When most of America has already taken down their Christmas trees, the Yup'ik people are cutting fresh trees for the holy holiday's pinnacle, Orthodox Christmas Day. The celebration will stretch on for a week or more. It's one of the most significant celebrations of the year for a branch of Christianity tightly braided into Alaska Native culture. This celebration is clearly rooted in church, not the mall. Many Yup'ik people who hold fast to their traditions of living from the land also have latched onto Orthodox Christian traditions. In Western Alaska, the Orthodox religion embraced the Yup'ik culture, and vice versa.
Schools in villages near Bethel remain closed on winter break, allowing children and families to pray, feast and sing together. People pull in during a handshake and press cheeks, first on one side, then twice on the other, so without saying it, you are asking that person to forgive you if you have offended them in any way, as explained by the Yup'ik. That is a Yup'ik way, doing through motion and not endless conversation. Village residents follow shining stars, carried from one house to the next by young altar servers who spin them during singing, like super-sized sparkling pinwheels. Over days of celebration, every home in the villages will have opened to carolers and the stars.
We are asking everyone to join us in providing Christmas gifts for 30 Yup'ik Children in foster care this year! The biggest need for each child is a warm coat, boots, and warm socks. Would you consider donating to our Yup'ik Children's' Christmas?
DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS:
