Funny, he doesn't look Yupik

 

This is Jamie in his first Kuspek. We ordered it at a Saturday market and drove out to one of the subs to pick it up today. He was very excited. The Yupik woman who made it wanted him to try it on to make sure it was big enough. It was. Then we had to go to the grocery store to buy some veggies for dinner and as soon as he was in the doors, he ripped off his jacket and threw it in the cart and proceeded to dance around the store in his new duds.

It was a subtle reminder of how important conformity is at this age. I grew up in a pretty homogeneous town so I don't know how being a minority feels. And yes, here Jamie is indeed a minority, 85% of the kids in LKSD are native. However, they are all aware of the dominant culture, t.v. makes its presence well known here, so I suppose it is a mixed bag. Jamie looks like all the people on t.v. but unlike all the kids in his class. But he loves his Kuspeq, just look at him.