Home Sweet Home!

As long as it's warm.....

Actually, this is three homes. The far side is mine, the closer side is Dorothy's, and there is a tiny apartment in the back that I had about 30 years ago! This thing is ancient! We share an arctic entryway which is common. When we walk through this front door, we have a long hallway before we get to our real front door.

This hot little piece of real estate is insured for a cool one million....

Off to Atmautluak!

 I love flying! First sight of Atmau elevation of 17 feet out at the airstrip.


We left Bethel heading a slight northwest for about 15 minutes. Only tundra and lakes were below. In spotting Atmau, we could also see Nunapitchuk, and Kasigluk (now divided into Akula and Akiuk), the neighboring villages 5-7 miles away. We could see the three wind turbines of Akula.

 Atmautluak is home to about 280 people. Almost all those that live here are of the Central Yu'pik Eskimo ethnicity. The largest building, the one with the red roof, is the K-12 school. I was here two different times back in the 1980's, once with the 1st and 2nd graders, the other with the Special Education students.

This is a good view of the Petmigdalek River which is the windiest river around. It is a typical meandering tundra river that eventually makes its way to the Johnson River, which is a tributary of the Kuskokwim River.

Bush pilots need to be good out here as they deal with crosswinds, sub zero temps, ice fog, nasty clients, and oops, low fuel readings.....

Inservice for Lower Kuskokwim School District new to the area teachers

Trying to keep fish guts off the kuspuk.

Fish! Lots and lots of fish, all kinds. Summers can be spent at fish camps along the various rivers drying fish that have been caught in gill
nets either drifting with the current, or set nets that stay put until the owner "works the line".

The school district had these three women show how different salmon species are cut to dry. I think the fish were silver, king, and chum. They are using the ulu, the traditional women's knife.

The people of this region are considered subsistence hunters and fishermen. The Yu'pik people will put up fish all summer placing their drying racks where the wind will keep the flies away. Many people will smoke their fish also helping the preservation. Come winter, hopefully enough has been put up for the family.

I think this woman is so beautiful! I chose to make all the people photos black and white as the camera was being goofy with its color.

Note how the tail, end of fish, is still one piece on the table. This allows this style of cut to hang over a fish drying rack. This is the typical way to hang silvers.

This woman is slicing the thicker part of the meat to help it dry quicker. The one she is cutting is the King Salmon, or Chinook, as it is the largest species. There are some BIG ones out in these parts!

This woman is making a "plank cut". The sticks are being woven into the fish. This is the typical way to dry the Chum or Dog salmon.

Again, the tail piece is intact in order to hang the fish.

LKSD's inservice continued!

 Fishing! Silvers were running and we had the opportunity to either try to get them, or just have the experience to go out on a boat ride on the Kuskokwim River. We all said, "Fish On!"

 So, Potts (and his lovely daughter, Emily, not pictured) donated his boat, time, and expertise to take his new deckhands out. Brave man. I was a bit concerned as the transom was about level with the river....

It was cold! The cold beer and cold wine didn't help much, but the smoked salmon strips did! What a host!

It was wet, pouring, sloppy, soaking, wind gusting, getting in cracks and crevices....burrr.

It was fun..... especially when the rain stopped. But, we got skunked and could barely move by the time we returned to the harbor. Lots and lots of hot chocolate helped.

Views of Bethel in August

     Bethel is ....flat.... It is considered the hub of southwest Alaska and home to about 6,000 very different people!  56 villages surround it to use it coming and going, and a jet can take you to Anchorage 400 miles away. It is on the Kuskokwim River and is surrounded by the Yukon Kuskokwim Wildlife Refuge, which is huge.

     It was established by Moravian Missionaries next to a small Yu'pik Eskimo village back in the late 1800's. It became a trading center and is still considered one today. Everything that comes in is either by boat or plane as there is not a road system to get here. The port brings in fuel, among other items, and that fuel can continue to be barged up or down the Kuskokwim River to the surrounding communities.

  Bethel does have its challenges. It is a wet
community with the surrounding villages remaining

The Long House Hotel - home away from home

dry. Long ago they had limits on the amount of alcohol that was allowed in, but not any more. So, when the rivers freeze, "jugs" are on the move. Bootlegging is common, unfortunately, so the area has issues that can come with poverty, alcoholism, and drugs.

Bethel is home to the Cama-i Festival which takes place in March. Traditional dancers come in from all over the state to perform.  January is K300 month, a sled dog race that brings in top racers, from other states and sometimes other countries.







 This is the main road from the airport.

Big dishes all over the place!

Because of the permafrost, pipes don't work underground. It is common to see these large pipes snaking though out the community.

Boardwalks are common everywhere. The surrounding area can be quite boggy. This boardwalk in the bottom photo is as wiggly and wobbly as it looks.

In the beginning...

First morning in Bethel taken at 4:30 AM (real colors).

        Warning.....it took me so long to get this figured out (even after I got help) that the dates will be off.  It is Jan. 1, Happy New Year!, and I am just now going back to early photos to get this blog up and running....

So, with young Eli's help, I am up and running! He did a great job messing around with my tundra photo to get it to fit. Hopefully, I can continue to share pictures as the 1000 words they convey are more than I want to come up with.
   I've been sitting with this laptop for two hours, one with new young teachers' help, the other Skyping with my family. We just got that figured out this weekend, thanks to family friend, Melora. Seeing Lily, Gwen and Bruce is a wonderful treat as before this, we were having long conversations almost nightly on the phone.
   Moravian church bell is ringing tonight for the 7:00 service in Atmautluak. Weather is overcast and a bit windy as it has been most of the summer. I am off to hunt for dinner which has consisted of a lot of popcorn. Actually, I thawed some silver salmon that I put up a few weeks ago. Silvers have been running and set nets are in place to continue catching them.
 Why Deja Vu? I am returning to the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region after a 25 year absence.