Igiugig is a village nestled alongside Alaska’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Iliamna and the Kvichak River. The visitors were primarily Yup’ik Eskimos, Aleuts and Athabascans and included school students, teachers, village council members, parents, grandparents and even babies!
It’s estimated there are only 23 fluent speakers of the distinct Lake Iliamna dialect of the Yup’ik language and of those, 4 live in Igiugig.
Igiugig recently launched a Yup’ik Immersion Programme with the help of a Language Preservation and Maintenance Grant from the US Administration for Native Americans. Five villagers will lead the revitalisation by learning the Lake Iliamna dialect to then pass on to the younger generations.
The visitors felt they really connected with Māori because of their similar histories including land struggles and language survival. (In the US, the federal government recognises tribes but the state government doesn’t and there is a Federation of Alaskan Natives that looks after the interests of all indigenous people). The visitors commended the way the New Zealand government supports the interests of Māori.