The Biggest Event of the Year

Taking a walk on the edge of Lake Iliamna

This past weekend was the Newhalen/Iliamna carnival and therefore it was all anyone had talked about in the weeks leading up to it. Let me just clear up any confusion now and say that this is not your typical carnival. There were plenty of raffles, games, music, dances, and even a talent show to fill the weekend. However, other popular items on the schedule were ice fishing derbies, steam bath contests (to see who can last the most minutes, not hours, in the scalding hot steam), water warming contests, and many more "Alaskan" events. Throughout last week, my students kept asking me if I would be in Newhalen for the weekend and although I had told them yes, they didn’t seem inclined to believe me until they saw me in the flesh. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every single one of my students that I saw over the weekend looked surprised to see me there. This was not something I wanted to miss!

Watching the game with other teachers and students:) 

After school on Friday, a group of teachers from my school and I traveled in typical village fashion (3 people to a honda) across the lake to meet up with Sam who had a suburban to haul us all to the Newhalen school. Carnival is an event run by the village/tribal council but it takes place in the school of the hosting village. Not every village has a carnival however, and that is why everyone in Nondalton and many from Kokhanok (a nearby village) would spend the next few days traveling back and forth or staying with relatives in Iliamna. Friday night was an important night because there was a basketball game between Newhalen and Port Alsworth (another school in our district) and it was a game that everyone wanted to witness. It was a fun game to watch but it was just strange to be in a gym filled with so many people! I was definitely over-stimulated and it took me a little while to adjust to the large crowd. 

"I'm Sexy and I Know it" dance at the talent show

Once the game was over (Newhalen won!), Sam and I took the rest of the teachers back to the lake so they could get home and then we went back for the big dance. Again, this was something all my students talked about last week but of course none of them got up and danced. Itt was mainly a local band playing and then occasionally a few couples would get up and dance. It was fun to just sit around visiting with other teachers and students in a different environment than we are used to. Saturday and Sunday were filled with much of the same, ending each night with a dance. The main event on Saturday night had been a talent show which was cute to see. A few different groups of students got up to perform for the crowd. One girl did the cha-cha slide while she hula-hooped and I thought she was the clear winner, but a group of pre-schoolers beat her out with their cuteness. 

A young group performing cultural dances

I think my favorite event of the weekend though was the potluck on Sunday. I still love the idea of village potlucks and how a community can come together to feed the amount of people there were. I also like the fact that I got to eat some yummy foods! Once dinner was done and the rest of the raffles were finished, it was time to set up for the final dance. Sam and I didn’t stay for this on though as I’d gotten my fill during the first two and I had to get back to Nondalton. Due to the weather turning bad and it being really windy, travel by honda would have been miserable. A co-worker kindly offered us to borrow his truck for the ride home and we gratefully accepted. The ride home was much different than usual because it was around 10:00 at night at this point. On a back road. In the middle of nowhere. Where there’s no street-lights. Or cell-phone reception. Oh and did I mention we had to cross the frozen lake guided only by the glow of the reflecting flags marking the safe path? I held my breath the entire time. It might be a short distance, but in the dark it was terrifying. I was happy when we were safely on my side of the lake (and then again when I knew that Sam had gotten back to Newhalen with no problems). 

Miss Norman really came to carnival!

Carnival was not quite the event that I had been picturing but it was a fun weekend nonetheless! I always love the times that I get to get a glimpse of the village members with their guards down. Locals tend to be guarded and hesitant to let teachers in, but during carnival they just enjoy themselves and were very jovial. I still think hula-hoop girl earned the win at the talent show, but that's neither here nor there. I got to visit with a few different people from both Nondalton and Newhalen and I learned some new things that I hadn’t known before. Not only am I happy that I got to attend Newhalen’s carnival, but Sam and I also just booked flights to Kokhanok for their carnival weekend. My friend Kelsey lives there and I am so incredibly excited to spend the weekend with her and the tutor, Kylie, who is also in her village! I have heard from numerous reliable sources that Kohkanok’s carnival is one that you don’t want to miss, so I’m sure it will be another great experience to add to the books:) 

*The only reason I posted pictures (but not names) with students in them is because it was not a school sponsored event and it was on the weekend. Not only this, but the students were the ones who requested/took the pictures so I feel comfortable in adding them to this post.