Doctoral Dissertation Research: Artistic Production and Oral Tradition in a Yup'ik Community: The Scammon Bay "Fireball Story"

这项研究的重点是当代尤皮克文化的表现，因为他们通过对一个自然现象--“火球故事”--的不祥叙述而发生。在之前(2006年和2007年夏天)在斯卡蒙湾进行的实地考察中，凯特琳·西蒙记录了采访。斯卡蒙湾是位于阿拉斯加白令海西南海岸的尤普伊克中部社区，有450人。凯特琳·西蒙在口头陈述中注意到了一个紧急的主题，那就是“火球”。这是一种危险的海洋生物，他们以火球或烧手的形式造访该村，并杀害无礼的社区成员。当代的斯卡蒙湾居民害怕这些邪恶的祖先的攻击，并用火球故事来解释厄运、社会不安、冲突和死亡。通过研究这个故事的历史并记录它的当代表达范围，西蒙将调查叙事和艺术创作如何反映和塑造当代尤皮克人生活的社会现实。阿拉斯加西南部的接触历史是由于西方信仰和政治经济制度的引入而造成的严重破坏之一。假设“火球现象”是一个中心隐喻，以一种非破坏性的方式为斯卡蒙湾的人们阐明了现代社会的弊病；从而加强了尤普伊克人？在快速社会变化的情况下的应变能力。“火球故事”据说为社区提供了治愈创伤的方法，提供了一种表达社会紧张局势的方法。通过分析创作活动、殖民历史和冲突解决之间的联系，这个项目探索了尤皮克人如何使用艺术和讲故事来更新与他们传统文化的关系，并重新定义过去和现在。

The focus of this research is on expressions of contemporary Yup'ik culture as they occur through varied tellings of an ominous narrative of a natural phenomenon, the "fireball story." While recording interviews during previous fieldwork (summers of 2006 and 2007) in Scammon Bay, a Central Yup'ik community of 450 people, located on the southwestern shore of the Bering Sea in Alaska, the CoPI Katrin Simon noted an emergent theme in oral accounts, that of the "fireballs." These are a form of dangerous sea creatures who visit the village in the form of fiery balls or burning hands and kill ill-mannered community members. Contemporary Scammon Bay residents fear attacks by these sinister ancestral beings and employ the fireball story to explain bad luck, social malaise, conflict and death. By researching the history of this tale and recording its contemporary range of expressions, Simon will investigate how narrative and artistic production reflects and shapes the social realities of contemporary Yup'ik life. The history of contact in southwestern Alaska has been one of acute disruption brought on by the introduction of Western belief and political-economic systems. It is hypothesized that the "fireball phenomenon" acts as a central metaphor, articulating for the people of Scammon Bay modern-day social ills in a non-disruptive fashion; thus strengthening Yup'ik peoples? resilience in circumstances of rapid social change. The "fireball story" is said to provide healing for the community, offering a way to articulate societal tensions. By analyzing the connection between creative activities, colonial history and conflict resolution, this project explores the way Yup'ik people use art and storytelling to renew relationships to their traditional culture and redefine both past and present.