Saturday, July 31, 2010

Beginning Observations

Life in Kotzebue is a mix of old culture and new conveniences. While most are no longer dependent on subsistence living, there is a gap between early traditions and modern culture. Fishing camps, beaver furs, atvs, snow mobiles, ice fishing and ipods are components of a life that has broken with its past. While the night makes a short appearance this time of year, the winter darkness is quickly approaching. All-night get-togethers and cruising the streets are summer activities that will soon be replaced by snow mobiles, dog mushers, and take out meals.

The experiences you will find on this blog are only slivers of the whole that is occurring here. They are one perspective of many. I came here for love, to love a good man. Such a choice has brought fullness to my life and to his. Future posts will consist of replays, interpretations and wonderings of the Eskimo culture, which is as thick and impenetrable as the permafrost upon which we all walk.

Today while out garage saling, we drove past a fish camp at North Beach. The huts appeared to be more like awnings with support posts. Some had wooden roofs and plywood walls, none were permanent. Quartered salmon were drying while suspended from the ceiling of one of the structures. Farther down the shore was a large crane offloading nets, filled with freshly caught chum salmon, into steel bins. They will be flown out on the afternoon jet. Last night we passed a semi truck loaded with fish-filled bins making their way to the airport to fly out on the evening jet.

Work on Shore Drive has caused delays for vehicle traffic. With funds from the state Department of Transportation, large bump outs or vistas are being constructed out into the Kotzebue Sound. A wall of metal sheet piling is being installed off shore. When the steel pilings hit permafrost, a large driver cuts through the icy bottom. Noise complaints increase when the driver is working. One of the vistas has been receiving fill that arrived on the July barge. Others are still under construction and are due to be  completed at the end of October. Repaving of the street is scheduled for next summer.

Along Shore Drive are some of the oldest homes. A mix of old log cabins and stick homes line the street. Gray logs brought from 'up river' were used to build these ancient structures and house a few residents while colorful one- and two-story homes with larger windows that face the water are home to others. One of my favorites is a cabin that bears a welcome sign 'Kotzebue, Alaska,' and is located near the post office. Relics of these old structures have been cast off into vacant lots. They hint at an earlier time.

The local gathering spot is the U.S. Post Office where residents visit sometimes two or three times a day waiting for packages from the Outside. To a person from the Lower 48, the building is oversized for the town's population. Mail of all sizes is brought in from Anchorage by Alaska Airlines jets that land here three times a day. Orders online comprise much of the commerce around town.

While I was at the P.O. yesterday, the Harris family had put up tables outside the lobby for selling homemade sweets like cookies, cinnamon rolls, and buns. There was also homemade chili. I purchased some cinnamon rolls. But it was too early for the chili.  On one of the tables was a photo of a couple in Eskimo clothing that was taken around the end of the 1800s. The elderly women proudly explained that the Harris's were the largest family in Kotzebue before the settlers came. The couple in the photo had 165 grandchildren. A family reunion was planned for a camp across the river. The women were raising money to fly family members to the camp for the August 9 & 10th even. Life goes on.

The purpose of this blog is to share what I've seen of life in Kotzebue, exactly 33 miles above the Arctic Circle.  Periodic entries and photos will be made. I hope those who read it will find it interesting and enlightening.

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