Founder's Day Celebration

Turns out I got to Metlakatla (where I'm working) just in time for their biggest celebration of the year. They celebrate Founder's Day on August 7--the anniversary of when the native community moved and settled here--so there were lots of things planned for my first weekend, and lots of people were traveling back to the island to be with family for the holiday.

Background info: Annette Island is the only federally-designated Indian reservation in Alaska. The Tsimshiam tribe moved here from British Columbia, led by William Duncan, a missionary Anglican priest. There are 4 clans: killer whale, eagle, raven, and wolf. It's matrilineal--you are your mother's clan.

The celebration started with a parade in the morning, kind of like any typical small-town America parade with the kids riding on the town firetruck and throwing candy, and veterans marching. There were just a few people in traditional native costume in the parade, but the majority of people who'd chosen to wear a costume were in halloween-style gear (not sure what that was all about).

This ended at a fair with community-run booths selling food (seafood chowder, fried halibut, fried bread, indian tacos, and seaweed with salmon eggs). I decided to be adventurous and tried the seaweed and salmon eggs, which was...okaaay. Salmon eggs were tiny, and kind of rubbery and tasteless. Overall not too highly recommended. If you ever see these, just remember that I took the fall for you already, and you can go ahead and pass. You won't be missing anything. At the fair they also had kids running foot races and three-legged races. Again, nothing too different from elementary school relay-day.

The highlight was the big traditional dancing celebration. Everyone gathered Friday night in the town longhouse: a huge wooden building that is basically like a basketball gym inside with an open floor area and a few raised benches on the sides. Unlike your high school's basketball gym, it has traditional designs carved and painted on the outside, a totem pole in front, and some mini-totems on the walls inside, and is made of large timber planks.

All the dancers were wearing their traditional dress. (Day to day people dress in your average American clothes). The colors are red and black. The biggest part of the traditional dress is a red or black blanket-like robe worn over the shoulders with the person's clan animal symbol in the middle. These were all hand-made, and some were simply the main symbol while others had smaller artistic symbols around the clan animal, and were elaborately decorated with beads and embroidery. One even had thick fringe strips of animal fur that swung out when he turned in a dance. Beyond the robe, the traditional dress was kind of half-and-half though. Some people had fringed dresses or fur-lined vests under their robes, while others were just wearing red gym shorts and black t-shirts.

The four-generations dancers performed. I think "four-generations" just means that everyone participates, whereas in other dances only a few designated people dance from just 1 clan. Or it might refer to all 4 clans. Not entirely sure. Certainly all ages were participating, from kids to people in their 60s or 70s. The really senior citizens weren't participating, but were seated in the front rows and recognized by the leader as "elders," with an announcement reminding people to respect and honor them (and give up their seats). Some women were dancing with small children in their arms, and some were leading 3-4 year olds by the hand. The mothers had these small children dressed in exact tiny replicas of their own outfits. Elementary-aged kids were full participants, although a lot more young girls than boys were dancing. The ceremony went on for 2-3 hours, with some people dancing and drumming the entire time, and others just coming in and out from the seated audience somewhat informally.

The dance began with a leader telling some historical stories, and also saying a prayer to God. It was interesting to see that night that although this was a traditional Native American celebration, due to the history of the help they got from the Anglican priest, Christianity is also a big part of the tradition they were celebrating. One of their dances depicted "William Duncan" carrying a wooden cross above his head, with all the other dancers rallying around and following the cross. All of the dances began with a group of 5-10 drummers singing and drumming on 15" flat discus-like drums that looked like they were made of painted/decorated hide stretched and dried across a ring. Then the dancers would slowly file in between the drummers in clan order. Each clan has a unique dance move: the eagles hold out their arms to "soar," ravens fly with bent arms, etc. It's not a very active dance. They walk slowly and deliberately to the drum beat, and there is some semi-squatting moves, and then the clan arm move is added on. Everyone circles around the room doing this a few times, then lines up at the far end, and then a story-dance happens. Sometimes it involves a main character wearing a wooden mask, and some wooden objects were carried overhead, including suns, masks, and decorated wooden paddles. The songs are sung in the Tsimshiam language, while the stories being depicted are acted out. Some of the themes included the founding of the town with the cross that I mentioned earlier, a hunt with spears, and the destruction of the people when they got separated from their traditions. It was really a privilege to get to watch this celebration, which was followed by fireworks.