| May 26, 2006 Red Alert by Soren Wuerth No
diplomas for humanity
"Our
ultimate end must be the creation of the beloved community."
- Martin Luther King, Jr
It’s finally spring in the village. Snow machines, or “sno-gos,” ply for remnant patches of slushy ice, jolting alongside bouncing four-wheelers, or “Hondas.” It’s transition time. Subsistence hunters go out on the tundra to “catch” early migratory birds and bearded seal. Dirt brown water is everywhere, coating childrens’ tennis shoes and pant legs as they scramble through the wasting snow to school. Eighteen seniors graduated, but only six received diplomas, thanks to educational barriers set by the false promise of “No Child Left Behind.” When she failed to achieve the “proficient level range,” one senior wrote an eloquent essay about how the high school “Exit Exam” destroyed her dreams. A perceptive young woman, she immediately associated her experience with studies that show a relationship between high test scores and shallow thinking. The graduating class Eskimo danced, “yuraq-ed,” on the floor of the gym in their royal blue and red gowns, waving fans in time to the beating drum. At the far end of the gym, between the bleachers and the ceremony, several small kids raced directionless, eventually bumping into and toppling tall paper pillars that formed a type of gazebo. Then, as the crowd drained into the cafeteria for hugs and cake, a pack of children shredded the rest of the decorations. Rome sacked and pillaged. A few days later, Dr. John Pingayak, a veteran schoolteacher and local culture bearer, bid farewell to teachers, including my wife and I, who won’t return next fall. He gave a subtle message concerning the discord prevalent among the school’s non-Native staff. “The Western values that are coming here and taking over are not the same as our Cup’ik values. You got to know that. How we take care of each other—our humanity—is a very strong value for us,” he said. “We have to be united at the heart, right? We have to be one.” You get the sense that the Cup’ik people here are waiting, more than anything, for a time when the strangers will leave again. Like the spring, there will be always be a time of transition. Despite John’s kind aphorism—“our ancestors tell us to treat strangers well when they come to our community”—there is palpable concern for the influence of Western guests: aggression, naked racism, and an attitude of superiority. “Unruly” children need to be taught discipline, coerced to learn with grades or even money, and threatened, always, with punishment for being, well, children. And, since no one learns that way, teachers and administrator resort to misplaced blame and anger. They hold a “finals week,” pretending they are in college again. They wave test scores, as if the meaningless numbers somehow show improvement. Last week, as I watched the rapid demolition of gym decorations, composed photos for grinning graduates and their families, and helped fold chairs, I sensed what John would refer to later as “our humanity.” There was an atmosphere not of sober academic congratulation, but one of merry kinship, resurrected friendships, and of love. And, in the West, we don’t hand out diplomas for that. Soren Wuerth is perhaps Alaska's best known community activist, and is the winner of the Alaska Press Club's 2006 'Best Columnist' award. He resides in an undisclosed location in rural Alaska and can be reached at soren@insurgent49.com. |
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Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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