Three Alaska women whose names have become synonymous with Yup’ik cultural preservation were recently recognized for their contributions to literature in the state.
Collectively, Marie Meade, Ann Fienup-Riordan, and Alice Rearden have authored and translated dozens of books documenting traditional knowledge in Western Alaska.
The list includes everything from bilingual histories of Yup’ik parkas and maskmaking, to medicinal plant guides and first-hand accounts of supernatural entities known as “little people.”
This year, the Alaska Center for the Book selected the women as recipients for their Contributions to Literacy in Alaska, or “CLIA” awards. The Alaska Center for the Book is an affiliate of the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
In their acceptance speeches at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage on July 14, all three emphasized that their work would not have been possible without the first-hand accounts of Elders, many who have since passed on.
Meade was born in Nunapitchuk. Her contributions to literature on Yup’ik language and history go back more than 50 years. She spoke about the early days of working alongside Fienup-Riordan to gather oral interviews across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
“[The] majority of the time in those gatherings or sitting down with individuals or groups, it was all in Yup’ik because these Elders couldn't speak English,” Meade said. “So we recorded. Anne managed the machine and had a lot of questions.”
Meade said that her interest in preserving Yup’ik oral history was sparked by the need to understand her own roots, and that the flame is still burning strong.
“I wanted to learn that history back way before things began to change, when the culture was whole,” Meade said. “And still today, I'm 77, still recording, still transcribing. It’s non-stop. It's wonderful. Quyanaqva.”
Meade’s longtime collaborator, Fienup-Riordan, moved to Alaska in the early 70s and has edited and authored numerous works based on translations by both Meade and Rearden. In her speech, she shared a story about attending a conference in New Mexico years earlier, and how her Pueblo host had been shocked by the willingness of Yup’ik Elders to share deep traditional knowledge with a non-Native person.
“Until that time, it's not that I took for granted what the Elders shared, but I didn't realize how unique it was,” Fienup-Riordan said. “We've been so blessed with Elders that have shared so much and could see the future because they are gone now.”
Rearden is the youngest of the three honored this year with a CLIA award. She was born in Napakiak and served as primary translator and oral historian with the Calista Elders Council for more than a decade. She said that her mission has more recently taken her into education.
“I became a teacher like six, seven years ago just so that I can share this knowledge that I've learned from Elders, to pass it on orally,” Rearden said. “We can pass it on in books written too, but I just feel like it's really important that we pass on these stories like they were told by our Elders because it's such a rich history. It’s so beautiful.”
Alaska Center for the Book board member Carol Sturgulewski said that the center had received individual nominations for all three women in recent years, but simply couldn’t separate their accomplishments.
“Their work and their dedication are so interwoven that our committee could not choose just one. So we decided to recognize all three, because this sort of collaboration should be an inspiration to Alaskans in many fields,” Sturgulewski said.
Meade, Fienup-Riordan, and Rearden were joined by two other CLIA winners this year. The Anchorage Daily News was honored for educational outreach projects like the Alaska State Spelling Bee, as well as its long-running statewide creative writing contest. The Reading Mentors program in Talkeetna was also recognized at the ceremony for its contributions to boosting childhood literacy in the region.
