MOSQUITOES, DANCING AND DRUMMING AND THE BALEEN PALM TREE

Chapter two of my sister, Sandi and nephews, Stefan and Michael's July visit from Pennsylvania...

The weather was sunny and calm for most of the visit.  I was thankful as one can wake up on any given day to find that it’s foggy, rainy, extremely windy, muddy or dusty or a combination of up to all.  Local people commented that two of the days were the nicest they’d seen in at least several years.  It really was wonderful.  I felt fortunate that the mosquitoes were at a minimum.  There were a few buzzing around…enough to keep the boys jogging at times to keep away from them.  They definitely seemed to prefer Michael, causing him to finally walk briskly with his coat zipped up to the top of his head.  I missed getting a picture = )  I’ve heard friends talk about trips out to other villages lately where the mosquitoes are so thick that they interfered with the helicopter propellers and being so thick that one couldn’t open a mouth without inhaling a hundred.  Good time for a mosquito net.

Thursday night found us hurrying along the dike road to Ipalook Elementary School where Inupiaq dance groups were to perform.  Not wanting my family to miss this unique experience, we arrived just a few minutes late, shortly after 6 pm.  The dance groups, as one woman announced later though, were on native time.  It sounded as if some of the drummers were delayed so the performance began around 8 pm.  I’m always mesmerized by the drumming and dancing and Sandi feels drawn to it too, so I think for us, it was worth the wait.  I wasn’t sure if Stefan and Michael felt the same way, sitting for two hours on backless benches.  Waiting up for things to begin after an afternoon of polar bear plunging was probably taxing, even to their young bodies. 

We were up bright and early the next morning.  Some of us were a little quicker to get up than others, but we were all fully dressed, breakfasted and ready when Mike Shults pulled up in front of the apartment building in his truck.  He had told me that it would be best to get an early start.  I’d heard that he was familiar with the over 200 species of birds that migrate to the North Slope of Alaska and who spend several weeks on the tundra surrounding Barrow before moving on.  I had high hopes of seeing some of them with Sandi, Stefan and Michael as well as hearing some of what Mike knew about Barrow.   He shared that he and his wife had seen a dozen swans east of Barrow several days earlier but that they hadn’t seen many more species.  On our tour we saw several ducks and geese and one swan at a distance.  We seem to have missed the large influx of birds this year.  The longer I'm here, the more I'll learn about the best times to see phenomenons of the Arctic from neotropical birds to polar bears. 

Mike was an animated tour guide, stopping to explain what we were seeing as we drove east along the ocean.  We stopped for a photo of us in front of a whale skull near Ilisagvik College, the only tribal college in Alaska and as close as we could come to Point Barrow, the farthest north piece of land in America.  Whalers take what remains after harvesting whales to keep polar bears away from the village.  It sounds as if there’s a relatively new ordinance that prohibits non-natives from going all the way to the point.  I like this ruling somehow.  The Inupiaq people have been influenced in both positive and negative ways over the years by the presence of other ethnic groups.  From an outsider’s perspective, they’ve been patient, gracious and generous while also being proactive about preserving much of their culture.  Somehow protecting the point feels like a gentle stance in the same vein and also provides the bears an opportunity to feed on whale remains undisturbed.

I couldn't help asking Mike to stop along the old runway Dad has talked about landing on years ago.  It's still there, along with an old hanger, although rusted and not in use.  The steel grates are a strong reminder of some of Dad's adventures here.  He had at least two chapters, the first flying bush out of Barrow to the villages and the second, still with Wien Airlines, but flying into Barrow and other villages out of Fairbanks and later, Anchorage.  Some trips extended from Barrow to places like the Ice Islands to the north where scientists set up camps to study various aspects of the Arctic.  Dad and other pilots flew planes loaded with supplies that they would need.  

 

Mike questioned the Inupiaq’s use of whale guns for sale that he showed us at Spenard Builder’s Supply.  “Where’s the tradition in that?” he pondered.  I’ve found myself thinking these same thoughts, somehow longing for this culture and its’ ancient practices to stay intact while much of the rest of the world races along making changes with lightning speed in just about every area of life.

Finding it difficult to sometimes reconcile my thoughts, the ones Mike verbalized, it was refreshing to hear another perspective the next day when on a tour with Glenn Sheehan, an anthropologist.  Glenn said that the Inupiat people are very pragmatic and that their main goal in hunting is and has always been to provide food for their families and community.  Being romantic in preserving the use of older tools doesn’t make sense to them, probably any more than using a kerosene lantern to light a room would to us when electricity is available.  It’s about getting the job done in the most effective and efficient way.  Hearing Glenn share this perspective made me admire the Inupiat whalers even more somehow.  They are an intelligent as well as generous people, not afraid to change with the times, weaving the old with the new, but always with the ultimate goal of providing much needed food.       

Driving back west along the ocean, through Browerville and on to Barrow, Mike took us past he and his wife, Cindy’s, house which sports the only palm tree in the area, make with drift wood and baleen.  He ran for public office and served one term, hence his campaign poster.  It sounds as though he was able to accomplish some meaningful things while in office but said that he declined to run again.  I’ve never felt particularly drawn to politics and can’t imagine wanting to run for office and being elected even once so admire anyone who serves in public office.

    

Driving further, Mike pointed out the old fresh water lake where the villages water came from for many years.  The current source of water is a lagoon on the east end of Browerville.  I've heard that the water here is treated in a facility with state-of-the-art filtration, giving Barrow tap water that's as clean as anywhere you'll find.

West of Barrow is also where one can see a group of satellite dishes not  far from Imaiqsaun Cemetery.

The mosquitoes seemed more robust this morning, so taking a quick walk along the bluff was long enough.  I love this picture of Sandi, striding happily along on her way back to the truck.

Our two sleepy, but good-spirited boys, settled back in for a long nap after Mike dropped us at my door some two hours later.