Ricky Lee Mosher June 21, 1955 to November 22, 2008
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tetlin Blog Posting
As learned from reading Serving with Eyes Wide Open, there is no way to really get to know a group of people and their culture during a short-term mission trip. Sometimes the information provided in advance can be inaccurate or obsolete and sometimes direct observations can lack proper cultural context. Out of respect for the people in Tetlin, I will not post regarding my experiences and observations in this village. I have a deep respect for the people who so warmly welcomed us and want only healing and prosperity for them.
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Leslie, my husband and I lived in AK for a while. And my daughter spent last summer there. Praying for you now. :)
ReplyDelete~Heidi
I am happy to see that you realize how limited your perspective is on what may or may not be happening in a village like Tetlin. I have been teaching in Alaska for ten years now, and I am not even close to knowing anywhere near what there is to know about the Athabaskan people. It is easy to look around and think that alcohol and snow machines are their culture, but that is wrong, wrong, wrong. Much of their culture is not secret, but just private, and we will never know about some of the things that make them what they are. But I do know that they are a kind, generous, and strong people, who experience more than their fair share of pain with dignity and grace.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding the new information, as well as your analysis. This is why your blog is one of the few I read that I also ever bother to comment on. I don't do it to hear myself talk - I do it because I know you actually listen.
ReplyDeleteI am from Tetlin and I am one of the person that wants to motivate the young to learn more about Tetlin culture and traditions. I work at the cultural gathering every mon. and wed. evenings and it's hard to get the people to show up. I know we have to live it to be it, but what if the teaching stops in the home, then what?
ReplyDeleteA long time ago Tetlin was free, and people live everyday to survive without food stamps, or any kind of hand outs. Imagine living off the land then. I remember I was happy even though we weren't rich. Families was doing things together, not any more.
I sure wish I could change our suicides, drug and alcohol use and their motivation to learn about our ancestors way of life. thanks Doreen