Hi again,
I just sat down to the computer, proof read the last email, and sent it. I started it four days ago and had intended to send it out then. However I was busy that afternoon as the sun was shining and we have been trying to walk every evening. While walking we could see a multitude of seagulls by the east fish camps and figured fishermen were bringing in fresh salmon to the cannery they just reopened this week. We hopped on my 4 wheeler and took a ride over there to see what was up. The man I bought fish from last year was there with his catch waiting to unload and I asked if he was still selling fish. He said sure and I asked how much he wanted. He said "their only paying 15 cents a pound so $1.50 a fish". These are fresh out of the water chum salmon, supposedly the bottom of the salmon group but hey, I'm no connoisseur, they were good last year. So I told him I could not do that. I went home with over 30 pounds of fresh salmon for 12 dollars. They are vacuum packed and sitting in my freezer waiting for the weekend when we're planning a surf and turf meal. After that I had to pack for my trip to Point Hope from which I have just returned. That is going to be another interesting (at least to me) and long email. While on the way to Point Hope which is over 100 miles north of here, we landed at a place called Cape Lisborne which is 30 miles north of Point Hope. It is a long range radar station that supposedly is a leftover of the cold war. It's still being manned however makes me wonder about it being a "leftover". An interesting note about it is that it lies just north of the Continental Divide. That's right, the same divide that runs the length of the rocky mountains. I was actually north of the Brooks Range, commonly known as the North Slope. Stop right there-that's for the next email!
Let's see..... Oh yea, the trade fair. The second day of the trade fair was sunny, warm, and comfortable. All the activities were held outside. They started around oneish-yea, we were on time again and had to wait. The first competition was the kneeling long jump. This is where you start from a kneeling position and jump up and forward. Again, not an easy feat. This was followed by another round of the high kick competition which you can probably figure by now is big among the natives. Next up was the salmon cutting contest. The competitors used an ulu, the curved Eskimo knife, to fillet them in such a way that both fillets were attached to the tail and slices were cut in the freshly filleted flesh. (This is the traditional Eskimo way so it can be hung over wood racks to dry.) The winner did it in less than a minute. There followed competitions such as Quayak (kayak) racing, and the water bucket relay, (water must be hauled at the camps). There was Eskimo leg wrestling, where you lay on your back with your competitors head toward your feet, arms locked and you wrestle with just the legs. Christy entered and took third place to the tune a ten dollar bill and four Advil on arrival home. Hey, she has Native American blood from somewhere back in the family tree on Patty's side. After that there was a duck plucking contest.
After the competitions there was the blanket toss. This is done with a walrus hide that has rope looped through holes cut all around the edges. It takes around 20-25 men to work the blanket and after doing it last year I know how physically draining it is. You would not think so with so many doing it but it is. The more that do it, the higher the jumps. Christy and a fellow nurse kept urging me to do it as they kept calling for more volunteers. I wanted to get some good shots of the jumps so I kept declining. After a number of jumpers I had plenty of good pictures some of which will soon appear on the website....commercial break- www.samsicles.net ...... I got up and helped. It was more taxing than I remember, or maybe being a bit heavier and a year older just made it seem that way. We did give some folks some serious air time however including a local Alaskan political representative. This man had bypass surgery less than a year ago and was in serious condition. He not only did the jump but he is the only person I have seen doing the blanket toss who did midair flips. Not just once but three times. On the last one however we had to run sideways to catch him. After that it was dinner time again.
The dance competition recommenced later that afternoon and under the clear sunny sky it was a pleasure to watch. We got to see the groups we missed the first day and then walked over to where there was a seal skinning demonstration going on. Two elders, both women of course as that is the culture, took their well used ulu's and bending over at the waist, showed how it was done and has been done for probably hundreds of years.
The third day was rainy and cold again so the planned potlatch was held in the gym along with the art competition. We did not partake of the feast as I felt it was more for the locals and we did not bring a dish. There was all the usual fair including fish, seal, whale, caribou, and wild birds, all prepared in many different ways. There was also Eskimo ice cream which is made up of berries, sugar, and some type of animal fat whipped up into a creamy dish. We stayed for the art judging and called it a day as it had been a full week to date. I did buy a small carved ivory piece brought by the Russians called a bilikin. It looks like a monkey that has a protruding belly like a Buddha statue, and it's supposed to bring good luck when the tummy and feet are rubbed.
I went back to work Thursday but Christy and Shawn remained in town until Saturday. They did not do much after the fair but they did take a ride one day. Christy cooked each night and used the rest of the Gulf shrimp my cousin Joe sent us on the last night in a delicious shrimp etouffe.
I'll include this next paragraph as I feel it is interesting and also occurred that same week after my return to work. At our monthly division meeting a lady in charge of MRC, (Maniilaq Recovery Center) here in town came in to talk. It is part of our division and we are trying to foster different areas working with each other. Anyway she talked about the "Spud Farm". I knew a little about it being a place where folks go or are sent to by the courts for recovery. The spud farm is a place 10 miles outside of the village of Selawik that at one time really was a potato farm. I'm not sure if that was before or after it became a recovery center but I have heard stories of the tenants making booze out of the potatoes. Anyway, folks now go there for a minimum of three months. There is a roof over their heads and a place for them to eat. Everything else is done by the tenants. Wood is chopped and hauled for cooking and heat. Water is hauled in and sanitized. They use honey buckets as there is no running water. They must supply their own food by hunting, fishing, and gathering. The only way there is by plane and occasionally they have to run the bears off the runway. Sometimes the bears on the runway are invited to dinner--as the main course. They are encouraging us to go out there and possibly do some teaching and just visit. It's intriguing although the flights are every other day Monday through Friday and if you get weathered in as almost happened to me today due to fog in Point Hope, who knows how long you might be there. The bears and the sleeping and bathroom arrangements I can handle (we still have a clinic at one of the villages I have not been to yet that has no running water). I just don't know what might show up on the dinner plate. After all, just yesterday I very respectfully, and very apologetically, declined an offer of local fare. This is supposed to be a big insult but I just could not force myself to accept an offer of fermented whale meat. It is made by placing the meat and blood in a bucket, covering it, and letting it sit for a length of time at room temperature, with just a stir every day. I have tasted whale meat, bowhead whale blubber cooked and uncooked, beluga whale blubber, and seal oil. I have to say, "IT DON'T TASTE LIKE CHICKEN!" It has an extremely strong, and I do mean strong, fishy taste that stays with you. I just had to draw the line somewhere and my host was very gracious and forgiving thank goodness.
Well that's enough for now as I'll probably write about Point Hope over the weekend.
Oh, one other very somber note I meant to mention in my last letter. I wrote of an incident that occurred at the beginning of freezeup last fall where an airboat coming back from one of the camps did not arrive home. When search and rescue went out to look, they found the boat upside down with the body a prominent female elder caught in the cover. They searched for weeks for the male driver and his body was never found. I just found out that his body was finally recovered recently although I am not sure where it was found, and there is to be a funeral this weekend. Finally, at least there can be some closure for his widow and their two small children.
Carlo
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Last updated:
08/29/05