Christmas celebrations in Koyuk

Mary MO Lockwood grew up thinking the New Year’s Eve Feast in Koyuk was put on just for her. Born December 31, she watched every year as the town came together and celebrated on her birthday. But then, she says, “I found out as I got older it was for the whole community.”

That wasn’t the only thing she discovered. Her first time on the Christmas Committee, she’s now finding out how much work goes into making the holidays fun for everyone. “Before I thought it was Christmas Magic, but I’m realizing it was an adult who loves kids who makes all this happen.”

This year, they’re pulling out all the stops. The reason? Tradition. “This year we’re trying to make it more traditional,” she said.

This year’s event calendar is packed with races and contests, many of which Lockwood remembers from her childhood. “Right after church we came to the city and played relay games. We’d put an apple on our neck and try and pass it to the next person without dropping it,” she said. “Lip-sync is one, talent show, we got snowshoe races, running races, NYO games.”

Her list goes on and on, and she eagerly talks about bragging rights. “Oh, and musical chairs was always a tradition. We had fishing derby. We used to have drag races. Before the drag races with snow machines, it used to be with dogs because a lot of our elders had dog teams back then, so they’d race their dogs. When snow machines came around, we’d start having drag races with snow machines.”

The games, she says, are meant for everyone. “We have a really big hill, it’s called ‘Steep Hill.’ We always have a sliding contest on there. That’s for all ages, from babies to elders. We try to make a lot of fun games for all ages so everybody can participate.”

Unfortunately, not all traditions can be continued. “A lot of people used to put a whole bunch of apples in a bucket, and they’d bob for apples, and I think that’s why our older generation’s immune system is stronger. They’d take turn bobbing for apples and that’s like a total COVID violation now. We can’t do that no longer, but I remember when

I was a kid, we’d watch the adults and the elders bob for apples in a bucket.”

She reached out via Facebook to ask in Koyuk about people’s memories of Christmas, because she wanted the traditions to come from everybody. While some said sledding or bobbing or derby, the most mentioned favorite was Muk.

“There’s one row of chairs and then there’s another row and they’d both facing each other. People sit on each row and one row, the team is not allowed to laugh, and the other row on the opposite side, they use masks, whatever they can to be silly and they try and make the other people laugh. It’s called Muk and that’s how we used to end off the nights. We used to just gather together. You really had to be here to see it, because some people are hilarious like my Grandpa David Otton. He was known for his humor in this area. They were really silly. We used to just gather at the city hall and watch our elders and the younger generation play Muk. They’d go out of their way to be silly. It always ended the day with laugh.”

Koyuk’s Christmas Activities started on December 20 with Bunny Boot Races and will end on January 2.

It is recommended for anyone traveling there to get a COVID test upon arrival to ensure the safety of the community.