An Great Idea with Headdresses while Learning

Transforming the Culture of Schools: Yupik Eskimo Examples By Jerry Lipka (1999)  is an great book giving examples, while learning the different groups of Eskimos and Whites working in the same levels, which Yupik drumming and singing got involved as  learning. Therefore, they the students made their own headdresses for the use of the Yupik patters in based mathematics. Ina  White and Esther Ilutsik, two ciulistet teachers involved in this, they introduce the unit by connecting the human heartbeat to patterns and the Yupik drum's and then began to beat out the rhythm. This give more connections to their mathematic learning. 






Lipka,J. (1999). Transforming the Cultures of Schools: Yupik Eskimo Examples, pg 161 Retrieved November 24, 2010.

My Family's Headdress

The headdresses shown are made from my Great-Aunt Dora Moore. She have made headdresses for years for numerous relatives for their first-dance performance in cultures Potlatches. In 2008 my family and I celebrated the appreciation of the substances lifestyle hunting in the annual Potlatches in the near village, Kotlik, Alaska. 

An Idea of a Use of the Headdress

In Yupik Cultures dances, the drummers sing and tell stories with the movements of their arms, bodies and sometimes

facial expressions, which shows in the video, "Yupik Seal Dance" the sing is by John Pingayak of Chevak, Ak. Each dance song

has their own meaning to it, like this one it express the act of hunting for and retrieving a seal they have shot. Also, as they perform

it shows great appreciation of what the land provides such as food, homes, and their people.

How The Design Is Made

Over the years cultures have made some changes of the headdresses, but my object I gained interests was an old-fashion style, which is made out of reindeer or caribou fur and a piece of seal skin for the upper part of the headdress. As for the modern days many see very talented bead work onto the headdress to gain more donation to it.


An Image of the Old-Fashion Headdress

Beaded Eskimo Dance Headdress

Alaska's greatness entertainment has been in the Alaska native cultures for many generations, therefore they perform Eskimo dancing with numerous dance groups from one culture to another. Headdress were worn during an event of Potlatches, this object is one of the main clothing during the performance of Eskimo dancing. As we can see in the image, the headdress is made out of beads, reindeer fur, and skin. In other cultures, they may have an different style of an headdress.