The school is demolished and shut down. The elementary side is not there anymore. I can see the foundation poles exposed from the shore as we pull up in the boat. The only things that are standing are the high school side, the gym, and the Pre-K side where I used to go to school. The bridge to the right side of the small building is where my classmates and I used to learn. It remains for now.
Newtok Ayaprun School, I miss that place to this day. Pre-K to 5th grade, then 9th to 12th grade. I even miss my mom teaching us. She was the best Yup’ik teacher for Pre-K to 4th grade. It's like I grew up in that school.
I interviewed my Aunt Zenia about how it affects her that the school is demolished and shut down. She said, “Sad, a lot of memories, my job was wonderful to have, eventually being shut down due to erosion.” She used to work there as a one-on-one teacher aide.
What Zenia says makes sense. The land is eroding. The ground holds so much water, then starts to freeze in winter. As it gets warmer, the permafrost thaws and the land starts to break and fall apart. The weather causes it too. As the wind gusts, the water rises and crashes to the land, devouring it.
On October 18, 2024, six of us traveled from Mertarvik, Alaska to Newtok to see the village before it was decommissioned. We saw what Newtok looked like and took pictures and videos. The permafrost continues to thaw and the land is falling apart every year. Climate change brings wind and tides that are high and dangerous, eating the land. Newtok is where I used to live. I have so many memories from there. I miss the village where I grew up.
We traveled across to Newtok along with Katie Basile and Gabby Salgado. My Uncle Pauly and his son, Anacii, brought us to Newtok from Mertarvik by boat. While going to Newtok it was foggy, but clear when we landed on the shore.
As we were getting close to Newtok, we saw how close the Ningliq River was getting to the school and to Daisy’s grandmother’s maqii, or steam house. The erosion is getting close to my Grandmother Theresa's house. The maqii was tipped and about to fall into the mud. It is very sad to see how it looks now compared to the past.
I am glad people are moving to a new site called Mertarvik. It is where the new homes are already built. We see people moving with their families and their belongings. We are also happy that we have new homes and a whole community once again.
We talk about what decommissioning means, but what is it really? Decommissioning means that nobody will be living over in Newtok and it will be shut down. No planes will be landing there, they are turning the electricity off, and houses will be torn down. Everything will be gone, except for our memories.
"Lessons From Newtok" is led by photographers Katie Baldwin Basile and Emily Schiffer and supported by the Newtok Village Council, Lower Kuskokwim School District, Fox Air, International Teaching Artist Collective, New York Foundation for the Arts, Provincetown School District, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and KYUK.