by Ann Fienup-Riordan and Alice Rearden
Almost 20 years ago, Calista Elders Council held an Elders Gathering in Bethel at the Pacifica Guest House to talk about foundation words in the Yup’ik language. One of the words that came up was “cangerlak” translating as an epidemic. The elders shared that epidemics are not new, and that they come to wake us up and bring us to awareness of the world around us. The elders at our gathering included Frank Andrew from Kwigillingok, Paul John and Theresa Moses from Toksook Bay, Elsie Mather of Bethel, and Marie Meade, then living in Anchorage. Mark John and Ann Riordan were also present, and a youthful Alice Rearden, who prepared this translation. We continue to be grateful for the wise words elders have shared over the years — words that continue to guide us today. -Ann Fienup-Riordan
***
Cangerlak discussion from Foundation Word gathering, Bethel, August 16, 2002
Elsie: Cangerlagaqameng camek pilartat, camun tua-iw’ nanikuayarauguq qaa? Cauga cangerlak, cayaraularta? <What are the circumstances for cangerlak, is it when one is going through desperation? What is cangerlak, what occurs?>
Frank: Apquciq-llu assinrilnguq tua-i yugmek atauciunrilngurmek unanglun’ tua-i naulluunaq cangerlagmek pilaqiit. <They call a catastrophic epidemic that kills more than one person cangerlak.>
Piitnamek-wa taman’ pilaqiit neqetgun piyaraq. Man’a naulluun cangerliqlun’ cangerlak. Tuaten pimangat’lall’. Neqetgun taugken piitnaq. <They call it piitnaq when they are referring to [a catastrophic event] having to do with food [shortage]. When it has to do with illness, they say cangerliqluni, cangerlak. That is how those terms seem to be used. However, when it’s through food [they endure hardship as a result of food shortage], they call it piitnaq.>
Elsie: Tuartang nanikualuteng yuut caggun-wa tua-i naulluutekun wall’ cakun piyuilngurkun, iciw’ pulengtarmek piksailngurkun cangerliqluteng, wall’uq. Cangerlak, cangerliqsaraq. <It seems that when people are going through desperation as a result of some illness, or something that they don’t usually experience, something that they haven’t experienced in the past to that extent, they call it cangerliqluteng. Cangerlak, cangerliqsaraq.>
Paul: Apqucirpallruut tayima qanemcimi wiingall’ kingu’urcimaluku. Tua-i-llu taun’ apqucirpallerteng cangerlagpagmek pilallruat, imumi-gguq cangerlagpiim nalliini. <In a story, I heard of them going through a devastating epidemic, and I didn’t live through that time. And they used to call the great epidemic they experienced cangerlagpak, referring to that time as back during the time when they experienced the great epidemic.>
Arenqiallugterpallerteng tauna apqucikun cangerlagpagmek aptullruluku. Taumek tua-i man’a-llu ilaineq, ilaminek ilagiyaraq taumek kangillgutkaa. Tua-i yuk ilaiquni cangerliqluni, ilani piunriqan. <That great epidemic they went through, they’d call it cangerlagpak. And even losing a relative, losing a relative means the same thing. If someone loses a family member, if one of his relatives dies, he/she is experiencing cangerlak.>
Aug’um-llu aanama angiin augna ava-i Mark-aq yuurcan qanrutellrukiinga, “Waniw’ irniangelangeqatartuten. Erenrem iluani cangerliit tekitaqluki pilangeciquten. Irniarpenek-llu ayagikuvet, cangerlak call’ tua-i aturciqken. Tuaten call’ aanama angiin qanrutellrulua, irniangumariama. <When Mark was born, my mother’s uncle told me, “You are going to have children from now on. Some days, you will come upon cangerliit. And when your child dies, you will go through cangerlak. That is something else my mother’s uncle told me after I had children.>
Tua-i ilaminek ayagikuni yuk cangerliqsugngalliniluni. Wall’ nunat ayuqluteng apquciquneng cangerliqsugngaluteng. Tua-i tamakunek kangingqerrluni. <When a person’s relative dies, they can apparently endure cangerlak. Or if an entire village experiences a sickness, they can endure cangerlak. Those are what it means.>
Marie: Caq’ imna apquciq amllernek yugnek tuquciaqami cangerlauluni? <So when an epedemic kills a great number of people, it is called cangerlak?>
Paul: Tua-iw’ tauna tua-i ap’laqiit tuaten ciuliat augkut cangerlagpagmek. Tuqurpallrat-llu apraqamegteggu cangerlagpagmek apraqluku. <That is what our ancestors called it, cangerlagpak. And when they talk about the time they died in great numbers, they call it cangerlagpak.>
Theresa: Ena-llu yungssagairulluni piaqlun’. Tauna tua-i cangerlagpagmek pilaqevut. Enem-llu yuin iliin tua-i yungssagairulluni. <And all the residents of a home would die. We call it cangerlagpak. And some houses no longer had occupants [alive].>
Paul: Quserpagmek, pupignamek qanlallruut. Quserpallratnek tuqualuteng calill’ pupigpagluki pillrat taman’ cangerlagpagmek ap’lallrukiit. Pupigpagteggun tuquallrat. Tamakut-wa tua-i apqucit pupiuluteng pillrullilriit. <They used to talk about quserpak [influenza], pupignaq [small pox]. When they went through a great influenza epidemic and they had small pox, they used to call that cangerlagpak. The time they died in great numbers from small pox. They probably suffered from small pox when they had sores].>
Marie: Tamakut-wa wani pilartut apqucit makunun tekitellrianun kass’anun tekitellruniluki tamakut apqucit. <They say that those diseases came from the white people who arrived here.>
Paul: Ilait tuaten pilartut, ilaita-llu tuaten umyugiutevkenaku. Tua-i aulukestengqellerteng neq’akestain tuaten-llu ciunerkiurumacirput neq’akestain kass’at avaliteksuicugnarqait. <Some say that, but others don’t think that way. Those who recall that we have a Creator and the fact that our fate is destined do not hold white people responsible for [the epidemics].>
Tua-i waten augkut qantullrulriit, ellalkarpakaqumta-gguq Ellam Yuan ellangcarciqaakut catgun ayuqenrilngurteggun. Tua-i tamatumun wii ellilarqa kass’anun-llu ellivkenaku. Taugaam ellangcautnguluku umyugiusnganaku. <Those people used to say that Ellam Yua will reprimand us through different [catastrophes] if we were too negligent. I always put the blame on that and not on white people. But it’s like I always look at [the catastrophe] as something that makes people come to their senses.>
Marie: Tua-i nutem cangerliqsaraq tamana yumta pikellruluku? <So were epidemics always a part of our lives?>
Paul: Ii-i Ellam Yuan, Agayutem ellangcaryaaqluta. Ellalkartengelriatun ayuqliriaqamta Agayutem ellangcaryaaqluta, taugken wangkuta camek kangiinak’ tua-i, ellangcautmek-llu kangiinaku aturaqluku. <Yes, Ellam Yua, God is actually reprimanding us. God brings us to our senses when we become too negligent, but we are not aware, and we don’t know that it is an attempt at making us come to our senses when we go through it.>
Ava-ill’-am uksuurtellria agayuvimteni qanrutkeqallrukeka ciuliartaq qaneryaraq waten ellalkangvaka’arqamta Ellam Yuanun ellangcallerkarput augkunun aperluku ellalkarcesqumavkenata pitullruniluta. Maa-i uksuarpak, allragniurteqatalria, ellangcautem tucaaqngakut wangkuta ellam yuini. <And just as winter came, in our church I talked about our ancestors teaching, that our ancestors used to tell us not to be too negligent, that when we become too negligent, Ellam Yua would bring us to our senses. [I told them] that in the fall, or it’s about to become a year now, a catastrophe that should have caused us, the people of this world, to come to our senses had occurred.>
Akmani kangilqukayamta cassuutait New York ami im’ tengssutet puugvagakiit. Washington D.C-mill’ anguyagtemta call’ enerpautiit puurvagluku. Tua-i tamaa-i tamakut ellangcaumallerput neq’ak’laqumteggu, makut maa-i picurlagpagateput ellangcautnguluki kangilituyarngataput. <The airplanes crashed into the large skyscrapers down states in New York. And they crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. as well. If we keep in mind that we encounter catastrophes because we are reprimanded, I think we would determine that the reason we go through devastating events is to help us to bring us to our senses [and realize our mistakes].>
Agayuvimteni-llu qanrutkellemni uum niicugnillrunritaa. Ayaumallrani qanrutkellruaqa, umyuarteq’laryukluta Agayutmun ellangcautnguluku tamana akurtuumanaqsaaqellerput, ellarpiim iluani ukut ataniumastemta cait pinerrluamallratni. <And when I spoke about it in our church, this person did not hear it. I talked about it when she was out of town, that all of us in this world should see the destruction that was put upon our nation [9-11] as a sign that we were reprimanded by God.>
Frank: Yuiqenglleq mat’umek Caninermek Kusquqvagmek-llu amllernek yugnek piunririlleq quserpak cangerlagpagmek tua-i aterpagtaalalqait atullerteng tamana. <They refer to the influenza epidemic that they experienced that killed many people in the coastal and Kuskokwim River areas as cangerlagpak.>
Marie: Ellalkartengaqata-gguq-qaa yuut arcaqerluku ellangcaumalartut cakun. Ellalkarcaraq wani cauga, ellalkarrluni? <She is asking if people are brought to their senses when they become too negligent [break the laws of nature] in various ways. What is ellalkarcaraq, ellalkarrluni?>
Frank: Alerquutnek-wa makunek qigcikinrillerkaq, qigcikenrirluki piyukenrirluki-llu qanruyutet. Tua-i-llu wangkuta nallunritelput qanruyutet wangkutnun atullret maa-i piluaqanrirluki tamalkumta, nallunricaaqengramteki. Nepairulluki tamakut, nepiit niicetnanrirluku kingumta yuitnun. <It is when they no longer honor the teachings and believe that the rules for proper living are not relevant. And today we all no longer fully follow the rules for proper living that were used on us even if we know them. We are quiet about those now, we no longer let our young people hear them.>
Cali-ll’ nuna man’a allaurtetuuq-gguq nuna-llu kuiget-llu neqait pillerkaa canimelliaqan. Ca tamarmi tua-i allaurrluni. <And they say that the land changes and the fish flowing through the rivers [changes] when [a catastrophe] is about to happen. Everything changes and becomes different.>
Makutgun tua-i ellangcaumaaqluteng neqaitnakun, piitnakun, naulluunarpagteggun-llu, ayuqenrilngurteggun. Tamatumun caliamun atullemtenun, anglakluku pillemtenun pisciigalivkarluta. Taugaam qanruyutem pisquurutii umyuaqengevkarluku tuaten iliinun. Maligtaqutenritleq neq’angevkarluku. Tamana aturyullerput aug’alriatun ayuqluku. Neq’angluta taugaam assilriamek tamatumek pisquuruteksaaqellemtenek. <They are reprimanded through food shortage, through scarcity and epidemics, through various ways. [When we go through that], we can’t enjoy the ways we had enjoyed before. But it makes some people start to remember the rules for proper living that they urged people to follow in the past. It makes a person who didn’t follow the teachings to recall them. It makes us stop engaging in [improper] behavior that we previously engaged in. We only remember the good way that we were initially urged to follow.>
Quyana!
