‘Full of laughter and good feeling’
Editor’s note: George Mangtaquli Noongwook, a Yupik elder from Savoonga, Alaska, wrote this essay in December 2022 for researcher Henry Huntington. He authorized Huntington to publish it before his death on March 18, 2023. For more information about his life, read the full obituary in ICT.
George Noongwook
Special to ICT
Before I learned our music, I left home. First, I spent my four high school years at Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka. Then I enrolled at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but I didn’t like the way they were treating me and other Natives, so I left. I took a job as a loadmaster with an air cargo company. Soon after that, I was with my grandparents in Anchorage when I received a letter from the U.S. Army telling me that I needed to report to the Army training center in Fort Lewis, Washington, the day after New Year’s Day.
SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY.
After completing my basic training at Fort Lewis, I reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for advanced training with the 5th Engineer Battalion. They were involved in constructing pontoon bridges, and my role was basically in the supply room, working on reports, clothing records, and making reports to the company commander on our required assignments. I decided that the state was appropriately pronounced “Misery” when I encountered the summer heat and the size and variety of insects there.
Related story:
—Yupik elder broke ground in whaling, culture and research
My superiors recognized my abilities, which was gratifying, and I was promoted. Eventually it was time to be posted overseas. I was actually hoping to be sent to Vietnam, but my commanding officer told me that I was very fortunate. President Richard Nixon had decided not to send any more troops there. Instead, I was going to Alaska, then as now considered an “overseas” post. I was a little disappointed, since I already knew Alaska, but in the end I was happy to be home. When I met cousins and others who had served in Vietnam, and saw how much that experience had affected them, I realized that my commander was right that I was one of the lucky ones.
After I returned to Savoonga, my music journey began. My Dad came and told me that my Grandpa Jimmie Toolie and my Uncle Nathan Noongwook wanted to see me where they were drumming and singing at my Dad’s coffee shop. I was a little concerned, and so I went up to see if everyone was okay. When I went in, I noticed a row of singers and drummers waiting for me and wondered why they wanted me there. Jimmie and Nathan were ecstatic to see me and told me that they wanted me to learn Yupik songs from home. They were the principal leaders of the singing group.
They further explained to me why they wanted me there. They said that I was the best candidate for them to teach me our songs, whose songs they are, the origins of the songs they wanted to teach. They also told me they were concerned that the songs they were going to teach me could be lost if they didn’t teach the songs, their origins, who made the songs, and for whom they were made. I listened very carefully to each song they taught me. At that time, I knew nothing about singing and dancing. But the songs were enthralling and the dances were beautiful. The songs just caught me up, full of laughter and good feeling. Good times!
They also taught me how to quickly remember the songs by internalizing the songs into my body, so I could learn and remember the songs using their system of learning, memory techniques, and applying their techniques so I could also learn quickly and remember the songs that a row of drummers were about to sing.
First I would take the songs into my feet, then my ankles, then my shins, and so on until they were part of me. I asked where they had learned this technique. They said their grandparents had taught them. It was better than school! I felt good that they had chosen me, and proud to be able to do what they expected of me. The music is an awesome gift.
I was fascinated with their techniques because I was learning the songs just as quickly as each song was introduced. I also realized now why they wanted me to learn the songs, because they also told me that I would also be the one to teach new singers introduced to this system of learning. As we made progress on learning and applying that knowledge for others to use and by applying this knowledge technique, others were using this to learn just as quickly, which made all of us appreciate the quickest way to learn the songs and the associated dances.
Listening, remembering, teaching — they are the basis of the system. Learning is a mutual thing, and if you treat it this way, you’ll be okay. Teaching is by example, just showing how to sing, drum, and dance. I realized how smart my teachers were, even though I was the one who had gone to school.
At this time, I also began to record the songs with a small recorder so that we could archive the music and also use the recordings to remind us of the proper way to sing and dance. We need to use as many ways as we can to learn and teach others the songs and the dances related for each song, as a way to move forward.
Other ideas were introduced by other singers, so a group with new ideas began to emerge as a way forward. We began to work and sing together as a way to show our progress and how working together added cohesion, friendship, pride for our elders and to whomever shows up for singing and drumming. Therefore, to this day, we sing as a single unit and not try to outdo others because everyone in a group is just as important as the others.
Jimmie and Nathan also encouraged our drummers to use their own voices, not hold back on their voices, and to sing as loud as they can because they can create excitement for the audience. It also allows dancers to perform their new dances and motivate others to dance, become creative on their movements, create excitement, and motivate others to perform movements that create much excitement and pleasure to watch these new movements. This encourages others to become creative and make new movements that provide much pleasure to those who watch.
These new moves encourage others to make still more new dances and not use outdated dances that people get tired of watching. I started writing songs myself, but I didn’t like them very much. My teachers said that was okay, as long as I didn’t abandon the music.
Read More
The other aspect of music that the elders wanted to reinforce was not to change our voices when we’re singing. Remember it’s better to use our own voices and not try to use someone else’s voice; and that empowers singers to perform better than anyone even though other singers may try to emulate the new methods. This concept allows others to perform, make new dances for themselves and as an encouragement for their family to also create new moves or to share with others if they so desire. One Gambell dancer who is a joy to watch has a distinctive new style, which got a standing ovation one time because people enjoyed seeing it so much.
The songs remind people of the songs made by their forefathers and are still remembered by the elder groups prior to being introduced to this whole new concept. They bothered to teach us these ageless songs and dances that remain much appreciated by all that come to listen to these songs. The songs tell stories and memorialize events and people. The songs come from old villages all around the island, but much of that information is now lost.
By continuing to sing the songs of our ancestors, we keep them alive. Showing respect for the songs means keeping them alive. Working together builds cohesion and good feeling.
Today, we have a dance every Sunday night. Everyone is welcome. I watch the kids and think of my own first encounters with music and dance. If we didn’t hold a dance every Sunday, we’d get lots of sad faces. Even the kids love it. We encourage everyone to sing and dance all the Savoonga dances, not just clan by clan. That’s how we lost so much knowledge earlier. Now we think of them as all being Savoonga songs, for everyone to know and perform and enjoy.
One reason to share the songs is to make sure they aren’t lost. People continue to make new songs, and they are elders now. This heritage is so important. It’s how they learn. If we were to forget all our songs, we wouldn’t be as happy as we are now. We’d probably be bored to death.
Sometimes, the singers will mix the words from two or more songs. When I asked why, they explained that singing the same songs over and over with no variation would get boring. Mixing them up keeps things interesting. Sometimes, the composing or remembering of songs is a collaborative process. People may suggest improvements or correct someone’s memory of a song. The songs may also be adapted over time for new situations or circumstances.
No one gets tired of listening to the ageless, which gratifies so many people to this day and will be carried on by new singers and dancers in the coming days as new singers and dancers take over the singing and dancing, as has been done for so many years.
The work presented here is for the next generation. Spending time with the songs on this effort is really exhilarating and joyful for me.
Footnote from Henry Huntington:
George Noongwook was a culture bearer for the St. Lawrence Island Yupik music tradition of his hometown of Savoonga, Alaska. He had many recordings of the songs and dances, on reel-to-reel tape, VHS, audio cassette, and even his iPhone.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, a group of scholars working with him had hoped to create a more durable archive of those materials, and also to help George tell the story of the songs and the music and their importance in Yupik culture. COVID delayed our work, but in late November and early December 2022, I visited George at his home for several days to resume our work together.
George drafted this essay during that visit, and I made some light edits and suggested some additional material based on the conversations we had had. George reviewed the edited version and approved it. Initially, we had hoped this would be part of a book about George and the music, but George’s death in March 2023 put a sad end to those plans as well as the idea of archiving the recordings.
Three of the scholars – Igor Krupnik, Hiroko Ikuta and I – wrote an obituary about George that was published in the scientific journal, Arctic, in the summer of 2023, based on our respective experiences working with him through the years.
We want to honor George by letting him speak for himself, as he does in this essay. We are grateful to ICT (formerly Indian Country Today) for providing a platform for George’s voice, one that will reach those who sustain and enjoy Indigenous cultures today.
Note: Some of the material in this article is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant OPP-1938996. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter.
