Yupik Wisdom

A Yupik Elder asked me once of an illness he had found

Affecting all the Gussuck folk that he had been around.

“Why do they chase the dollar so? What is this strange disease?

Whatever are they striving for? What does it take to please?’

I answered that I did not know the causes nor the cure.

But Affluenza is the name and it’s an ill for sure.

He looked at me with wisdom’s eye and shared his culture’s lore.

“Money’s like fish, when you run out, go out and catch some more.”

He paused and added with a smile, “Too much can lead to strife,

Money’s like fish, you have too much—it spoils, stinks up your life.”