Old John Lake

It was May 8th, Mothers Day. while most people are enjoying warm sunny weather- I was out tearing through the hill sides on my Summit 550.

Late Saturday night I recieved an invitation to go ice fishing with friends Adrien & Arin. So Sunday morning we packed up two snow machines and headed North East about 15 miles to Old John Lake.

The 15 mile ride takes about 1 hour. As snow is becoming a bit sparse within the village limits, all the trails outside of town are still well covered. We left around 10am skipping across frozen puddles from the previous days melt and overnight freeze cycle. In the mountains it was "pow-time" and lots of it.

Our route went from the low level forest along the Chandalar River, over a saddle in the mountain due East of town, then North through a small pass and into the Old John Lake valley.
Old John Lake is huge. With about a 15 mile circumference, it takes a while to get across or get around. Several people from town have cabins along the lake. Come spring, people spend a lot of time up at the lake ice fishing. In the Summer, once the snow is gone 4-wheelers starting breaking the trail out to the lake for constant fishing under the midnight sun.

The lake, surrounded on three sides by the foothills of the Brooks Range- lies along the border of the Venetie Tribal Reservation, private land.
Just North of the lake, looking at the peaks along the east side of the Chandalar Valley.
Sexy snow-go pic.

The lake had about 6-12 inches of snow on top of the ice. We brought an auger out, but after fussing with it about an hour we abandoned hope of drilling new holes in the ice. Luckily Adrien knew of a spot where people had fished a couple days before with holes already dug. We moved a couple miles South along the shore from our original position to find 6 holes with just a little ice crust along the top, nothing a couple swift hits with an axe wouldn't solve.
This was my first experience ice fishing. I was lucky to have an expert, Adrien quickly showed me the trick.
Besides the store bought hooks, everything is home made. We use 14 inch tree branches for poles. Then had about 12 feet of string tied to the stick, with a bright fishing lure on the end. Once the holes are free and clear of ice, drop you lure and wait.
As Adrien pulled out 3 trout, I quickly learned the technique isn't stand around smoking cigars and drinking coffee hoping something bites. Not only do you have to whisper sweet thoughts luring in the fish, but a little jig on the line helps, causing the hook to bop up and down.
Trying my jig technique.
No, these aren't mine, but I did take the pictures. Adrien caught all three of these lake trout.
Apparently these are minnows compared to what is usually pulled out of Old John Lake. Last week someone caught a fish "this big" (holding arms shoulder width apart).
After 5 hours basking in the sun, we packed up and headed back to town.
In between the Old John Lake area, and the Chandalar Valley- lies this spectacular alpine tundra. This wide open expanse lies just East of the ridgeline above Arctic Village. Here we saw Fox, Ptarmigan, and a lot of Caribou tracks.
I was scooping out terrain for future telemark operations. This hill looked perfect for doing laps after parking the snow machine at the lookers right base. Maybe next season I'll bring my sticks out.
I would have given anything for another full tank of gas and 8 more hours to play in the mountains. But we had to head back sometime. The trail into Arctic Village is well worn as people frequently travel out this far to cut firewood, hunt Caribou, and fish at Old John Lake. You can just barely see the schools red roof in the middle of this photo.

Wrapping Up- 10 Days To Go

Am I excited to finish the school year and get out of Arctic Village? Yes & No.

I'm really looking forward to finishing my first year teaching, and have that behind me. Not that I want to leave the students, or that I need a break from the students. It has been an awesome experience working with these kids. But I'm looking forward to the achievement of having completed that first year in the classroom. Does that make sense? Obviously your first year can not go on forever, nor do I want it to. I think I'm still so used to working on a 24/7/365 schedule that its hard to imagine I'm two weeks away from being unemployed for the summer. Maybe I would be a good candidate for teaching in year round schools. Not that I want to, but anything I set my mind to, I can do. Now the second part of the question. I'm in no rush to get out of Arctic Village. I've had nothing but positive experiences integrating with the community and settling in. The past several weeks have brought gorgeous weather and very happy friendly people outdoors. Last night I grabbed a burger from the youth center, and sat at a picnic table outside in the sunshine watching some of my students play cards. I know they also need a break from me and school, so in that sense I want to make plans for the future with Students & Elders, then head out for the Summer.

I am very excited about my summer plans, seeing new places and spending time with good friends. There has been a lot of turmoil and turnover recently, I hope to share more specifics in the future.

Summer Schedule:

1 week hiking Mt Prindle, White Mountains & then Kesugi Ridge, Denali State Park

2 weeks in Homer, writing consortium, sea kayaking, & drinking beer at the brewery

2 weeks Colorado, PEAK training, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Montana, Boulder, the Russell's

7 weeks in India- Himalaya here I come!

1 week in McCarthy

Then back to Arctic Village- wow, time will fly by, but stay tuned for photos and TR's.

Finally, I have been working on a compilation video of my first year teaching in the bush. I don't want to publish it until I can snatch a couple more pictures to capture the essence of the whole year.

Dentists Make House Calls

If you can't go to the dentist, let the dentists come to you.For the third year in a row, this team of dentists and dental students have come from a school in Arizona all the way to Arctic Village to serve this remote community.

Arriving Wednesday afternoon on a private charter plane- about 14 dentists, hygienists, technicians, x-ray techs, sterilizers, and an administrative assistant set up in the school. The gym was used as the general examining area. Our P.E. equipment closet was turned into the x-ray room. The kitchen and laundry room were turned into sterilization points. At night it felt more like a hotel then a school. It was our busiest week of visitors yet- 14 dentists, 3 state representatives, and 2 traveling maintenance men.

I opted not to be seen, since I have an appointment after school gets out with a dentist in Fairbanks. But I was told these dentists can do almost anything a regular clinic could do, right here on the gym floor. Cleanings, filling cavities, even pulling teeth and root canals. With no running water to assist brushing twice a day, a high concentration of tobacco users, and an abundance of soda pop drinkers- these dentists had their work cut out for them.
At night some of the students enjoyed socializing and playing games with the young dental students.
Disassembling almost as quickly as they set up- one of the state representatives compared them to an episode of M.A.S.H.

Dancing Shoes

Here are a few more photos from Culture Week in Arctic Village. Check out the beautiful beadwork on their dancing shoes.

Happy Easter!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

We began Easter service this morning in Arctic Village

singing this familiar hymn written by Charles Wesley

in the 1700's, except we sang it in Gwich'in! I could not

understand the verses, but chimed in for the Alleluia's.

May every nation, tongue and tribe praise the Lord!

As we sat in Church this morning I thought of many fond

Easter memories.....

I remember sunrise services with my Mimi and Papa in

Chattanooga at Rivermont in the atrium. It is a good

thing we don't have sunrise services this far North.

We would have to get up at 5am for a sunrise service

in Arctic Village, even then it would already look like the

sun is up because twilight begins at 3am. By May 27th

we will have 24 hours of daylight!

I remember getting new Easter dresses and hats, complete

with white shoes! Today I wore snow boots to church with a

skirt and saw little girls with Easter dresses over snowpants!

I remember Easter dinners of ham and sweet potatoes.

Today we will have caribou and rice.

I remember taking pictures in the driveway by beautiful

blooming flowers on Easter day in Delaware, Indiana,

Virginia and Tennessee. Green grass, fresh blooms and

a sweet smell in the air...spring had come! It is a beautiful

sunny day here in AV for Easter, but it is only 30 degrees

and there is still snow everywhere. We will still be skiing

for quite awhile!

I remember Easter egg hunts in our living room and out

in my grandparent's yard. I even remember one year that

Papa found an egg in his wood pile in August...of course

it was a real egg and very rotten by that point! Today we

had an Easter egg hunt with the whole village! Over 100

eggs were hidden, one with each person's name on it.

We all had to search for our eggs. It took Sam and I

awhile, but we found our eggs. I even found a prize egg

worth $10! That will buy one gallon of gas for the snow-go!

This Easter, our first in Arctic Village, will definitely be

one that I remember!

Blessings to you all! Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Carnival Games

Spring Carnival is a well loved Arctic Village tradition. The kids have been telling us about Spring Carnival since the day we arrived in the village back in August. They absolutely love all the games, food and fun! Finally the darkness is over and the weather is warmer. Everyone comes out to play for Spring Carnival!

The races kicked off with the little kids piggy back race.

Then, the big kids piggy back race and finally an adult piggy back race. We don't have a picture of the adult race because Sam and I were racing! He carried me to a second place finish!

The little kids were great three-legged racers! I think they must practice!

There was fierce competition amongst the older kids.

The middle schoolers compete in a toilet paper wrap relay race.

The high schoolers toilet paper wrapping.

Even I got in on the adult toilet paper race. It was a lot harder than it looked. My fingers were really cold and the paper kept ripping!

Sam runs a sprint in his heavy winter boots and Carharts.

After the races everyone enjoyed a big caribou feast. Here Gideon stirs the caribou soup.

Jack takes caribou meat off the fire. Ah, more meat!

Culture Week - Part 2 - Food Prep

A big part of Culture week was spent learning about traditional foods and how to prepare them. This is how the Gwich'in people survived for hundreds of years before contact from the outside. Traditionally, they have been hunters, following the caribou. Hunting, especially for caribou, is still a primary food source in the village. Some hunters brought four Caribou to the school and the kids got to cut them up for the potlatch later in the week.

Notice the heads have already been removed. They used the heads for a "Caribou Head Skinning Contest" as a part of the Spring Carnival, so those were skinned and prepared separately. Don't worry, we got pictures of that too.

Grandpa Alo, one of the elders, explained to the kids how to skin and cut up caribou. They started with removing the lower legs. The caribou had already been gutted by the hunters right when the caribou were killed, so the kids were just cutting up the caribou for meat.

Here they cut down the bottom of the rib cage and they have already removed some of the ribs. Later we got to eat the ribs roasted for hours over an open fire pit. Every part of the caribou was cut up and used to make fry meat, stew meat, roasted meat and soup. They even ground up some of the meat to make "Indian ice cream." Yes, you read that correctly...ice cream made of meat! They grind caribou up very fine, mix it with marrow, spread it out on cookie sheets, bake it, then freeze it. They cut it up in pieces like brownies and call it "Indian ice cream." It was my first time every having it. I have had "Eskimo ice cream," which is made with seal fat and berries, but I had never had ice cream made of meat! I personally would call it an acquired taste. Calling it ice cream really through me off. It is rich, but not sweet.

The kids also had the chance to cut up beaver. I have seen people cut up and prepare caribou before, but I had never seen someone skin a beaver before. Check out how big those teeth are! Man they are huge! Beaver meat is really rich and fatty! A cholesterol rich treat that isn't a daily staple, but a special treat for potlatches and big events.

Boys will be boys! Across all cultures, in all settings, children will find ways to have fun! Here the boys decided to start fighting with beaver tails. They also tried to take turns smacking each on the arm with the beaver tails to see if it would hurt. Answer: Yes, getting smacked with a beaver tail sure smarts! Beaver tails are very hard and stiff.

The kids each got to try their hand at ice fishing in the Chandalar River, just outside the school. It was beautiful to just stand back and take in the majestic mountains across the river. They had to drill through 4 ft of ice to create fishing holes in the river.

Alo and Jack show the kids how to tie the line to their fishing poles and explain to the kids how to gently pull their lines up and down to keep it moving as you wait for a fish to bite.

Like any type of fishing I have ever done, ice fishing involved being patient and waiting. Thankfully it was a beautiful day and not too cold. It was well above zero degrees. As you can see, this student didn't even wear his coat, insisting that it is now "sweater weather." Only in Alaska is 20 degrees "sweater weather."

The kids caught this grayling. There are also lush in the Chandalar river. Unfortunately we are way to far inland for salmon, but people in Arctic trade with friends and relatives to get some salmon occasionally too.

Here the kids cut up Salmon brought up from Fort Yukon. Caribou may be the meat of choice here, but salmon is still my personal favorite!

So you may have noticed a theme here; meat, meat and more meat! The bounty of the land up here is definitely animals. It has been a wonderful week of eating traditional foods, but I will confess I snuck home and had a salad in-between meals!

Arctic Village Culture Week - Part 1

It has been a busy week up here in Arctic Village. We had culture week at the school and the community hosted Spring Carnival. Students came from all over the Yukon Flats to participate in Culture Week. We had students from Beaver, Chalkyitsik, Fort Yukon and Venetie, doubling the school's student population for the week.

Each day the students participated in Gwich'in classes to learn their Native language. This picture shows how to say each of the numbers one through ten. I made myself a cheat sheet with phonetic spellings of each word, because they do not always sound like what you would expect when writing the written words. The students practiced their formal introductions; saying their name, their family members names and where they are from.

The students also had the opportunity to learn Native games as a part of culture week. The game pictured above is a string game where each participant has a string tied to both wrists and they are intertwined. The secret to getting free is something with the wrists, but it was really fun to watch the kids try and figure it out.

The students also learned how to use an "Eskimo Yo-Yo", which are two balls made of seal skin. The goal is to get one ball going one direction while the other ball goes the opposite direction. It is pretty challenging, but a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. Yo-yo is actually an Inupiaq game, but the Athabascans of Yukon Flats enjoy playing it too.

One of the main events of the week was dancing! Pictured here, Gideon, one of the elder, and Jack, a teacher at Fort Yukon play a jig for the kids.

Edward teaches the girls the ribbon dance. They also learned a caribou dance, a duck dance and a whole bunch of square dances.

New Testament Finally Translated into Western Gwich'in

After several weeks of canceled services due to travels and ill health, there was finally worship again his morning.

At the end of service, Trimble the local Minister held up a brand new copy of the Bible, recently translated into Western Gwich'in. I don't know the complete history, but the Bible was translated into Gwich'in near the turn of the century by several Episcopalian Missionaries. The only problem is they were working along the Eastern Porcupine and Yukon Rivers, across the Canadian border so the Bible was in Old Crow Gwich'in, a slightly different written language and dialect then what's spoken in Arctic Village. This has been a project in the works for many years, but finally, a Western Gwich'in New Testament has gone to press and been released to the people whom need it most.

What better way to preserve a dying language then to capture it in this form. I was excited to hear the news, but did not anticipate getting my own copy. As I left the church and shook the Pastors hand he said "Mahsi for coming". Then one of the Elders in attendance handed me my own copy of the Bible in Western Gwich'in as seen below.

This is only a translation of the New Testament.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved that world that he gave his only begotten Son..."
This edition is complete with wonderful illustrations.
"... cast down your nets.... and they pulled in a multitude of fish!"
The Western Gwich'in New Testament was translated through Wycliffe Bible Translators. It was printed and distributed thanks to the Bible League International. Check out these sites, you can make donations to both- I think I will!