Welcome to the World

Welcome to the world, Jonathan. One of our teachers had a baby October 15, a few weeks ago. He is beautiful, precious, and priceless. And, he arrived in our village just a week ago. One doesn't have a baby in the village. You go to Anchorage to do that. At about eight months in the pregnancy, a woman goes to Anchorage to await the birth. The closest city to us is Bethel. It has a hospital, but if something should go wrong, mother and child would have to travel to Anchorage. Thus, to be on the safe side, everyone goes to Anchorage.

Jonathan's name was chosen with care. He has his English name, Jonathan Hosea, and he has his Yup'ik name Uqsungaq. As per tradition, Jonathan's Yup'ik name was the name of a man who recently died. If a person dies just before a baby is born, that is the name chosen. A second Yup'ik name could be given for any number of reasons. Jonathan's second Yup'ik name is Pugleqaq. This man is also deceased, and Jonathan was born on his birthday. Thus, to pay respect to this man and family, Jonathan was given a second Yup'ik name. Many children have two or three Yup'ik names. It's not unusual for us to have a number of students with the same name in school. That only means their birthdays are close.

What is unusual to an outsider is that the family of the deceased will address the child as if he/she were the deceased. For example, Jonathan's sister Claire has the Yup'ik name of Qerrat'aq. This was the name of our first grade teacher Fannie's mother. Fannie's mother died right before Claire was born. Now when Fannie asks about Claire, she does not refer to her as Claire but rather as Mother. - How's my mother? - She is asking how Claire is but refers to her as Mother. If Fannie should walk by Claire, she would say Hello Mother rather than Hello Claire At first, it is a little startling. But it is simply a way of showing respect to the deceased.

The Yup'ik name tends to be handed down from generation to generation. You can actually identify the area a person is from just based on his Yup'ik name. All my students have English names and Yup'ik names. Each knows for whom they were named. Family is very important here and remembering the deceased is equally important.

Welcome to the village, Jonathan Hosea Uqsungaq Pugleqaq Schneidler. This is an amazing place to be. You will be loved by not only your family but your extended families, too. May your life be wonderful as you grow up in the Bush.