Indigenous Peoples’ Day was celebrated in Nome this year at the Nome Recreation Center. Tables and chairs filled the gym floor as over a hundred people gathered.
The Village of Solomon, now based in Nome, hosts the event each year. The President of the tribe, Kirsten Timbers, welcomed the crowd to the event and introduced instructors at tables scattered throughout the gym floor.
“This is our fifth annual. We're so happy to be celebrating today with all of you, and we've got some exciting tables going on,” Timbers said.
Some tables showed how to sharpen ulus, while others showcased traditional beadwork and painting.
Timbers then asked attendees from different regions of Alaska to stand to be recognized. She then introduced the event's special guest, James Dommek Jr., the creator of the Hulu true-crime documentary “Blood & Myth”, set in rural Alaska. Dommek is Inupiaq and from Kotzebue.
“I’m just here to encourage all the young people to if you really have an idea and you really want to do something, you can do it,” Dommek said. “People from where we're from and who we are, we can do hard things. We can do big things.”
Dommek Jr. introduced Inupiaq writer and poet Joan Naviyuk Kane, who has roots in King Island and Mary’s Igloo. She shared a selection of poems in a pre-recorded video.
“Really wishing I could be home in the Bering Straits region, home in Alaska. It's been a long time since I have been back,” Kane said.
After the speech, the floor of the gym buzzed with activity as participants went from table to table.
Nome resident Willis Matthew Pate IV showed people how to sharpen knives and ulus using sharpening stones. Participants got to take the stones home for free. Pate said the interest in his table surprised him.
“The fun I really had as soon as we're done with the presentation to start the Indigenous day evening, the whole table swarmed. It's never a dull moment after that,” Pate said.
After hitting the tables, attendees formed a long line around the basketball court for a potluck. Nome resident Vanessa Tahbone served up Indigenous foods.
“So I am cutting what we call kauk, which is the layer of fat, and blubber and meat underneath the walrus’ skin,” Tahbone said as she served the line.
Tahbone said it didn’t take her long to prepare the dish.
“Like an hour an a half. I cheated and used a pressure cooker, but if you boil it, it’s a couple of hours to make,” Tahbone said.
The lights in the gym were then shuttered and a red carpet was laid out for the popular fashion show. Models donning traditional parkas, kuspuks and mukluks took turns sharing who made their pieces.
The night culminated with drumming and dancing. The St. Lawrence Island Dance Group performed, along with anyone from the crowd who wanted to join as the gym floor filled up with people for one last song.
