
such as Yupippie headdresses,yippie parkas, mukluks, beadwork
(01:26):
, quillwork.
Yeah, so the way that I startedwithin working with these
materials was back during myfreshman year in high school.
As a kid, while growing up inmy mother's village, kasigaluk,
there was a display case out inour school over at the lobby and
the display case was filledwith a lot of Inuit art
(01:47):
specifying Yippie culture.
So as a kid, I was alwaysintrigued by that display case.
Every time when we used to lineup for gym time, we would walk
towards the gym and we wouldpass that display case, and
every time when we we would passit, I would have my eyes like
looking around that display case, exploring it.
(02:08):
But yeah, it wasn't until.
2010 is when I first experiencedmy first Yupik ceremony out in
Tununuk, my father's village.
During that ceremony, it was myfirst time experiencing such a
beautiful Yupik dance ceremony,and that ceremony is called
Kuvvigik.
Kuvvigik all translates to amessenger feast, and during that
(02:32):
time, each beginning of theyear, the spring season is when
the ceremony starts and whendances happen, they have their
own headdresses, they have theirown maklaks, their own dance
fads and their own qasbaks andnecklaces.
I mean, while I was observingthat each of the pieces with
(02:54):
Nyiipik attire had its ownuniqueness because it was
different from one another, andone of the things that really
caught my eye was beauty of theattire, of how it flowed during
the dance, and then, from thatpoint on, I started to explore
(03:18):
hippie headdresses.
One of the things that I forgotto mention is that my father's
region, since they live on theBering Sea, they really rely on
ocean to see mammals.
It was my first time stretchinga seal hide and this really
inspired me from seeing sealskin mukluks.
I had help from my mother,which was a very special
(03:40):
opportunity from learning fromher.
As the years progressed, as mysewing progressed, I started to
explore other projects, such asmittens, fur hats and a pair of
muck looks.
But yeah, that's where myinspiration came from.
(04:04):
When I started to progress in mysewing career, the community of
Aie Aie really helped me instrengthening my identity, my
Yupik identity.
The community of Aie Aie reallyhelped me in strengthening my
identity, my Yupik identity.
When I first started Aie Aie, Iwas culturally shocked by the
culture each tribe had and howtheir culture are deeply rooted
(04:27):
into their art and I was veryinspired by that.
So when I started to realizethe importance of my culture,
identity, along with thetraditions that it has, and I
found beauty in it, and what Imean by beauty is that the
significance of the stories, thecolor and number system, of how
(04:48):
my people used to be deeplyrooted into the spiritual system
and of how the spiritual,spiritual system really connects
with mother earth and sky.
In yuppie culture or inindigenous culture, you can do
so many things within producingart.
(05:09):
We, by using, utilizing naturalresources, that you're
practicing your ancestors' workand you're focusing on the
spiritual significance of anitem.
I think, because Alaska is oneof the top three states that is
known for its higher rates ofsuicide, is because a lot of
(05:32):
Alaska N natives don't know whothey are.
It's because of that culturalgenocide that I was wiped out,
wiped away from them.
So I'm very thankful that Iattended IAIA and it's really
benefited me throughout thoseyears of attending, because
exploring other forms ofcultural art was very
(05:54):
inspirational.
I'm very thankful for how muchthey've taught me, especially
the friends that I've createdthat became family.
It's all about supporting oneanother, because when you
support one another, then yousupport your own career as well.
My current inspiration isconducting research about my
(06:19):
culture, my people, throughstories and through kanroo yutut
oral instructions, and throughthese stories I've been gaining
so much information about my ownpeople that my family hasn't
told me about.
It really strengthens myspiritual identity of how my
(06:41):
ancestors used to practicepraying through using a yippie
drum, through dances a yippiedrum through dances and in our
culture we say that every timewhen we dance we have to think
of our loved ones or the thingsthat we want to achieve, or the
(07:02):
things that we want, because alot of elders say that mind is a
is a powerful thing.
You have to be careful of howyou use it.
The challenge that I facedwithin my career is being the
only family member that focusedaround the aspect of Yupik
(07:23):
identity and excluding thisWestern lifestyle, excluding
this Western ideology.
There were times where I wascalled the devil.
I mean, for example and Ididn't really take that as an
offense, because that's more ofa Western aspect other than
indigenous aspect there are144,000 Inuits and there are
(07:49):
144,000 ways to be Inuit, andthe more I practiced, the more I
started to understand thatthere are different ways to be
Inuit and each one has their ownbelief system, their own ways
of overcoming the challenges.
And every time when I came uponthat challenge, I also would
(08:16):
reflect back on how much workthat I've been doing throughout
these past years.
It really eases my mind and itreally makes me proud of how
much I'm making my ancestorsproud, of how much I'm making my
loved ones proud.
So what I'm currently doing iscoordinating workshops within
(08:37):
the community of Bethel.
So far I've been sharing thisknowledge within my people and
those people that are affiliatedwith my tribe and
non-Indigenous people.
Every time when I share it, Ifeel gratitude towards those
(08:58):
elders that were sharing whatthey used to hear.
I'm hoping to travel intovillages more often this coming
fall and winter to spread moreinspiration among the younger
generation and this currentgeneration.
I want them to realize thatArabic culture has its own
(09:21):
beauty, as its native culturehas its own beauty, that it can
save one's life from substanceuse to trauma, abuse and all
forms of Western lifestyle, oncea person excludes that from
their identity and when theyfocus on their native identity,
(09:41):
they'll find beauty in it,they'll find meaning of it,
meaning in life in it.
So what Community Spirit Awardmeans to me is I'm a culture
bearer and being a culturebearer is an important factor in
today's generation.
And after receiving this awardit really opened my eyes on how
(10:05):
I can pursue more within mycommunity by inspiring the
younger generation to pursuecultural arts, because you never
know who you're going toinspire.
So focused on the aspect ofproducing work, and producing
work to a point where we forgetwho is watching us.
Our Yippik way of life isreally important to us.
(10:28):
When I taught that to thiscurrent and younger generation,
I was in joy.
When I held that aspect ofknowledge and sharing it with
(10:52):
the people my surroundings,especially the community that I
grew up in, it was a great senseof joy.
In our Yiddish culture thisaspect of giving is a sense of
gratitude and giving.
It doesn't only have to becertain material giving, but it
(11:14):
can also be knowledge giving.
Material giving but it can alsobe knowledge giving living.
Through that aspect of giving itreally shows of how one.
It really shows of how onereally loves their community,
(11:35):
their own people, the way thattheir future holds.
They want them to pursue thesame aspects so that they can be
more successful.
And that's what communityspirit means to me is meaning of
(11:56):
how I want the futuregenerations to be and of how it
means to be a leader and how aleader should work within the
community other than being theonly one to lead other forms of
(12:22):
work.
I want to create a safe spacewithin decolonizing Indigenous
folks who are pursuing theirarts.
I want them to feel theimportance of creating art
within this modern society.
I want them to know thatsharing knowledge is a sense of
(12:47):
gratitude, and having thatgratitude has been practiced for
thousands of years, and theysay that meaning if you pursue
good within your community, thenyou will pursue good in life
(13:25):
the collective spirit podcast isproduced by first people's fund
, whose mission is to honor andsupport indigenous artists and
culture bearers through grantmaking initiatives.
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