Wangkuta Qanriarait Nanvarparmiut Yugestun
For those that enjoy texting in Yup’ik, our friend Reid Magdanz and his brother Grant, a software engineer, created a new app to advance our goals of Native language revitalization! This is their official release:
Chert 
Chert is an Alaska Native language keyboard for iPhone.
Specifically, it's a third-party keyboard which includes all the Alaska Native language characters which don't exist in English. Chert makes it possible to type in any Alaska Native language on your iPhone. It means you can text niġisuktuŋa as easily as you can send little blue heart emojis.
You can get Chert by clicking here or by searching for "Chert" on the App Store. (You lucky few first downloaders may need to search "Chert Alaska Native," until Apple bumps the app up in its search results.) It's free.
We're excited and proud, and we got a lot of help. Thanks again to the language experts – many of you! – who helped us make the app as good as it could be, and provided other valuable suggestions. We're so grateful.
Sivunmun atautchikun!
(Onwards together!)”
This quest for Yup’ik language revitalization is bringing me down similar pathways in Igiugig. In recognition that our opportunities to hear Yup’ik from a first language speaker are limited, and that it is exhausting for our elders to continually repeat themselves, and that children love digital media, I found myself downloading an i-pad app called “Book Creator” and I am attempting to create my first digital book on the Lake Iliamna weather. These type of books can be as interactive as you desire, incorporating sound, photographs, images, drawings, etc. I’ve test driven them and our program has now added i-Pads to our growing educational supplies.
In the month of Maskalaatarvik (October) we concentrated on new vocabulary such as “alingua” – I am afraid and “alingenritua” – I am not afraid and worked hard to change our known vocabulary into different types of sentences. Annie Wilson teaching unglu.
Our questions words for this month are:
Qaillun? – How?
Nani? – Where at?
At the Halloween Party, the Yup’ik program sponsored a “guess how many “gumballs” (eyes)” jar to practice last months’ question word: Qavcin? (How many). Our Total Physical Response vocabulary this month are: Qastuuq (loud), Kegluneq (Wolf), Niitua (I hear), Tangertua (I see) and Aqsiunga (I feel full). We also learned the endings –mek and –nek. For example: Tangertua keglunegmek. I see a wolf. Tangertukut keglunegnek. We see wolves.
In Cauyarvik (November) we also received another site visit from our language consultant Dr. Richard Grounds. He provided immersion training, motivational words of wisdom, and diagnostics for our apprentices. It was very helpful to have him observe little Unglu, older Unglu, secondary students, and apprentices in action and provide feed-back to learn and teach more efficiently and effectively. We are so fortunate to have three dedicated elders – Alice Zackar, Annie Wilson, and Dallia Andrew to work with. Apprentices are also in the last month of their semester-long UAF class ESK103.
The month of Uivik (December), we are excited to begin learning Slavi songs and the goal is to sing our Christmas Carols in Yup’ik this year. The verses for the song Raduiysa Mariye are:
- Yuurtellran Elpet Kristussaq Agayutvut Wangkuta, Raduiysa!
(Thy Birth our Christ our God) - Cali Elpet Nallunrirluten Qulvanek Pit’elria Tuungiinek, Raduiysa!
(Rose Upon the World as the Knowledgeable One). - Nanrak Pakmanelengurmun Agayutemun Cali Nunam Qaingani Calretnak, Raduiysa!
(Praise the one up above the Earth, to God in the Above).
