Waves Of Wisdom; Matthew Frye 1 of 2

And when we washed their clothes, our mothers had us
separate the mens’ clothes. They also had us separate we women's’ clothes Because they were respectfully careful with them. As you’ve said, they did this because of their hunting. Women's’ clothes would have to be washed separately
only with women’s clothes. I also used to do that.
I do that because I have a lot of male children. And then, they wouldn't wash the men's clothes in the water where the women's were washed. They were supposed to wash men’s clothes in new water. The instructed us to take care of them without mixing them
like this out of respect. One day, I asked, “Why do you have them do this?” I used to ask my mother about things I didn’t know.

And then my mother said this to me: She said, as youpl just did now They are [washed] like this because of their hunting,
because of their subsistence in the wilderness. I wanted to talk about what I understood
because we’re2 running out of time. And then we women who take care of food We respected what the men caught, animals with fur, no matter what
they were, took care of what the men caught out of respect. We tried to adhere to that instruction. We didn’t pollute nature with them. We didn’t take care of them to pollute nature with the bones, scraps,
or guts of what they caught. I asked my mother about everything.
I asked about them because I didn’t have a lot of relatives.

And then she would say this to me: “If I pollute nature with what my spouse catches, he will become
a bad hunter, and he will not catch anything from the wilderness.” She said that if I pollute nature with them, that will happen,
animals will no longer come to him. And I believed them.
I believed that that would happen to them. I also just talked about we women’s subsistence because we weren’t
sedentary, we also had gathering spots in the wilderness
because we subsisted. They told us not to go to people’s gathering spots out of respect

We should show respect for that person’s gathering spot
in case they would be offended. We tried to go to our own gathering spots, not random places. I also used to hear people talk They said that they wouldn’t put what hunters caught where they would
spoil around that fish trap or drift net area. They said that if food spoils aroudn that drift net area,
fish will be short the next year. It would have as much [as it usually does].

And that fish trap that is set in that creek They said the fisher respectfully watches over that creek.
He doesn’t want anything to spoil there because he fishes there. They said that if any animal spoils there around that fish trap It would have as much fish as it used to catch the next year. You see, we didn't doubt those back then. The people back then respected everything, even the wilderness and land. As I just said, before the land became an eyesore The land used to be pristine before it was covered
with these paper products and cans And areas far out from villages looked good.

These days, you can tell every place a person has come to. A person would come upon this place and throw things away,
his old things and things he’s used. These days, that’s what the land has become. Even the wilderness is no longer pristine. I don’t think they respect it anymore. That’s all from me.
[Okay.] She says that… Youpl respected plants, rivers, lakes, those things back then. Respectfully watched over them and respected them.
[Yes, yes.] Those things even here in this great Kuskokwim River,
probably on the Yukon too

People are instructed to respectfully watch over this river. Also, for us, in the spring or summer We have instructions from our ancestors In the summer, we should never throw old food
from the last summer or year. They said that if those year-old [foods] go there,
the fish won’t go around it too often Like that creek that she talked about, it won’t have
a healthy amount of fish around there. Instead, they said not to throw those year-old [foods] into that water.

They said we should bury them in pits so that they’re not noticeable. But they said we could throw fresh fish along with their guts We should only dump them down where no one will tread,
where no person will tread, somewhere deep where the tide
does not go out too much. They’ve started throwing them away these days until the shore
has been covered in food because they don’t adhere to their instruction. That is what respectfully watching over this great river
when we subsist from it is supposed to be for us. Okay, as far as the river’s, in spring or summer,
the rules of their forefathers were that they were told not to throw

If there should be leftovers that can’t be eaten from the winter,
that you do not throw these into the river. If you do, there’s a chance that the new fish will not
come to that river. In case what was just said may be understood because these
people do not know, including this Fish and Game officer. We cannot throw food away, and I have not heard of anyone
throwing food away to this day. Our Caucasian counterparts, however, throw food away. That’s all. He didn’t want any misunderstanding of throwing away.

He’s saying that the native people as a whole are told
that you don’t throw away food. He just wanted to make that clear because
he doesn’t say that they do that. But he has seen, you know, people, you know,
who don’t have that kind of rule Throwing fish away just the way the are. You know, she asked if you respect something, even fish You know, would youpl cut them a certain way out of respect? Or, can that fish be cut in any way? We had admonishments surrounding these fish back then,
and they probably had them with marine animals down on the coast.

They told us not to cut fish with axes, but with knifes if they’re thawed. They told us to only use those [knives] on everything. They admonished us against using axes on those fish. Only when they’re frozen and the dogs inland will eat them They admonished us against using axes on that fish
down by the water or inland. That was an admonishment, not to cut fish out of the water with axes. That’s what it’s like. They told us not to use axes
inland or down by the water. They didn’t like when axes were used on those.

They also said that they [inform others] and that no more fish go there When our caretaker watched us taking bad care of those fish. Yes, he has that answer. Elisa, what is “piqertuarluki?” Axe. Okay, okay. There’s a way that you cut rather than hitting,
hitting motion like an axe or what Unless they’re frozen and can’t be cut any other way,
then you show respect if it’s thawed. Dried fish, we call dried fish neqerrluaraat. When we have leftovers, we give them to those who have dogs. We give them as gifts to those who have a lot of dogs. And he also wanted to say that if they have leftover, like… …different kinds of plants.

We also leave those berries that we don’t want picked,
but even if there are a lot of berries, you know, that aren’t taken. But when they leave berries, they would get them
with knapsacks if they walked inland. If [s]he picks a lot, [s]he will leave them where they won’t
be picked and then go get those berries. Or if a person has help, [s]he will not leave [berries]. And even if there are a lot of berries in the wilderness,
they said not to purposefully tread on them These cloudberries, crowberries. Instead, they should keep from stepping on them.

Sometimes, though we try not to, we tread on them
when there is too much. And those plants that we eat, sourdock, sourdock,
and wild rhubarb, and berries among trees Youpl probably don’t know about some of them [like]
high-bush cranberries, red currants, black currants And those berries we pick among trees. But some are admonished against. You probably don’t know about baneberries that ravens eat A plant with a lot of berries sticking on it that’s all red. They call those baneberries. If we eat them, we’ll get sick.

They also admonish us against eating those things muskrats eat
in the wilderness. We call them poison water hemlocks. Those are deadly and poisonous. We should also be wary and tell our children that they’re bad. We should also tell our children about those edible plants. We also eat those wild celery. Our greens that they call spinich in English
are gathered separately from the land Including those fireweed. And when these tree leaves are newly grown,
eat them before they harden.

Pull them with your hand and eat them,
chew and eat them right away. Those are good when they’re newly grown. Those are the plants that we eat. You probably know some of the plants.
You probably know some. I don’t know some of them. Those things they call waterlilies, what are they in Yup’ik again? I didn’t understand what you said in English. Those ones with big leaves floating in lakes and oxbow lakes? Those? What do they call them again?

Its name is obvious.
(I do know it.) Do you mean paparnat? Yellow pond lilies. I don’t know how useful those are. I don’t know either. I talked about some of those plants I thought of. Will you add to what he said? Let me add a little.
(Okay.) These plants are included in those paper and what to do with plants. These things that were not excessively abundant
were not easily gathered in our time. Some of what we gathered would be wasted
if [we gathered] too much that would eventually be wasted. Instead, they would have us gather according to what we needed so that we would not throw them away but finish them. Because the people back then respected the wilderness

And they respected their gathering grounds as they said. They didn’t have us gather too much exceeding what we needed. They told us not to gather more than we needed. It was like they feared the wilderness even if it was just the wilderness. And it was like they feared the places where things grew. Our mothers wouldn’t let us gather a whole lot
more than we needed. They probably also did that. However, when we gathered a lot of some of these plants that we would
cook, the ones we would cook, sourdock or wild rhubarb We only gathered a lot of those because we would
store them after cooking them.

However, they told us not to gather more than we needed if we weren't going to use them. Okay, as for berries, he says much like what they had said… Because they’re only learning Western things in school,
you know, they don’t know a lot. So, Eliza is saying that, you know, there was just so very much
that we can learn of our culture, the ways. Even just the plants by themselves, if you look at that leaving
everything else, they’re really just numerous That we can learn and our children can learn, but they’re not
learning because they’re not taught in schools.

There is truly a lot that youpl don’t know,
and things you don’t know including words. There is so much that youpl don’t know. And now, youpl have been talking about that.
Some of it is still not talked about. But now, we are helping her understand. And what was said just now… Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. Our companions. I am going to end with those plants that we eat. Voles also help us with different foods that we eat. And you probably won’t say them by name
because they have different names. Voles also gather food that we eat in the fall
filling up their caches full.

And we look for them under the ground. Voles also gather those various things that we eat with different names. And down on the coast, those voles also gather
different things that we eat. But we take their food from them because they’re good. We use them for Yup’ik ice cream. That’s the last thing I’m [saying].