Unangax Dancing

VIDEO RECORDED BY MIKE LIVINGSTON
(Culture Camp Staff Member)

I have decided to do this blog about Aleut dancing because it is something I am very passionate about. I am an Aleut Dancer myself with the Sand Point Aleut Dance group. The Aleut Dance group was formed in the Summer of 1999, which was the first year of Sand Point Culture Camp. My mother, Carla Chebetnoy, has been the director of Culture Camp for nine years and next summer in Sand Point, Alaska we will be celebrating our 10th year anniversary. I have been the leader of the dance group for many years, and each year new dancers join. We do not have all the dancers we have started out with because they haven't been able to make it to Culture Camp since. Most of our dances were taught to us by the Atka Dancers. But with the help of the Swetzof family we made our own Sand Point dance called Unangam Saaquda, which mean Aleut Summer. It's a dance in which we can tell people what happens at Culture Camp. It was fun to create and I hope it is seen by many viewers in the future.