The Great Migration of Whys

• Published in: Departures in Critical Qualitative Research
• Main Author: Gleason, Sean
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of California Press 2019
• Subjects: Linguistics and Language; Communication; Language and Linguistics; Yukon; Kuskokwim; Yup'ik
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/dcqr.2019.8.1.17; http://online.ucpress.edu/dcqr/article-pdf/8/1/17/328384/dcqr_2019_8_1_17.pdf

Nunalleq is a pre-contact Yup'ik village (1350–1660 CE) massacred during a centuries-long conflict known today as the Bow and Arrow Wars. As global temperatures fell during the Little Ice Age (1300–1800 CE), conflict intensified along the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta as food raids and village burnings became commonplace among warring Yup'ik communities. The following essay considers the events of Nunalleq alongside a new era of migration as Yup'ik prepare to move farther inland in response to human-induced climate change. Specifically, I reflect on the relationships between Yup'ik material culture and oral history, and how these histories adapt over time. This writing is an experimental ethnography based in archaeological excavation and participant observation. This writing is oral history. This writing should be read aloud.