Sixteen students competed in last weekend’s annual Yup’ik and Iñupiaq spelling bees. Organizer and judge Freda Dan says the spelling bees give students a chance to practice reading and writing a language they might only speak or hear.
Students wait for their turn on stage at the 10th annual Yup’ik spelling bee at Alaska Pacific University on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Participants came from Akiachak, Akiak, Anchorage, Dillingham, Nunum Iqua and Stebbins.
Canoe was one of 13 students, in third through eighth grade, who competed in this weekend’s 10th annual Yup’ik spelling bee. They came from all over Alaska: Akiachak, Akiak, Anchorage, Brevig Mission, Dillingham, Golovin, Nunam Iqua and Stebbins. Kuuvak was the word that brought the Iñupiaq competition to a close. Fifth grader Kopeck Kaitlyn Alston from Brevig Mission placed first.“It feels like they’re reaching for this — they’re reaching to have this,” she said. “They take it upon themselves to do this. That’s what keeps me going year after year, feeling the enthusiasm of the spellers.”
Dan is also part Iñupiaq, and in recent years, she worked with volunteers to set up the Iñupiaq spelling bee. She said determining the “correct” spelling of a word can be a difficult process that’s loaded with meaning. An elder might spell a word differently than she usually does. Or, there might be an Anglicized pronunciation that could confuse a student learning how to spell.
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