Harold Napoleon, "Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being"-Response

 Tyler Berg

3:30PM-5:00PM

4/6/2021

Harold Napoleon, "Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being"-Response

"Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being" was written by Harold Napoleon in 1966. Napoleon is a native Alaskan, specifically he is part of the Yupik group. This paper is about the huge problem concerning native Alaskan suicide, alcohol addiction, depression, and broken families/villages. He is writing this paper from prison because of his own alcoholism.

There are a few different groups I feel Napoleon is addressing. First I think he is addressing the Alaska native people. This is made clear in many ways but mostly because the paper is for the most part about Alaska natives. Second this paper addresses the United States government. This is shown when Napoleon starts to make suggestions about laws and the ability for Alaska native peoples to self govern. Finally, third this paper is addressing veterans. This is made clear when Napoleon talks about PTSD in veterans and the similarities to the PTSD in Alaska natives. 

Napoleon uses a few key words, techniques and phrases throughout his paper. First he uses the phrase “The Great Death” to describe the sickness brought by whites that swept through native villages killing up to 60 percent of the people. Second he uses the concept of a talking circle to give examples of ways for people to heal. Napoleon also uses the technique of writing some important words in his own language. This helps to provide ethos and is very similar to the technique Anzaldua uses in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.

In this paper Napoleon tries to argue for more native rights, as well as showing ways to help the Alaska native people heal. He argues that talking circles need to be implemented to allow for the people in the villages to start talking about the trauma and hardships they and their people from the past have endured. The most prominent of these hardships being “The Great Death.”

Napoleon argues for 7 “rights” that he feels should be given to all native Alaskans. These are, 

“the right to self government, the right to establish ordinances, the right to enforce the ordinances, the right to establish courts, the right to hunt and fish for subsistence without interference by state law, the right to use subsistence resources like salmon and other game on their lands and waters for commercial purposes so as to end economic dependency on state and federal welfare programs and, the right to tax exemptions now enjoyed by other native peoples of this country.” 

Some of these rights have already been fulfilled because it was written over 50 years ago.  

This view on regionalism most reminds me of a mix of both Berry and Mumford's views and ideas. It reminds me of Berry because like him Napoleon believes in localized subsistence based life. It also reminds me of Mumford though because he believes that different cultures can play an important role in shaping each other by providing ideas that each culture builds and adapts to make its own.

I really enjoyed reading this paper because it provided me with a whole new outlook on what is going on in the villages. I have had Alaska native friends commit sucide and have some that are addicted to alcohol right now and I feel like this paper provided the insight I needed to better understand them.

Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being Response

 

Response to Harold Napoleon

Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being by Harold Napoleon gives off a variety of mixed emotions. On the one hand, by the way, Napoleon writes it is clear that he is very knowledgable and retains strong ethos throughout the entire passage. He also gives anecdotes and stories to establish pathos. On the other hand, once exploring who Harold Napoleon actually is the paper starts to fall apart. It changes from a “call to arms” for Native Alaskans to a way to get early parole and push the blame of his actions onto a “spiritual disease”.

The paper begins with Harold Napoleon explaining that he regrets drinking alcohol as it resulted in the death of his son. Not addressing any specifics on how the events happened. He then shifts gears to explain some core aspects of pre-Westerner Native Alaska identity, such as their customs, ideas of spirits/the spirit world, and disease. The passages then transitions into the history of Native Alaskan people. Specifically how the arrival of Westerners impacted the Yup’ik people. Following several pages of Native Alaskan history, Harold Napoleon focuses on why all the information was relevant. He connects the Great Death to modern-day depression and alcoholism, quote “The present epidemic is a little harder to explain, but certainly it

was born out of the Great Death itself”. He addresses how Alaskan Natives today compare themselves to American ideas of success. This, he concludes, is why there are such high rates of suicide, depression, homicide, and abuse in modern Native Alaskan households. He then concludes the paper with a “call to arms” of sorts; stating what changes should be made to relieve the suffering of the Native Alaskan people.

    Overall, the paper is very well written. Harold Napoleon establishes ethos, pathos, and logos effectively, and repeatedly connects all the topics he addresses to one central idea. Personally, however, I made the mistake of search up Harold Napoleon on the internet prior to reading Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being. This, in turn, created a situation where I can praise his writing ability, however his argument would fall on deaf ears. I discovered that his son’s “resulting death” due to alcoholism was from Harold Napoleon beating him to death while drunk. I also discovered a current arrest warrant for Harold Napoleon, due to repeated violation of his parole (drinking on parole). Personally, I that murder under any circumstance is inexcusable. That aside, however, despite Harold Napoleon “deeply regretting” his actions he still continues to fuel his alcoholism to this day. The passage that was written here is definitely moving, however, I feel that had it been written by a non-criminal offender the argument would have made a better impact. Knowing the reasons behind the paper makes a possibly great piece become nothing more than an omission of guilt.