THE FEAST AND MEETING THE MAYOR

I walked across the lagoon to the Thanksgiving Feast carrying a bag with my two loaves of pumpkin bread, the requisite plate, bowl, utensils and several gallon-sized zip lock bags that attendees were invited to bring in order to take home soup, whale meat and muktuk.  I hadn’t made plans to attend with any new friends having been in Point Lay and then Nuiqsut as well as being busy at the Barrow clinic, so I went alone.  I might have stayed home, but the thought of missing out on the opportunity to see how the Inupiat people spend their Thanksgiving and to try some of the traditional native food pushed me along until I was there.  I entered a large room at the Assembly of God Church and saw row after row of people sitting…talking, eating, laughing and children playing happily with each other.  At the door was a long table of large pots of soup.  I asked an Inupiat woman standing nearby what the soups were made with and she pointed out two that were caribou and a fruit soup before she asked me who I was.  I told her my name and that I’d moved up from the Seattle area to work as a public health nurse, that I’d been raised in Fairbanks, had lived in Anchorage and had always wanted to come back to Alaska.  She said that her name was Dora and that she’d made one of the caribou soups and then proceeded to envelope me with a warm and strong hug, saying, “welcome home, Susi!”  I guess one is never really alone here = ) 

Around the corner was a table filled with desserts of all kinds.  I found a place for my pumpkin bread and soon observed that although many people seemed to be done with their meals that no one was taking desserts.  I watched as young men and women carried big plastic tubs filled with large dark chunks, stopping at each row and asking people if they wanted to put some in their bags.  When they came my way, I learned that they were passing out frozen whale meat and was given two.  After several more distributions of whale meat, the tubs were filled with a light pink substance sandwiched in between dark layers.  I learned that this was muktuk, the fat and skin of the whale and that the meat previously passed out was the muscle.  When my turn came, because I hadn’t tried muktuk before, I asked how much they would recommend I start out with.  The young woman serving me said that she thought that about 15 would be good.  I’ll have enough to share with friends here who might like to try it and to bring to Anchorage to share with my cousins, Aunt and a friend.  Such a generous custom. 

I stood against a wall near the kitchen, thinking that it would be a good spot to take some photos and a man standing nearby suggested that I get a photo of his nephew carrying a tub of muktuk.  Something about him seemed familiar and I realized that it was the mayor of Barrow, Bob Harcharek.  I’d read about him on the City of Barrow’s website and was interested in his background and education as well as his hobby of growing plants.  I enjoyed talking with him, especially hearing about his love of helping young people to become physically fit and confident by involving them in wrestling.  He admitted to being a surrogate father to many of the young people in Barrow…that it brings him a lot of joy to see their lives turned around for the better.  His house and office both sound as though they’re filled with plants of many kinds including his latest attempt to grow artichokes…very fun hearing about.  He pointed out a young man carrying a tub of muktuk who recently began wresting and who had lost quite a bit of weight and was leading a healthier life style.  Bob asked if I would take a photo of them together (see below).   

I also enjoyed talking with a young woman from Anchorage who had moved to Barrow to enroll in the Electrical program at Ilisagvik College.  She’d met a recruiter at a college fair and thought she would give it a try.  She and a friend were there enjoying the feast and also having their bags filled with whale meat and muktuk to share with others at their dorm.  She said that living in Barrow was very different than living in Anchorage, but that she loved it. 

I heard a woman at the dessert table asking for volunteers.  I began to understand that it was the custom to have all of the people sit while servers brought food.  This might ensure that everyone gets some and that the room, completely filled with people, doesn’t become chaotic.  I told the woman that I’d be happy to help, feeling on the receiving end of so much kindness and seeing that the pumpkin bread I’d brought was being sliced and probably ready to be shared.  She asked me to find several boys to help me carry a large caldron of fruit soup among the rows of people, filling their bags and containers.  Two young Inupiat boys and I carried it, surprisingly without spilling and proceeded to ask people we stopped by if they’d like some to eat now or to take home.  Bob’s wife had made the soup and it had a reputation for being very good, filled with simmering apricots, apples, raisins and coconut.  One of the boys dashed off while the remaining boy, Noah, and I carried our caldron from row to row, stopping to serve and fill bags and containers.  He looked up and smiled at me halfway through our job, asking if the pot felt as though it was getting lighter.  It was = ). 

We stopped to serve a woman who had a plate filled with small pieces of muktuk.  It looked like a serving plate so after a minute of hesitation while filling her bag with soup, I asked if it might be alright to try some of the muktuk, explaining that I’d never had it before.  She smiled and said that she was happy to share, dipped a piece in a red sauce and gave it to me.  It was very good…chewy and oily with a pleasant taste, I think due to the sauce.  She said that I might like to try it salted, so she handed me another one with salt and no sauce.  I liked this piece too, but not quite as much as the one with sauce.  She thought I might like to try one plain and watched as I tried it…muktuk definitely needs sauce or salt = ).    

I helped wash dishes in the kitchen before leaving.  I was so happy to have come, to have met some very nice people and to have tried my first muktuk.  I’ll have some fresh or in the freezer when you all come to visit = ).

From the City of Barrow’s website, http://www.cityofbarrow.org/content/view/40/31/

(City of Barrow Mayor) Bob Harcharek has lived and worked on the North Slope for more than 30 years. He earned a Ph.D. in International and Development Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1977. He served as a member of the Barrow City Council for fifteen years since 1993 and is currently the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Barrow.

Dr. Harcharek recently retired from the North Slope Borough (NSB) as the Community and Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) Planner for the Department of Public Works. In his twenty-four years of employment with the NSB, he has served as Senior Planner and Social Science Researcher, CIP and Economic Development Planner, Community Affairs Coordinator for the NSB Department of Public Safety, Director of the North Slope Higher Education Center (now known as Ilisagvik College), and Socio-cultural Scientist for the NSB Department of Wildlife Management. Prior to that, he served as Director of Technical Assistance for Upkeagvik Inupiat Corporation, and Dean of the Inupiat University of the Arctic.

Bob served for 3 1/2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand and was also a Fulbright-Hays Professor of Multicultural Development in Thailand. He has served as a member of numerous boards of directors, including the North Slope Borough Board of Education, the Alaska Association of School Boards, the Alaska School Activities Association and the Northern Justice Society. Mayor Bob currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Alaska Muncipal League.

When not playing with his grandchildren, Bob spends most of his spare time growing decorative plants and vegetables in his office and home and working with the youth of our community, particularly coaching wrestling. Bob has been a volunteer assistant wrestling coach for the Barrow High School for the past fourteen years.

Bob Harcharek was appointed to the State of Alaska Local Boundary Commission from the State’s Second Judicial District on July 18, 2002 by then-Governor Knowles and was reappointed by Governor Murkowski. In March 2008, Governor Palin reappointed him to the LBC. He then became the senior and longest serving member on the Commission. Upon the expiration of that term, Gov. Sean Parnell subsequently appointed Mayor Harcharek another term. His current term on the LBC ends January 31, 2014.