Do qassaqs liq?

So a few days ago in class, one of my students leaned over a little and ripped a giant fart. Not uncommon. Unlike kids in other places, the kids here are totally unembarrassed about bodily functions. They cough up big wads of phlegm loudly, they belch and yawn and fart and announce, "I have to anuk (poop)!" On the one hand I kind of like this, you know? Screw being embarrassed about stuff your body just does naturally. On the other hand, ew! So anyway on this particular day this student farted out loud, then kind of laughed at the sound, and I gave her one of my teacher-y LOOKs. She said, "Excuse me," and I started to go on with the lesson, when another student called out, "Do qassaqs liq?" I know the word qassaq, it means white person, but liq (pronounced sort of like "luck") was a new one. "Do qassaqs what?" I said. "Do they liq - you know..." and she gestured toward the student who'd farted. "Do we fart? Um...of course," I said. "Well how come we never hear you?" she asked. "Uhh...I guess I try to keep it to myself." "Why?" "Uh...um...SO, about long vowels..."

It's certainly interesting how strong our social conditioning can be. I would have JUST DIED if I'd ever farted out loud in school. And even now, I'd certainly be embarrassed (depsite my students' "encouragement").

What's also of note is this idea, this perception that the kids have, of qassaqs being completely other. I guess I figured, they've met plenty of white people, we won't be that exotic. But they have lots of questions about qassaq stuff, and I've been called out for being "so qassaq-y" (can't remember what I was doing at the time to warrant that comment, probably nothing I'd think of as super-white). It's not a totally new feeling for me, though. When I worked in Harlem I had plenty of moments where I realized the kids (mostly Hispanic, African-American, and African) saw me as a representative of basically a different species. Despite living in one of the most diverse cities in the world, they had very little understanding of the idea of all people sharing some fundamental sameness.

Many Native cultures have names for themselves that reflect a self-concept of their own ethnic group as more authentic versions of people - names that essentially mean "people" or "real people." I believe the Nez Perce called themselves "Mahopa" which means "people" and Yup'ik means "real people." This idea, of being somehow more "real" than other people, combined with continued insularity (insulation?) from other cultures (no matter in the city, the suburbs, or on the tundra) is what creates and perpetuates the sense of other peoples as "other" people.