Cama-i Dance Festival

Each year Bethel hosts the Cama-i Dance Festival. Yup'ik villages around the state are invited to participate. Unfortunately, our village was not invited to participate; they danced last year, so this year was their year to sit out. The event begins early Friday with the lighting of the candles for the Yup'ik nation and then ends on Sunday evening. It is an event that our village enjoys. We are close enough that many people can drive in by car or snow machine. And, the weather this year was excellent. It's cold this morning (-5) with wind making it feel as if it were minus 25, but the sun is bright. No snow. So, travel should be fairly easy.

Once the lighting of the candles is done, the dancing begins. The clothing is beautiful. Everyone wears a qaspeq and has dance fans. The women have beautiful headdresses that they wear. The men sit in back and do the singing while the women interpret the song in dance.

Many ages are represened on stage from the very young to the old. Men also dance. When they do, they will dance in front of the women and dance the story line. It is very entertaining and fun to watch.

Tradition dictates that young girls are not allowed to dance. First, the young girl must be introduced to the village before she may join the dancers. She will have her headress made from furs of wolf, wolverine, sealskin, and beads; her dance fan made from grass and caribou hair; and mukluks made from sealskin, beaver, caribou, and wolverine. When the young girl is introduced, she is seated on a sealskin blanket. Gifts are given to those present. These items are "blessed" by passing the item over the child's new dance fans. The gifts can be handmade items or store bought items. Eskimo ice cream is served and water is present for the spirits of those who have died. The "introduction" will last two days. The first day the gifts are given and the second day food is given away. Dancing is done both days, but on the second day the elders choose the dances to be done. The dances are their favorite ones from the day before. All of this takes place in the community hall. Dancing is such an important activity in our community. Each Friday our students practice dance after lunch. The little ones sit and watch the junior high/high school kids dance. It is definitely a favorite activity.

Along with dance, Cama-i also offers arts and crafts for purchase. You could find almost anything here. Bethel also hosts the Saturday Market, where again you can purchase items made by the artists of the village. I would refer to this as folk art. Let me share a few photos with you.

The first artist uses a variety of fur to create her Eskimo pictures. The third photo is a carved reindeer antler with ivory inlet and baleen. Next, you have the dance fans with caribou fur, and last is the hunter made of whale bone with ivory, baleen, and sinew.

Cama-i was a wonderful experience. I am so glad the district decided to do their inservice the same weekend as the festival. Our inservice was for first year teachers and the focus was the cultural aspects of Yup'ik life. The district bought us passes which allowed us to enter the festival whenever we wanted. We all had a great time watching the dancing, buying art, and enjoying the culture.