Speech

Informative Essay/ Speech Expository

Nunivak Island is one of the largest islands in the Bering Sea. It is covered in permafrost. It is a volcanic island lying about 30 miles offshore from the mainland. What I’m about to inform you is what was lost in the Cup’ig culture in the late 19th and the early 20th Century, when the first U.S. Census for Nunivak Island was taken by an American Ivan Petroff, the missionaries that came to Nunivak, and reviving the traditional dancing.

Nunivak’s first U.S. Census was in the year of 1891 by Ivan Petroff. He was dropped off at the southeastern coast of Cape Mendenhall. He was on the island for about sixteen days. He reported that he went all the way around the island and that there were fifteen settlements with a population of 745 people on the island. He was picked up just off shore of Mekoryuk. If he had traveled around the island he would have to have gone around one and a half times. Some researchers questioned the number. He was using a kayak to go around the island. People thought that he lied because it couldn’t have taken him sixteen days to go around the island. The researchers think that he only went on one side of the island and counted up 745 people. They think that there were more people than that because he didn’t navigate the whole island.
In the 40 years after Petroff visited 73% of the people died from diseases that were introduced to the islanders: measles, tuberculosis, and influenza. The diseases would go away and come back and more people would die. The diseases were brought and introduced to the Cup’ig Eskimo by Ivan Petroff and others like shipwrecked people or people that came here for protection. The elders and children were dying. The elders were the teachers and the supervisors in the Cup’ig culture. When they die some of our culture dies too. The Russians and Americans that came to Nunivak Island, like Ivan Petroff, had side effects on the Cup’ig people. The side effects were sicknesses that were deadly to the Native people of Nunivak Island.

Who came to Nunivak Island and told the Cup’ig people to stop practicing some of their culture? The missionaries came and settled on the island. In the 1930’s the missionaries weren’t white people they were Inupiaq Eskimos. The main missionary was Jacob Kenick from Shaktoolik. The missionaries had said that our traditional dancing was evil and that we need to stop practicing it. They also said that the Cup’ig people had to get their drums and hunting tools and throw them into the bay because it wasted their time from learning about God. Ever since that happened, there was no more traditional dancing and hunting with spears, harpoons, bows and arrows. They used guns instead.

60 years later we have revived the dancing, even though the elders and some adults were against it. The only people that weren’t against it were young people. The people that wanted the cultural dancing to be revived over ruled the adults that were against it. Howard Amos had video taped fifteen songs with three of them with motions that Kay Hendrickson sang and performed for him. There weren’t any cultural dancing for over sixty years. It was exciting to see that there was cultural dancing again. It was like finding some pieces that were missing in the culture, but there are more things that need to be found to repair the Cup’ig culture.


All this happened to the Cup’ig people. If there weren’t so many people that introduced sicknesses there would be more of us, the Cup’igs. There was a lot of grief and depression going on that time. Then the missionaries came and made it worse. They took away things the Cup’igs loved to do. Now that the Cup’ig’s traditional dancing is revived the children can learn what our ancestors loved to do. But our language is dying off and so are our elders. When our elders die some of our culture dies with them.

Persuasive Essay

The president of Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that the Holocaust didn’t happen, he’s wrong. There’s a lot of proof that said that it had happened. He declared that the Jews just wanted to be felt sorry for and with the purpose of what they said about the Holocaust was just a myth. In this essay I will tell you facts that said the Holocaust had happened.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to wipe Israel off the map and move it somewhere else because there was no reason for it to exist. Ahmadinejad suggested that it to be moved to Europe, United States, Alaska, or Canada. The United States, Israel, and European Commission had condemned his suggestion. Ahmadinejad had doubted that the killing of Jews were by Nazis during World War II. He requested Europe, U.S., Alaska, and Canada to give a piece of land to Israel.
Well, how does he know that it’s a myth or not? Why does Ahmadinejad deny what had happened to the Jews in World War Two? He says that the Jews made a myth that they were massacred and placed that above God, religions and prophets. I am saying that the Holocaust happened. In the books Parallel Journeys, The Dairy of Anne Frank, Stay Alive, The Hiding place, The Power of One, Night, and many more books tells us that the Holocaust happened. In the book Parallel Journey there is a Jewish woman and a German man Alfons Heck, a German, used to be an ardent member of the Hitler Youth. Helen Waterford was Jewish woman who was one of the many Jews that were part of the Holocaust. Both of them confessed what happened in World War Two and what happened after the discrimination happened. If he doesn’t believe this he could just go ask Alfons Heck, the man who was a part of the Hitler Youth when he was just a boy.
The web page www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/ tells us testimonies that say that the Holocaust happened. In that website there are a lot of people that had said what had happened to them when they were at concentration camp. Those are true stories that they told. Some of them tell stories of other people but most of the stories are about the person who told it. There are also pictures in www.ushmm.org. There are pictures of SS officers.
There is a timeline from 1933 to 1961 explaining what had happened while Hitler was ruling Nazi Germany in the web page http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html. There’s a lot of websites and books that prove that the Holocaust happened. Such things can happen even if it is unbelievable. He may think that the Holocaust is a myth, but there’s a lot of proof that say that it had happened.

My News Article

Nazi Saves Jews

During a raid on the Krakow Ghetto in 1942 a member of the Nazi Party watched from an overlooking hill. Oskar Schindler was shocked by the murder of many Jews who were working for him in his enamelware factory. Oskar was a very persuasive man. After the raid he used all of his skills to try and protect his “Schindler Jews”. He bought more factories in order to save more Jews. Even through he was a Nazi himself he started saving Jews because other Nazis had killed his Jewish workers.
In Zwittau, Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908. Hans Schindler and his wife Franziska Luser were Schindler's parents, but they divorced. Oskar became a Sudeten German factory owner who is recognized for saving 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. He had Jews working in his enamelware and ammunitions factories located in Poland. He called the Jews that he saved his children. He died on October 9, 1974, and was buried in Jerusalem.
Close friends of Oskar Schindler were entrusted with a suitcase after his death in 1974. The couples’ children rediscovered the suitcase when they were clearing their parents’ loft and found an original list in 1999. Schindler’s original list consisted of 1,200 Jewish names that he had saved from dying in the extermination camps.
The Jews that he saved worked in his enamelware and ammunitions factories all over Poland and some in the Czech Republic. He got more factories that belonged to Jewish owners under Nazi Germany's Aryanization policies. The Nazis thought that Oskar was letting the Jews work without pay. The more factories he received the more Jews he got to save.
He bribed, lied, and gave money to the Nazis to give him more Jews and to protect himself. He used bribery, lying, and his own money to save the 1,200 Jews. He did all these bad things in order to save Jews. The Nazis didn’t suspect him because he cheated on his wife, gambled, bribed, and was a drunk. He was sent to prison because he was suspected of running black market activities and was involved in stealing and cheating. After that he used his “skills” to protect himself from being suspected and to save more Jews.

Memory For Life

In 1939, the morning was beautiful in Warsaw. “Jadyn, it’s time for breakfast,” Mother said exhaustedly. We were having the usual Monday morning breakfast; eggs, pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and oatmeal.
“So,” Father said, “What are your plans today? I am going to do inventory in the store today, who would like to help me?”
“Abe?” Mother asked Father.
“Yes dear,” Father replied affectionately.
“Would you be able to take me to Mrs. Franks house? We’re doing the Quilting Club there today,” she interrogated pleadingly.
“Yes, I would,” answered Father politely.
Immediately Lizbeth stated to our parents, “ Jadyn and I are going to Tzipora’s after school to play dolls and have tea with her. Every Monday we have the usual tea party.” Lizbeth was my twin sister.
“What about you Betsy? What are you going to do today?” questioned Mother.
Betsy lazily retorted, “ Annie and I have to work on our Science project. So, I will be at her house today.”
“ I’m not burdened with anything today, Father, I could help you,” Aaron verbalized courteously.
“ Me too,” uttered Seth, Hans, Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel.
I had eight siblings; Aaron, 16, Betsy, 15, Seth, 14, Lizbeth, 12, Hans, 9, Margot, 7, Eli, 5, and Emmanuel, 3. There were some nights that we played hide-and-seek and tag in our house. Sometime we would do some plays that we made up for our parents. After the plays we would get treats.
Lizbeth and I went to pick up our friends and went off to school. We were planning what we were going to do at Tzipora’s house: first, homework, second, tea, and third, anything we would think of. It was time to go to class. Our homeroom teacher was Mrs. Frank. She was the nicest teacher that anyone could have.
Right after school Lizbeth, our friends, and I went to Tzipora’s. We did our homework and had tea. After we put our dishes in the sink we went to Tzipora’s room to play with her dolls. Lizbeth and I had to go home; our mother had called. Lizbeth and I helped put the dolls away.

I remember in May of 1940, there was a knock on the door. Our neighbors had told us that we needed to get ready for a journey. We brought our bags to Eliezer Shaan’s yard. He was one of our neighbors. There were a lot of Jewish people there with their luggage. There was a rumor that we were going to be picked up and brought to a camp. Eliezer said that the rumor was true.
In a few hours there were a lot of trucks parking in our neighborhood. There was a choice you had to make; you either went to the camp or be shot and cremated. I was scared. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out. Everyone picked to go to camp. We boarded the trucks. There were eighty people in each truck. There was no room for all the people to sit down so we took turns. It was so hot in the truck. The truck began to stink. My family and I were by a window. We were glad we were by a window. I felt the soothing air on my face. I heard a child cry. There was a little boy that asked his mother for water, but there was no water. We were thirsty and hungry. My stomach hurt from hunger.

The doors slid open. We were ordered to get out. There was silence. Then we had to form a line in rows of five. There were one hundred people in a row. Our parents told us to stick together.
The Kapo announced, “You are in a concentration camp! The Gross Rosen concentration camp! Do you know why you came? Do you see the chimney over there? Do you see the flames?” (Of course we see the flames.) “ That’s where they will take you, that’s where your grave will be. You will be burned to cinder! You will be in ashes! We will give no mercy to all!”
I heard people whisper behind me:
“ We had fallen into a trap, what should we do now? We must do something. We can’t let them do this to us. We can’t let them slaughter us like cattle in the slaughterhouse.”
“ Mother, what is going to happen to us?” Seth asked.
“ I don’t know, my dear. It looks like this will be where we will be staying.”
My twin sister, Lizbeth, and my older sister, Margot were holding my hands. My family and I were all holding each other’s hands. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. The Kapos told us to follow them. Then they ordered us to run. We ran until we were ordered to stop.


Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel had died. They were too weak to do anything. We just woke up and found them dead in bed. Mother and Father had to carry them to the cremation building. We said Kaddish for them. Then Hans had died. While he was working, one of the Kapos got mad and randomly picked someone to beat. He picked up my brother and started throwing him around. I told the Kapo to stop. He came to me and told me that I either shut up or get burned to death. I had gotten quiet and started working. My brother was beaten so badly he died. He lost too much blood. I had to watch my brother burn in the cremation building. I was crying but the tears didn’t come out.
There are kind soldiers that bring us more soup if we’re too skinny. We thanked them. When I get a second bowl of soup I’d give the other half either to Lizbeth or Seth. If they had a second bowl I would give my other portion to my parents.

There was selection today. All of us were terrified. We were told to run to show them we were still strong enough to live. I heard people praying all around me. I prayed and asked God for strength. When the Kapos came in we became quiet.
An hour passed. The selection was finished. We didn’t know who was written down on the paper. We would find out who was written down to tomorrow morning. We were scared because we didn’t know if they wrote our names down. While I was working the thought of the selection came to me. I got worried, but I told myself that tomorrow they would announce who will stay behind.
The next morning we were told to line up. The Kapos came in and announced numbers. I wasn’t picked. My family wasn’t picked. There was one number I new. The number was my friend’s number, 29476. Her name was Mary. She was about 40 years old. She was a kind and caring lady. She worked by me and kept me company. All of us were assigned a place to work and a place to sit.

In 1942 the SS soldiers were driven out of the camp. We were free at last. When I was out of the gates I asked one of the soldiers that had driven out the SS soldiers if he had food to spare and he said yes. He gave me food. I ate all of it. Then a few minutes my stomach started hurting. The food was too rich for me. I had to eat food that was not too rich for a while.
There are days that I weep for my loved ones that I lost. The only people in my family that survived were my dad, mother, twin sister, Seth, Aaron, and Betsy. We would pray for our loved ones that we had lost in the camp. We had wished that they had a proper burial. All of us also prayed for all the Jews that were lost in all the camps. Almost every day we would have dreams we were in the camps. We were used to the nightmares because we knew how it felt to be beaten, hungry, tired and weak. This is the memory I would not forget through out my life, but I am glad that this would not happen again. My family and I are safe now. We will no longer feel the pain of being beaten, hungry, cold, and weak. I guess this was a test that God put the Jews though.

Poem

I Wish You Were Here

Mom, I’ve missed you ever since the moment you died. There’s been a pain inside me ever since you died. That pain grows everyday. I have more problems; I may seem happy but I’m not, I’m sad.

I just put a smile on my face so no one will question me what’s bothering me. When I can’t take it any more I will start crying for you; it doesn’t matter where I am I’ll still cry. I’m like a volcano erupting. Just erupt when it erupts. My body can’t take it any more. It can’t stand my pain any more. It hurts to keep my sorrow within me. The only person that will help cure my pain is you. I will not let anyone else cure my pain. The only thing that will cure my pain and take my sorrow away is seeing you.

It hurts me not seeing you. I am a puppy howling for its mom. I see you on the wall all the time, but those are just pictures. I would rather see you in person or in a dream. There are times I wish you were here with me. When I have bad, good, and sad times, or even just to be with me. I had wish that ever since I was nine years old. I even know when you died; it was a month before your birthday. On June 30, 1999 between 10 P.M. to 12 A.M.

I just wish you could be here so you could be there when I graduate, get married, see your first grandchild, and whatever is special to a family. You didn’t spank or ground me before. I remember you asked me if you were a mean mom and I said no. You never, in my whole life, had spanked me before.

I know that I was really spoiled when I was a kid. You were one of them people that had spoiled me. When I ask for something I would get it. I remember when I wanted a bike Uppa bought me a bike.

I want you to be here to dance with Dad when there is a two-step dance. Sometimes I get mad because he is dancing with some one else. I start crying when I see him dancing with someone else. From time to time I wonder if he wishes you were dancing with him. Maybe he does.

I miss your laughter, but sometimes I could hear it in Caroline when she laughs. When she laughs like you I tell her that she laughs like you and she asks how she laughs like you. I just tell her that she just laughs like you. There are times I think that she is you. I don’t know why but I just think that.

Remember when we used to walk in the woods on sunny days? Remember that nice smell of leaves and flowers? Hearing the leaves rustle on the trees? I do. Feeling that nice warm gusts of wind passing you. There is one thing I don’t like about walking in the woods; green, small, yucky bugs falling on you from the trees. That was the reason why I stopped climbing on trees and hardly liked walking in the woods.

I miss you a lot. I just want to see you. I want you to be here with me and the other kids. All of us cry for you, but we morn for you inside all the time. Then we just start crying if we can’t take the pain any more. That is how much we miss you.

Autobiographical Sketch

I was walking down the hall in Alaska Native Medical Center on the fifth floor then I saw Xenia and Edward Shavings Jr. I asked them if they wanted to see my mom and they said that they wanted to. So I brought them to my mom’s room. Having no idea that Xenia was sick I let them in my mom’s room. While the couple was in there, there was hardly any talking. Then my mom asked, “ Xenia, what are you here for?”
Xenia replied, “ I’m here for an appointment.”
My mother asked, “ Are you sick?” My mother sounded scared.
“Yeah,” answered Xenia.
Then my mom told Xenia that she couldn’t be in her room if she was sick. Xenia told her husband, “ Baby, she said that we can’t be in here.”
Edward replied, “ Ok, we’ll get going. See you later.”
The next day I went to the hospital with Auntie Color. When I opened me mom’s room door I put my hands to my mouth and started crying. I saw my mom wearing an oxygen mask. From there I knew that my mom was going to get really sick and die. That night she got really sick. My family and I stayed with her for three days. The second day I fell asleep in the hallway around midnight. When I woke up I had a blanket on and it was around 9 o’clock in the morning. I was too sad to eat so I didn’t eat.
Around 8 o’clock in the evening my dad took Gram, the three younger kids and me home. We were in the house for some minutes and there was a phone call. Gram said that we were to go to the hospital again. My dad’s friend, David Chanar, picked us up. Aaron and I were crying beside Mom’s bed while Caroline and Jeremy were laughing and playing around. They were the only ones that didn’t know what was happening. Then finally my mom died. Jeremy and Caroline were now crying. She died on June 30, 1999 around 10 in the evening. One month before her thirtieth birthday. I was nine, Aaron; 8, Jeremy; 6, and Caroline; 4. One month and twenty-nine days after Caroline’s fourth birthday.
As soon as my mom died everything wasn’t the same any more. My siblings and I hardly played. Every little thing that reminded us about our mother we cried. The song Amazing Grace used to make Aaron and me cry when ever we heard it. There was this one homemade movie she made that we all watched together. In that movie she was reading us a book. We all cried while we watched the movie.
After my mom died I was expected to do a lot things for a nine year old. I was expected to help with every chore in the house, cook, take care of my siblings, wash the laundry, and watch over them. This was too much for me when I was nine. I hardly played because of all the things I had to do. I was too tired to play. Finally most of the things that I was expected to do I didn’t have to do any more.
I remember if one of my siblings got hurt I was there to take care of it. If someone was mean to them I was there to defend my brothers or sister. I still do that. Even though they don’t defend me I still defend them. Sometimes when one of my siblings cries for our mother I would cry with them, but it’s mostly with my sister. My brothers try not to think about our mom. They don’t want to do anything to do with our mom. I don’t know why.
If my mom hadn’t died my family and I would have been living in Anchorage and this paper wouldn’t have been written. My life would have been different, a lot different. I would have a mother, my friends from Anchorage, my dad would still be working in Key Bank, and maybe I would have a lot of problems.
The second event that shaped my life was some weeks after my mother died. One of my teeth had come out but no one knew. I washed my tooth and went in my room to put it under my pillow. After school I went right to my room. When I looked under my pillow my tooth was still there. So I went out to play. That day I kept checking on my tooth.
My tooth was still there the next morning. I went to school sad. The tooth fairy hadn’t come for my tooth. After school I checked again. When I checked under my pillow my tooth was gone! There was a dollar under my pillow. The dollar looked new. There were no wrinkles on the dollar, but there was writing on it. It looked as if the writing was printed on the dollar. It wasn’t in pen or pencil. That writing on my dollar said ~Jesus Loves You~.
I went to ask my dad if he wrote it but he said he didn’t. He said that it looked like my mom’s handwriting! I was surprised. I kept that dollar with me all the time. I showed it to my teachers and friends. Then I had lost that dollar. I was mad and sad. I looked for it all over but couldn’t find it. From that I learned that whatever you treasure should be kept safe at home not with you.

My first blog ever!

Hello, my name is Kayleen. My Christmas break was... kinda boring because I stayed home most of the time. My best friend was at Anchorage so I didn't go out as much as I used to. The thing I wanted most for Christmas was snow! So on Christmas day it snowed a lot! Well got to go! Bye!