Upriver

Quinhagak is!a Yup'ik village on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta in western Alaska. There, where the Bering Sea is rapidly eroding the coast, a remarkable archaeological dig is underway. Called 'Nunalleq', the site is an abandoned Yup'ik village dating from pre-contact times, 500 years...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jamie, Kathleen
Other Authors: English Studies, orcid:0000-0002-4596-6576
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Granta Publications 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1893/22600
https://granta.com/issues/granta-133-done/
http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/22600/1/Upriver%20%28granta%29.pdf
Description
Summary:Quinhagak is!a Yup'ik village on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta in western Alaska. There, where the Bering Sea is rapidly eroding the coast, a remarkable archaeological dig is underway. Called 'Nunalleq', the site is an abandoned Yup'ik village dating from pre-contact times, 500 years ago. It is yielding an astonishingly rich array of artifacts, reawakening cultural awareness and confidence among the Yup'ik people. The site is being excavated by a team from Aberdeen University, with help and support from the Quinhagak community. Last year, thanks to funding from the Leverhulme Trust, I was able to join the archaeologists for the short digging season. The following is an extract from a longer work in progress.