Alaska Studies course meeting area....
Final Project Exhibition Hall
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Thanks all for a great class last night. Just had time to read some of the chats and I notice I made a big mistake by insinuating that Russians brought Starring to Alaska. One point I neglected to make was how diverse the "Russians" were: the American colony consisted of Finns, Germans, Ukranians, and indigenous Siberians. Starring or selaviq reflects that diversity and is a great illustration of cultural collision.
Selaviq is a cross-cultural, ethnically diverse, and regionally unique celebration of Russian Orthodox Christmas. The event is also often referred to as “Starring” because of the large wooden stars carried door to door in ceremonial procession. This Starring tradition originated in the Carpathian Mountains of the Ukraine in the sixteenth century as grassroots repose by Orthodox laity to the forced latinzation of the Russian Orthodox church. As originally developed, the Starring songs and customs of the “Little Russians” were unknown in other parts of Russia occupied by Poland into the mid twentieth century. Selavig has placed aspects of this Slavonic folkloric tradition within a framework of Yup’ik interpretation and style to produce an event as central to the maintenance and expression of local identity as was it original. In the celebration of Selaviq in western Alaska today, multiple pasts collide, coexist, and interact. Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian, and indigenous systems of belief and practice all contribute to the event.
Thank you all for a great session. Migrations: Alaska on the Move--both the ppt and script--can be accessed via the Additional Readers & Resources link (just click the Google shared folder link).
Thanks!