Central Alaskan Yup'ik (also called Yugtun), is an Indigenous language spoken in western and southwestern Alaska, USA.

There are several other Yupik languages, including Alutiiq, Central Siberian Yupik, Naukan, and Sirenik. These languages are so different from each other that a speaker of one language would struggle to understand a speaker of another. They also have different pronunciations, which is why some groups write "Yup'ik" and others write "Yupik."

Thousands of people still speak the Yupik languages. According to researchers at the Alaska Native Language Center, children in 17 villages learn Yup'ik as their first language. Many schools are also making an effort to teach Yup'ik—including Yupiit School District, who helped create this course.

The Yup'ik Spelling Bee
Every year, Alaskan students in grades 3-8 can participate in the Yup'ik Spelling Bee for Beginners. The spelling bee is an opportunity for students to learn spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary in the Yup'ik language. It's been 10 years since the first State-wide spelling bee

The rules in this spelling bee are a bit different than usual, as competitors are not eliminated for spelling a word wrong. Instead, the winner is the person who spells the most words correctly.

The 2017-2018 champion was Mathias Philip, a 14-year-old Yupiit School District student from the community of Tuluksak.

Teachers at Yupiit School District wanted to create a resource for students across Alaska to practice for the spelling bee.

They asked Mathias to help, and they contacted 7000 Languages. Yupiit School District, 7000 Languages, and Mathias worked together to create this course. It features words from the 2018-2019 Yup'ik Spelling Bee list, as well as recordings of each word done by Mathias.

We hope it will help students preparing for the spelling bee, as well as anyone interested in learning the Yup'ik language.