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The Merreline A. Kangas School in Ruby celebrated the first week of school with a culture/career and health fair week. This year’s theme was birds. Activities included Denaakk’e names of birds, proper hand-washing techniques, respecting elders, target shooting and a camping trip at Long Creek for the high schoolers. I had the pleasure of camping one night with the students. We talked about preparing for camp, respecting the environment and animals and hunting (a cultural permit was issued).

Here are phrases about the bird unit and the camping/hunting trip:

Go ees tsonggude. — This is a ruffed grouse.

Go ees doldoye. — This is a spruce grouse.

Bekk’uł daałetl’ets. — The male spruce grouse has a black neck.

K’ekkun’ benoghe’ duhts’en hu daałekk’es. — The male spruce grouse has a red comb over the eye.

Bek’aal koon letluh. — The male spruce has an orange band at the tip of its tail.

En kk’onesdoyh. — I am going hunting. Lit. “I am traveling around.”

En kk’o’eedoyh. — He is going hunting. Lit. “He is traveling around.”

In our culture, we don’t say we are going hunting to get a moose, because if we say that, it will hear us and won’t give itself to us. Instead, we say “I’m going to look around” or “I’m going to check out this creek.”

See below for a list of gear to bring camping.

The Athabascan Word of the Week appears every Saturday on page A3 of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The words are provided by Susan “K’etsoo” Paskvan of Yukon-Koyukuk School District. She is originally from the village of Koyukuk on the Yukon River in Interior Alaska. She is Tleeyegge Hut’aane, which is Koyukon Athabascan. She seeks stories and phrases from both Denaakk’e (Koyukon Athabascan) and Denak’a (Lower Tanana Athabascan), which are languages spoken in the Yukon-Koyukuk School District region.

Yukon-Koyukuk School District serves the villages of Allakaket, Hughes, Huslia, Koyukuk, Nulato, Kaltag, Ruby, Manley Hot Springs and Minto. The Board of Education places a priority on teaching the Native languages within the district.

After years of bringing students camping, I’ve compiled this list with the help of other campers. I hope you find it useful for school or personal camping trips. It’s organized by safety first, including survival gear; sleeping gear; personal-use items; group camp gear and teaching items.

Safety

First aid kit — hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, antibiotic ointment, Tylenol, Benadryl, eye wash, scissors, tweezers (good ones), band-aids (all sizes), bandage tape, rubber gloves, whistle, hand warmers, sanitation napkins (good for stopping excess bleeding, plus other uses)

Survival gear

Hudson Sam of Huslia keeps all of this except food in a bag ready to go all the time.

packsack; hatchet; handgun; handgun rounds; flashlight; extra batteries; rope — all sorts from ratchet rope to small rope; mosquito dope; electrical tape; duct tape; surveyor’s ribbon; flare; safety matches (in a Ziploc bag); extra clothes in a Ziploc bag with all the air taken out (socks, shirt, pants); lunch — dry fish, dry meat, sardines, crackers, Spam; tarp — 6 feet by 8 feet; safety blanket; wire; spark plugs; pliers; nails; leatherman; compact knife; knife sharpener; first aid kit (see above).

My mom said a good Indian woman never travels without her betseedaakoge’ (sewing bag), so I always travel with mine: needles (beading, sewing and three-corner), thread, thimble, imitation sinew, scrap moose skin and scissors.

Sleeping gear

• tent — check it first to make sure you have everything and the zippers work.

• sleeping bag — use winter sleeping bag if it’s cold.

• sleeping pad

Personal-use gear

• extra clothes: shirt, pants, warm socks; warm clothes: hat, jacket, sweater, gloves, ski pants or Carhartts, boots, rain gear

• life jacket (if in boat)

• tooth brush, toothpaste, dental floss, small hand towel, feminine products

• plate, bowl, cup, fork, spoon, water bottle (save the environment)

• medication — if you have allergies or medical condition, bring your medicine

• camera and extra batteries

Group gear

• tarp, wall tent (if you’re with a large group, they make a great kitchen)

• hand saw, chain saw, ax, shovel

• water jugs, tea pot, tea, coffee, sugar

• tissues, paper towels

• trash bag, aluminum foil, Ziploc bags, dish cloth, dish soap,

• grill, propane if using Coleman stove, matches or lighter

• kitchen gear: plan your meals, then figure out what pots, pans and utensils you will need

• big pot, frying pan, big fork and spoon, knife, sharpening file or stone, tlaabaas (or maahaandenee)

• spatula, can opener

• mixing bowl (if making pancakes)

• pitcher (if making juice for large group)

• berry bucket, extra bucket or basin for washing up

• permanent markers

Food

Think about all of your meals and visually plan what you will need to cook them.

• Breakfast: pancakes (mix, mixing bowl, large spoon, frying pan, oil, spatula, plates, forks, butter, syrup); eggs (if it will be bumpy, consider boiling your eggs before you leave home); meat (Spam, can hash, bacon or ham); condiments: salt, pepper, sugar, ketsup, mustard

• Lunch: sandwiches (bread, mayo, meat, peanut butter and jelly); snack (chips, granola bars, apples); salmon strips; dry meat; hot dogs and/or hamburgers plus buns

• Dinner: spaghetti (pot to boil spaghetti, frying pan, ground meat, spaghetti, sauce, spices, large spoon; fried meat (oil or Crisco, meat, salt and pepper); macaroni and cheese (pot, macaroni, cheese, milk, butter); potatoes, onions

• Drinks and snacks

• juice (pitcher if large group), tea, coffee, hot chocolate

• marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers