The sky was clear at the harbor in Sand Point last week as about a dozen kids and adults climbed into a niĝilax̂ — a traditional Unangax̂ skin boat. It was the last week of the Qagan Tayagungin Tribe’s two-week Culture Camp, and a crowd of spectators had gathered to watch the campers paddle around the harbor.
Dance instructor Mason Kvasnikoff used to be one of those young campers. In his early twenties now, he’s a central figure in the Unangax̂ dance community in Anchorage. He comes home for the camp every summer.
Kvasnikoff enjoys blending the traditional with the modern — picture traditional tattoos along with heart-shaped glasses and white New Balance sneakers.
“I think that a lot of us in the younger generations of Unangas are really trying to embrace the culture, like incorporating it into our everyday lives,” he said. “We're just trying to have fun with it.”
As the last camper climbed into the boat and the paddlers pushed off from the dock, Kvasnikoff began to sing, beating a drum he’d made himself.
The boat’s name is Unangam Anĝii, which translates to “Unangax̂ Spirit.” It first touched the water during the 2023 culture camp — an important vessel for a community that hadn’t paddled a niĝilax̂ for generations.
As the campers rounded a buoy, flanked by green tundra and steep cliffs, they raised their paddles in the air.
Tradition renewed
Culture camps are popular all around the state as a way to celebrate and pass on Alaska Native traditions to younger generations. In the Aleutians, arts, dance and craft instructors from all across the chain traveled to Sand Point this year for its 25th annual camp.
Camp Director Carla Chebetnoy was there in the beginning. She’s one of the key people who helped start Sand Point’s camp in the 1990s, when there were only a few Unangax̂ culture camps. Today, communities all across the thousand-mile Aleutian Chain host their own camps.
Chebetnoy says it’s a way to pass on traditions that she was afraid would be lost.
“It was important to us because we had no Unangax̂ speakers alive in our community, and our kids didn't know anything about their culture or traditions or anything,” she said.
Chebetnoy said she grew up surrounded by elders. She wanted her children to have the same opportunities to learn about their traditions and culture. That hope helped inspire the first camp.
“As it grew, my children became instructors, and my grandchildren are at camp,” she said.
Starting young
On the last night of the camp, people from all over town came out for a dance performance and potluck at the tribe’s community center. The performance lasted about an hour. Dancers of all ages wore beaded headdresses, animal skin robes and medallions — all regalia that was made at camp.
Another camp organizer and instructor, Peter Devine Jr., said he remembers the first camp in Sand Point, when he took the kids camping in the hills for a whole week. Ultimately, they turned it into a day camp.
Devine said that when he and Chebetnoy were planning the first camp, they decided to make it open for all ages, unlike other camps in the region that mostly started with fifth graders.
“I always tell everybody, ‘we got the best camp in the state,’” he said. “We start when they’re young.”
Devine said he’s proud of the work he’s done organizing it over the years, but that he’s glad a new generation is starting to take the helm.
“I see us being able to hand it over to them, no problem,” he said. “It's just a matter of when they want to boot me out.”
Unalaska’s Camp Qangayux̂ began this week, along with Akutan and Atka, which alternate biannually to host a joint camp. Nelson Lagoon’s camp begins Aug. 2.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the last names of Peter Devine Jr. and Mason Kvasnikoff.
