Want to know how we celebrate Thanksgiving in Shishmaref? First, we sleep in a little bit because we have been looking forward to this break from school for a long time! When we wake up, we get ready for the day and get to church just in time for it to start at 11:00. After a lovely church service Mike goes home to play Xbox and I go over to watch the Thanksgiving parade that has been DVR'd with some friends. When we have seen Santa Claus come to town we all go our separate ways. Mike and I make green bean casserole and mashed potatoes to take to the feast that night!
Every year there is a feast in they gym at the school. The men make reindeer or caribou stew for the community. All the tables are set up and covered with paper. There is bread, butter at each table. Stew and juice is provided, and anything else you want at your table, you bring. The walls are decorated with Thanksgiving art from the kiddos at school. You have to get there early or all the tables will be taken. You also need to bring your own bowl, cup, spoon, and whatever else you want for your food.
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| Giving thanks and praying before the food is served |
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| One of my students came to visit us at our table |
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| She is amaaq'ing her baby brother (finally got the spelling for it!) |
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| Amy and Barret. Amy teaches first grade, Barret is VPSO. They are hunnies. |
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| Mike and Lisa. Mike teaches high school social studies, Lisa teaches 2nd grade. They are in looooove! |
My students remind me that me and Mike are in love everyday... as if I didn't know.
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| Trying to take a picture so you can see how packed the gym gets. We haven't started eating yet. |
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| Me, one of the cheerleaders and I think her little brother. |
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| Waiting, waiting, for some food! |
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| Another one of my students came to visit. Look at that smile! |
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| Look at the joy! |
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| Now we have all eaten. |
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| Starting to clean up. |
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| These are the pots they cook the stew in! |
After everyone is full of good stew we leave, take our leftover food, stew, and now dirty plates and go home for a little bit to digest. While we are gone, the tables are being put away and everything is being cleaned up. After about an hour of being home (when we start hearing all the four wheelers drive past) we head back to the school for the festivities! This year they did Eskimo dancing and played some community basketball games!
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| The drummers and a dancer |
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| A few more dancers, some of them elementary school students |
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| The little girls trying to dance! |
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| So cute : ) |
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| The dancers dance while the drummers drum and sing |
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| You can see some of the middle and high schoolers dancing in the back here |
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| One of the men got up to dance. When the men dance, they have a lot of energy! |
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| Everyone loves watching the dancers! There is a story behind every song, dance, and move. |
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| For the last dance they called all the teachers and staff to come down and dance! What fun! |
After the dancing was over we stayed and watched some basketball. The players are people from the community and they play for the fun of playing and the fun of watching!
The Friday after Thanksgiving we have a Thanksgiving meal that we are more used to. We get together with a few friends and have a potluck meal and play some games afterwards!
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| You are probably used to seeing this! I forgot to take a picture of the stew the day before! |
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| A few friends after the meal. |
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| More of everybody after the meal but missing some people. |
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| Puppy tries to play Apples to Apples with us |
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| He spent most of the game walking back and forth across our laps and being cute. |
We enjoyed our Thanksgiving break with new experiences, good friends, and the challenge of making our own dinner! We learn a little bit more each year and we are thankful for the people in our lives, our friends, our family, and the lives we are living!
