The Katirvik Cultural Center in Nome brought together people from three regions of Alaska for a week of Inupiaq language learning called Iḷisaqativut.
Over 40 people gathered in Nome for this year’s Iḷisaqativut. The event immersed participants in various dialects of Inupiaq.
It was a free flowing, creative event but there were a couple of rules, like putting a pebble in a jar anytime English was spoken during immersion time. The goal was to speak as much Inupiaq as possible.
Paałuk was one of five members of the steering committee for the event. He said the first Iḷisaqativut was two weeks long and took place in Utqiaġvik. He said the location rotates each year, and the last time Nome hosted Iḷisaqativut was back in 2018 – the event’s second year ever.
“Iḷisaqativut started in 2017, the intent was to bring people trying to learn Inupiaq all together, to work through the hard parts of the language,” Paałuk said.
He said local tribal non-profit Kawerak Inc. was a partner for the first language intensive in Nome and helped organize this year’s event as well.
Paałuk said the event has grown — the first three years had over a dozen people, and the last three drew over 40 people, with them gaining momentum each year.
He said the growth is the result of a grassroots effort.
“And in 2020, to 2021, 2022, we started building a little more towards organizational, setting up as an organization. So the steering committee began around 2022,” Paałuk said.
Kiminaq Aġviaq was one of the organizers for the event. During the workshop’s final day, she handed out prizes and read out numbers in Inupiaq. She said every activity was meant to immerse participants in the language.
Aġviaq said they take a mentor-apprenticeship approach to Inupiaq based on a University of California Berkeley program aimed at revitalizing indigenous languages. It pairs people with different speaking levels.
“And mentor apprenticeships are one of the most successful ways to revitalize a language,” Aġviaq said. “It's when a highly motivated learner is paired with a fluent speaker.”
Presenters sang songs in Inupiaq and translated them to English after they were done singing. The activities were interactive, and included children's songs like “Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”.
Aġviaq said she has a few guiding principles for learning the language.
“You’ve got to go all in, you’ve got to create a routine and find out what works for you, keep it relevant to your life. And you’ve got to make mistakes,” Aġviaq said.
Aġviaq said there are resources available on Iḷisaqativut’s website for learning Inupiaq. She said it takes chipping away at learning everyday to be successful.
