In general, 75% of the Yup'ik diet is from foods they gather from the land. Picking berries , fishing, and hunting are how they survive for the most part. Most of their groceries from the store are what WIC and foodstamps can get and lots of processed food because it is cheap. One guy at the store was telling me was excited he caught some fish because he had been living on just cereal for awhile.
Extended families live together, so 13 people can be sharing a small, 3 bedroom home. I know men use to live separately, but unsure if they still do that. This is why the kids are hungry, though. Even if you have a good job somewhere, people will have 5-6 kids of their own and then adopt a few more.
One of the 7th graders came by this weekend to go hunting with my boyfriend. It seemed like he was hanging out here all weekend. We fed him lunch twice and cooked him breakfast on Sunday. They had no success hunting, though. A bird was shot and fell, but no one could find it on the tundra. This kid hunts to provide food for his family. He is 14, has five sisters and one brother. Has no interest in school or reading, but at least shows up, which is half the battle.
I want to go find some blackberries, but I am very nervous about going where locals pick berries, because I do not want to take their food. i just want to try them because I heard they are different. I saw someone selling some so I may buy some instead. We shall see. if I see them by the school, that is fair game. No loca