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These units are based on the work of Lydia Apatiki. She was born and raised in Gambell, Alaska, on St. Lawrence Island. She is the youngest adopted daughter of Thomas and Pauline Apassingok. She married her wonderful husband, Jerome Nataay Apatiki, in 1969 and they raised three boys, three girls, and two precious grandsons, Marlott and Joshua Apatiki, as their own. They have nineteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Learn moreThe SIVUQAM KELUGWI Curriculum includes detailed instructions, videos, and interactive PowerPoints for the following traditional sewing projects:
On St. Lawrence Island, in the villages of Gambell and Savoonga, women made light, warm bird skin parkas. Some were reversible. The sewer chose the designs for her hunter’s parka. A hunter on the ice hauling in a seal on a baleen sled can perspire. If the inside of his bird skin parka gets wet, he can turn it inside out and it freeze dries, while he still has a warm, dry parka against his skin.
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The traditional St. Lawrence Island Yupik ball was decorated with white bleached seal skin and red-dyed seal skin leather. Long ago, women used reindeer hair or other stuffing to make a very tight traditional ball. Some women put several stones inside a ball to add weight and create a rattle when the ball is moved.
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There are two different types of traditional dolls made on St. Lawrence Island: those made to sell (specifically to collectors), and those made for children to play with. The dolls in this curriculum are modeled after children's traditional clothing on St. Lawrence Island, which were generally made from reindeer fawn skin.
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