New generation learns old way at Native games

The T-shirts they're selling at this weekend's Junior Native Youth Olympics say "Keeping Our Traditions Alive," and amid all the craziness at Begich Middle School -- where hundreds of grade schoolers gathered to kick, jump and hop in homage to Alaska's indigenous cultures, or maybe to just endlessly run circles around the gymnasium -- a new generation was learning old ways.

When a little girl from Government Hill Elementary bowed out of the Alaskan high-kick competition, coach Joel Ramirez gave her an atta-girl and then instructed her on a basic tenet of Native sports.

"Go shake the judge's hand," he told her.

In another part of the gym, where boys were testing their balance and agility in the same event, a boy struggled with technique. A judge rose from her chair, put down her clipboard, got down on the floor and showed the boy how to plant one hand on the ground, use the other to grab the opposite foot, and then balance on the planted hand while using the other foot to kick a ball hanging overhead.

That's another Native sports tradition. Everyone coaches everyone, and everyone supports everyone.

"They always say, 'Nice try,' 'Good job,' 'Have fun,' " said 10-year-old Gabby Wilkinson of Wasilla's Meadow Lakes Elementary.

About 700 kids from all over Alaska -- some Native, many not -- are competing in the annual Junior NYO, which began Friday with competition for fifth- and sixth-graders, continued Saturday with competition for third- and fourth-graders and concludes today with the wild bunch -- first- and second-graders.

"The first- and second-graders are crazy," said organizer Nicole Johnston, a longtime participant at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, which is the Super Bowl of Native sports.

"I tell my officials to come with their eyes wide open and have their first two cups of coffee down," she said. "Because these kids want to have so much fun."

Junior NYO is a spinoff of WEIO, the world championships held each summer in Fairbanks, and the Native Youth Olympics, the competition for high schoolers held each spring in Anchorage.

Though most of the kids competing this weekend are from Anchorage, schools from places as far away as Bethel and Nome brought teams, as did schools from the Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula.

Three girls who attend Bethel's Yup'ik language immersion school earned money for their trip to Anchorage by selling concessions at an adult basketball tournament over the holidays. They wore matching Carolina blue singlets, but instead of "North Carolina," the singlets said "Carayiit" on the front and "Ayaprun Elitnaurvik" on the back. Carayiit is Yup'ik for Bears, explained 11-year-old Roselyn Lowe, and Ayaprun Elitnaurvik is the name of her school.

"We're bilingual," she said proudly.

Like its elders, Junior NYO was created to teach kids about the history and culture of their state, and to preserve and honor Native games that have been played for generations.

"Many are in awe of the reasons behind the games and realize these games had to be played to help people survive," Johnston said.

Take the Alaskan high kick. Fun to watch -- and fun to try, based on the smiles and energy on display by the many participants -- but practical, too. The game originated as a way to develop balance, a useful skill for surviving in an icy climate.

"They use those games to do their jobs," explained 10-year-old Krystal Howlett of Meadow Lakes Elementary.

The games can help with life in the city, too. Twelve-year-old Jayde Stoffa, who attends the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School, has developed skills and confidence since she started doing Native sports as a fourth-grader.

Now a sixth-grader, Stoffa won the girls Alaskan high kick Friday by reaching a height of 5 feet, 1 inch -- an inch higher than the winning kick in the boys Alaskan high kick. She was surprised to beat the best of the boys, but not surprised to kick 5-1. "I make myself kick hard, and I believe I can kick it," she said. "I was not worried about the height."

Stoffa's victory was a reward for hard work. Besides practicing at school, she practices at home in her living room, where her target is a ball of yarn hanging from a ceiling hook.

The kids at Meadow Lakes practice before school and during recess with teachers Hank Foster and Roberta Aloysius. Aloysius, who was born and raised in Bethel, brought knowledge and appreciation of Native sports with her when she joined the Meadow Lakes teaching staff last year.

"She's a miracle worker," Howlett said. "Before I was only able to get 5 feet (in the scissors board jump). Now I can get 8 feet."

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