The sky’s awake, so we’re all awake!
Category Archive: Kivalina
Word of the Week
Drag: (drag) verb. 1. Pulling people around in a sled behind an ATV or sno-go. Recreation activity. See also, extreme sledding

Side note: When I first saw students “go drag”, I was reminded of my own childhood. We’d wait all winter for some good snow, then pull each other around by whatever vehicle could maneuver the snow, ice, or slush. It became a game. To win as a driver, you must knock the rider off in record time (making them bail by trying to ram them into objects was fair game). To win as the rider, you must hold on…even if it is only by your fingertips and you are being dragged across the ice.
April Snow Showers
Living in a snow globe world, fluffy spring snow in warm weather!
There are wonderful things about everywhere I’ve been, but there are always not so wonderful things too. This is one of those things.
A really unique set of visitors to the Arctic. (& a small video showing off my village)
Word of the Week
Brodeo: (brō•dē•ō) noun. 1. Driving in tight circles with a vehicle (ATV), often causing the back wheels to slide out and around. See also: whipping cookies, shitties, doughnuts
Side note: Students have been doing this frequently on the road outside my living room view.
“After this week is over…I think I’ll hibernate for a little while.”
Word of the Week
Rack: (rak) noun. 1. A case of pop.
Side note: I often think of rack as a word that should pertain to something alcoholic, like a flight, when not pertaining to deer. (Or the stories I’ve heard about ‘running the rack’…), so when my students say something about someone buying them a rack, I always need to pause and remind myself of where I am.
Side note: I thought someone was teasing me because I was from Minnesota and we say ‘pop’, by offering me a pop…so I said “Sure, I’ll take a soda”…to later realize that in Alaska, they do indeed use ‘pop’. Home Sweet Home.
It might cost 3x more than the lower 48, but our store is considered one of the best in the district!
Word of the Week
Tupak (tü•puk) verb. 1. Inupiaq word that translates to the verb startle.
Side Note: Similar to katak, the verb doesn’t really have conjugations. “One time, I tupak my mom. You really tupak, eh? The dog make me tupak.”
When you joke about sleeping in your classroom…and it really might not be that much of a joke.
All the Kids Were Doing It: Over the House Edition
After I scolded handfuls of students, day after day, for climbing over my roof…I figured they were on […]