to your#culture when you had# nothing else to connect to.
My##name is Pilak, I come from Afognak#and Kwethluk, and I'm Iñupiaq and Su Here at the center I'm# a cultural#tourism apprentice,## and I've been coaching the#trad tional#games of Alaska for t Up north during the winter time, #there's a#period of around 2 t 3 months#where the It's really, really dark#and re lly cold, so you can stay#insid your homes all winter#long.
That's why we do the games.
A#l t of the#games tie back to trad tional##hunting and survival techniques that the#hunters would do during the#winter# time so they can stay in good shape when they start to hunt# again when it starts to get#bright They also doubled as# a way to entertain#yourselves and you tend to, you know,## break a sweat, so#it The second game shown was the#s ing#kick.
It's a traditional core#workout where # you sit in front of a ball,# place your legs and head through a leather strap, and then you'll push off into the ground# and swing up and hit the ball It 's a really, really fun one but# actually traditionally was done without the#strap but it's much much harder to do nd#not many athletes can do so.
# Just#last year at the 2022 Worl Eskimo Indian#Olympics#I brok the swing kick world record and#I hit a height of 5'4" which is an inch#higher than th #previous record set by Kyle The third game# shown was the one-arm reach,## and#that one was a game traditi nally#done to build#core streng to build balance# and coordination#as well.## You'll balance all your weight on your two#hands, then from there, you want to re hit the ball and come back down# whil The last game is a variation of# the seal hop, it's specifically called#the knuckle hop # where you're in a# lower push-up position and you are curled## your fingers into your knuckles# and you're hopping on your closed#fist.
Traditionally, our hunters would go out#on the ice, and the Once they see#them, they'd put seal skin over their back and# hey'd hop as close to a se possible and#hopping on the clo ed#fist represents holding a#harpoon while you're hopping to go# up and throw#the Harpoon to harvest## the seal and bring back#home to your community.
With these games, you#know, som people#they want to see and some people, typically of th #older#generations, don't really want to see that, they want to keep it in Alaska o #necessarily#in the northern region of the world and one#thing people tend to overlook is## the sense#of cultural healing# you get through these#games These games my ancestors have be n#doing#for 10 to depending on#the region of Alaska you're from so it's something#that people t nd to# and not necessarily just#for th youth,#for every indigenous person that#does the games.
And it's something that kind of rings#another sense of pride to people that ## can really understand the histor behind it, and#just#how beaut ful it really is [Applause]
