Ovatniah

Think about your grandparents or your parents. Are you like them in any way? How?

Roland Smith (1951–) is an American author of books for children and young readers.

The Yup’ik are an Indigenous Arctic people who live in Alaska, Canada and Siberia. The word Yup’ik means “real people”. About 20,000 Yup’ik live in Alaska today. Alaska is the biggest state in the USA.

ROLAND SMITH

Remember! You don’t have to understand all the words in a story to enjoy it.

Ovatniah

Marie leaned her head against the cold window of the small airplane. The snow-covered tundra seemed to stretch out below without end. She and her mother were on their way to Two Rivers, Alaska – population 17. “That water to the left is the Bering Strait,” the pilot

shouted above the engine noise. He had been giving them a !geography lesson ever since they left Anchorage. Marie knew about the Bering Strait and the legendary land bridge that spanned it thousands of years before. Her Yup’ik ancestors were said to have crossed this bridge from Siberia to Alaska in pursuit of prehistoric game. She wished they had followed their hunger to a gloriously warm place like Arizona. If they had, she thought, I would be half Apache right now, or Hopi, or Navajo, sitting in the sun, watching lizards bask on desert rocks. I could be – “We’re here,” her mother said from the front seat next to the pilot. Marie still could not believe her mother was making her spend the summer in a ghost town with her grandmother, Aanaq Wasuli, a woman Marie had met only twice before. The pilot pushed the nose of the small airplane down and came in for a slippery landing. A snowmobile pulling a sled bounced across the snow toward them. It was driven by a Yup’ik named Sam. He tossed Marie’s luggage into the sled and drove them toward Two Rivers. “We need to talk,” her mother said. “Aanaq is the only one who knows where the old ivory is buried …”

Vurderingseksemplar the Bering Strait Beringstredet land bridge landbro spanned strakk seg over ancestors forfedre in pursuit of på jakt etter prehistoric game forhistoriske dyr lizards firfisler bask on sole seg på twice to ganger slippery glatt sled slede bounced hoppet tossed kastet

ivory elfenben carver skulptør, billedhugger made her living tjente penger collectors samlere tusks støttenner mastodons mastodonter (utdødd elefantlignende dyr) preserved bevart beneath under fortune formue boarding school internatskole set us up for life klare oss resten av livet stubborn sta cinderblock betong patching som lappet sammen creaky knirkende, forfalne porch veranda raven ravn Marie had heard it all before. Aanaq was a famous ivory carver. Marie’s mother made her living selling Aanaq’s carvings to art galleries and collectors. Aanaq’s specialty was carving old ivory, also known as fossil ivory, which comes from the tusks of woolly mammoths and mastodons, preserved beneath the tundra for thousands of years. The Wasuli family had been ivory carvers for as long as anyone could remember, but the tradition had ended when Aanaq’s only surviving child, Marie’s mother, left Two Rivers at the age of 16. “I don’t need to tell you again. That old ivory is worth a fortune. Enough so you can start seventh grade at that fancy boarding school in Seattle. Enough to set us up for life.” Marie stepped into a soft spot and her shoe filled with ice water the color of coffee. “When the snow melts, Aanaq will go to the secret place for more ivory,” her mother continued. “She’s a stubborn old woman. If she were to die, the secret would die with her. You must find out where the ivory is, Marie, so we have something after she’s gone.” The houses in Two Rivers were made of cinderblock the Vurderingseksemplar color of rain clouds. As Marie and her mother walked through the village, they saw only two people: an old man patching an aluminum boat and another old man repairing a fishing net behind his house. “Are there any young people here?” Marie asked. “Just you.”

As they stepped onto Aanaq’s creaky porch a huge black raven burst from the corner, where it was feeding on a seal head. Marie stared in horror at the bloody head. “I can’t do this.” “That is Aanaq’s raven,” her mother said. “She raised it from a chick.”

The front door opened. Aanaq was a small woman. She wore denim coveralls over an old T-shirt, rubber boots, and a wool stocking cap pulled down over her white hair. Her dark skin was the texture of walrus hide. Her eyes were the color of the raven that flew off the porch, and just as startling. As she stepped into the house, Marie was assaulted by the smell of rotting fish. “Seal oil,” her mother whispered. “You’ll get used to it.”

The living room looked like a bear had ransacked it. Piles of magazines and clothes were scattered all over the floor. The only furniture was two worn sofas facing each other. Between them was a table made out of driftwood, and on top of the table was the most beautiful chess set Marie had ever seen. The black pieces were made out of old ivory, the white pieces out of new. The black king and queen were carved grizzly bears standing on their hind legs. The white king and queen were polar bears. The bishops were wolves, the knights were caribou, the rooks were ravens, and the pawns were seals. As Marie stared at the pieces, her chest filled with emotion. She looked away and took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears from coming. Her father taught her how to play chess when she was little. They played every night. When he was away on his fishing boat, he called his moves in to Marie on his radio, and she moved his and her pieces while she sat at the kitchen table. They were playing the night he died in the storm. “Knight to b4,” he’d said. And those were the last words she ever heard him speak. Marie’s mother picked up the polar bear queen. “Do I get to take the set this time, Aanaq?” “You come here twice a year,” Aanaq said. “And every time you ask, and every time I tell you that it is not for sale.” “You don’t even know how to play chess,” Marie’s mother said. “There are people out there who do, and who would really enjoy this set.” “I don’t need to play to enjoy it.”

was the texture of walrus hide så ut som huden til en hvalross assaulted by angrepet av ransacked endevendt, plyndret scattered spredt hind legs bakbeina rooks tårnene (sjakk) caribou villrein pawns bøndene (sjakk) emotion følelser enjoy like at dawn ved soloppgang disturbed forstyrret scolding her kjeftet på henne Vurderingseksemplar

Every morning at dawn, Aanaq disappeared into the room where she carved and did not come out until after dark. She told Marie that she did not like to be disturbed when she was working. Marie spent the long days wandering across the tundra. The raven often accompanied her on these walks, flying far ahead, then circling back, and scolding her for being slow.

nesting season hekkesesong accompanied fulgte med bleak forblåst, utrivelig lemmings lemen migrating som var på vandring herd flokk vise skrustikke surface overflaten gnarled knudrete, furete crude grov uncover oppdage

The tundra was not as bleak as Marie had thought. Each day, flocks of birds arrived from the south for the short nesting season. She saw arctic foxes digging in the snow for lemmings. One day she stood within an arm’s length of a migrating herd of caribou. It took more than an hour for them to pass. Marie thought of Aanaq’s caribou knights and her father’s last move. “Caribou to b4,” she whispered, and ran back to Two Rivers with the raven flying overhead. Aanaq was sitting at her workbench. She did not turn around when Marie walked in. She was filing a piece of old ivory held in a small vise. She ran the file over the brown surface a few times, then stared at it for several moments before repeating the procedure again. “I want to teach you how to play chess,” Marie said. “Your mother was afraid that carving would ruin her hands,” Aanaq said, without pausing in her work. Marie stared at her grandmother’s gnarled hands. “What are you making?” Marie asked. “I’m looking for the yua.” “The what?” “All things have a yua, or a spirit. When we kill an animal, we believe that it willingly gives up its life for us. When we share the meat, we believe the animal’s spirit is spread throughout the community. When I carve, I look for the yua in the ivory. I try to make the ivory so others can see it too.” Aanaq looked at Marie. “I will learn chess if you let me teach you to carve.” Marie looked down at her own hands. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn. “Do you know your Yup’ik name?” Marie shook her head. Vurderingseksemplar “It is Ovatniah,” Aanaq said. “We name our children after those who have gone, hoping the good part of their yua will be passed on to the child. Ovatniah was your greatgrandmother. She was an ivory carver.” Marie carved every day, and at night, she and Aanaq played chess. Aanaq always found something good to say about Marie’s carvings. She offered suggestions and showed her how to use the tools to bring out different effects. At first

Marie’s carvings were crude and did not turn out like she pictured them. But as the months passed, she improved, and she discovered something else ... as she looked for the yua in the ivory, she uncovered the yua in herself.

“We will have to get more ivory,” Aanaq said one evening. Marie had been dreading this moment. She no longer cared about the boarding school in Seattle, or her friends back in Anchorage. She was thinking of talking her mother into letting her stay with Aanaq for a while. If she didn’t know where the ivory was buried, her mother might let her. “I’ll wait here,” Marie said. Aanaq fixed her dark eyes on her granddaughter. “I need your help.” Marie looked away. “I can’t do it alone, Ovatniah. Not anymore.” “But there are several pieces of ivory left in the room,” Marie argued.

Vurderingseksemplar dread grue seg til fixed eyes on satte øynene sine på several flere

cubs bjørnunger squatted satte seg på huk muffled dempet shoved dyttet cavern grotten “Not the right pieces. We will leave tomorrow morning.” Aanaq stopped the four-wheeler at the edge of the Bering

Sea, less than five miles from Two Rivers. She pointed to an island about a mile from shore. “Bump Island,” she said. “No one ever goes there. It’s too small to be of any use.” They untied the aluminum boat from the trailer and paddled out to the island. “Old Dirty Nose should be long gone by now, but you never know.” “Old Dirty Nose?” Marie asked. “Every few years, a polar bear has her cubs here. I’ve come across Old Dirty Nose twice.” The raven flew off across the island. “Watch the raven. He will tell us if Old Dirty Nose is here.” The raven circled the island and then returned to the boat. “I think we are safe,” Aanaq said. “Bring the tools and flashlights.” Aanaq stopped near a large rock and squatted down, parting a clump of grass. Behind it was a small opening. She disappeared down the hole like an arctic hare. “Pass the tools down.” Her voice was muffled. Marie shoved the tools down the hole. “Hurry. I don’t want to spend the night here.” The cavern was cold and damp. Aanaq’s flashlight beam danced in the darkness, then stopped. “We’ll take some ivory from these.” In the beam were two very large tusks still attached to a mastodon skull. Marie flashed her light around the cave and saw that the mastodon had not died alone. There was a whole herd of ancient elephants – her mother’s dream. Aanaq and Marie were playing chess when they heard the small airplane pass over Two Rivers. A few minutes later, Vurderingseksemplar

Marie’s mother came in and brushed the first snow of the year off her parka. Aanaq didn’t look up from the board. She moved her black raven. It was threatening Marie’s polar bear queen. Marie’s mother walked over to them and looked down at

Marie’s rough hands. “You’ve been carving,” she said. Aanaq looked up at her granddaughter. “I believe it’s your move, Ovatniah.”

UNDERSTANDING

1 Answer the multiple choice questions.

a What group of Native American people does Marie belong to?

A Navajo

B Hopi

C Apache

D Yup’ik

b Who is Aanaq Wasuli?

A Marie’s mother

B Marie’s grandmother

C Marie’s great-grandmother

D Marie’s great aunt

c Where does Marie’s grandmother live?

A Two Rivers, Alaska

B Phoenix, Arizona

C Seattle, Washington

D Anchorage, Alaska d What game did Marie play with her father over the radio?

A ludo

B checkers

C chess

D cards e How did Marie’s father die?

A His fishing boat sunk in a storm.

B His car crashed.

C An avalanche buried his snowmobile.

D His airplane crashed. f What job has Marie’s mother’s family done for generations?

A fishermen

B pilots

C ivory carvers

D snowmobile drivers

g What is a yua? A a polar bear B a snowmobile C a spirit D a raven h What is Marie’s Yup’ik name? A Aanaq B Bering C Raven D Ovatniah i Where is the fossil ivory hidden? A under the tundra B in a cave C in a barn D in a boat j Who is Old Dirty Nose? A a raven B a caribou C a mastodon D a polar bear k What does Marie’s grandmother teach her? A how to drive a snowmobileVurderingseksemplar B how to carve ivory C how to kill a seal D how to build an igloo l What does Marie want to do at the end of the story? A stay with her grandmother in Two Rivers B return home to Anchorage with her mother C go to boarding school in Seattle D work in a restaurant

VIEWPOINTS

2 Discuss the questions. a Why do you think Marie’s mother wants her to spend the summer with Aanaq? b This story is about values. Marie’s mother and grandmother have different values. In what ways are they different? c What do you think the last sentence means? d What do you think Marie will choose to do?

TEXT ANALYSIS

3 Answer the questions for analysis. Narrator: Who tells the story? Setting: Where and when does the story take place? Characters: Who is the story about? Plot: What happens in the story? Conflict: What is the problem? Theme: What is the story really about? VOCABULARY 4 Match the expression about time from the story with its Norwegian translation. tomorrow morning twice before every night twice a year each day a few minutes later Vurderingseksemplar ___ - hver dag ___ - hver kveld ___ - i morgen tidlig ___ - to ganger årlig ___ - noen minutter senere ___ - to ganger tidligere

CREATIVE CORNER

5 How do you think the conversation between Marie’s mother, Marie and Aanaq continues? Act out the scene in groups of three.

LANGUAGE LAB

6 Irregular verbs Find the correct present tense form of the verbs in brackets. Then re-write the sentences in the past tense. a Marie sees (see) where the ivory came from. Marie saw where the ivory came from. b Marie’s grandmother ___ (show) her how to carve. c Indigenous people ___ (sing). d Aanaq ___ (spend) all day carving. e Marie’s mother ___ (steal) the secret ivory. f Seals ___ (swim) close to the island. g Carving ___ (tear) nails and ___ (make) hands rough. h Marie’s mother ___ (throw) out old traditions. i Aanaq ___ (wear) denim coveralls. j Marie often ___ (win) when she plays chess. 7 Past progressive Find the missing form of to be: was or were? a A huge black raven was feeding on a seal head. b They ___ playing the night he died in the storm. c Aanaq ___ sitting at her workbench. d She ___ filing a piece of old ivory. e Aanaq and Marie ___ playing chess when they heard the Vurderingseksemplar small airplane.

DIGITAL DIVE

8 Find facts about Alaska. Write five sentences.