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Into Darkness

The snow has fallen and it looks like it is here to stay! We’ll probably get four more inches by tomorrow morning. It’s been great watching all the students come to school in their winter gear. The little kindergartner students are so bundled up they can’t move their arms. As the temperature started to drop below zero, I began to rethink my own winter gear. After school, I had the chance to chat with some veteran teachers who shared with me their weather tips. Besides the fact that darkness lasting almost 20 hours a day was approaching, I was surprised to hear that the temperature would get so cold that even a 5-minute time period of exposure to the wind would cause frostbite. One teacher walked to the airport (15 minutes) without a face-mask in -40 degree weather and came back with frostbite all over her face, leaving her with scars for the next few months. The remedy to frostbite while outside and exposed to the elements? Snot. Upon arriving back at school that teacher was approached by many willing students eager to assist by providing their own boogers and mucus. Supposedly, rubbing snot on frostbite helps preserve the skin tissue affected by the cold. Other tips included never touching a door handle without gloves as you will either burn your hand raw from the cold or end up freezing your skin to the door. (I had a humorous vision of the Christmas movie with the boy who got his tongue stuck to the pole). I could just see myself one morning before school frozen to the front door.

Something else I hadn’t thought about was the fact that I would need my winter gear while flying on the airplanes out of the village. In fact, bush planes won’t allow you to fly without appropriate snow gear. This means that when I fly home for Christmas I’ll need to wear all my winter gear home with me. The final thing I learned was that in such harsh temperatures your own breath will freeze creating ice around your mouth and potentially freezing your lips off…….a wonderful thought. The approach to solving that is buying a face-mask. Goggles will help too in protecting my eyeballs from wind. Needless to say, after these conversations I put in an Amazon order for some long underwear, face mask, and goggles. (Picture below - photo credit to Rebeccca Gotlieb)

One reason I enjoy writing these blogs is not only to hear back from the outside world but also because it provides me with an opportunity to review my days and express my feelings. In some ways I write this blog for you but this is also for me as I wrestle with my thoughts and emotions. I want this blog to be a place where you can laugh and look at interesting pictures, but I want this to be a true representation of my journey as well. Living in the Alaskan bush is not easy. However, environmental factors like weather and strange cultural aspects like food are not what makes it difficult. The difficulty comes in empathizing with my students and the people. Don’t misunderstand. I have a great deal of sympathy for my students. I can care, show compassion, and pity. I can support and be there with encouragement. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of another, to have the same shared experience.

What the majority of my students have gone through are experiences of which I have no comprehension or understanding. The Alaskan bush is a dark place, not referring to the weather but the people. Native Alaskans have arguably the highest suicide rate in the world. Native Alaskans between the age of 10-19 make up just 20 percent of the state population in that age group, but account for 61 percent of its suicides. Almost every student knows of someone or has actually witnessed firsthand a suicide. Alcoholism is rampant. Fetal alcohol syndrome affects almost every family. Drugs are available. Students are hard-hearted and callous to the desire to learn; they are visibly hopeless. To see teenagers so extinguished of desire and passion is jarring, young faces but empty husks.

Most students admit that their culture is dying or even completely dead. My question is what is being done to revive it? To salvage it? Many students have no interest in the “American Dream” of materialism and little desire to go to college. Students enjoy hunting, but realize that hunting in and of itself does not make a culture. Language, values, traditions are necessary as well.

When you ask a native student what they want to do after high school, they all respond with the same answer. “I want to help my village”. However, when asked to explain how they are to help their village, students cannot supply an answer. The desire to help their people is apparent, but how can they change something if the help is not wanted or accepted?

This is a generation of students in a transition. This transition that will determine the existence of Inupiaq culture. This is a new generation that feels disconnected from the old ways of life. The tapestry that is ritual and culture which has been passed down for hundreds of years is frayed and breaking. Will culture and language be lost to make way for new or preserved? At the same time, the modern world of technology, Facebook, movies, and music is both alluring and confusing. There is now much greater and easier access to the outside world. Students can see what life is like outside of the village. I’d like to challenge my students with the message that the future is theirs to control. The hurt, pain, and baggage that they are carrying now does not have to be passed on to the next generation. I truly believe this generation of Shungnak kids has the ability to link the past with the present, to create a new culture blending past values, beliefs, and traditions with the modern world. I’d love to see more native Alaskan teachers, counselors, therapists, doctors, nurses, electricians, plumbers, pastors, and mechanics. All these jobs would allow students to return to their villages, influence the next generation, and preserve their culture while staying connected to the modern age.

Many of you have asked for my address asking to send care packages or notes of encouragement. My address is P.O. Box 79 Shungnak, AK 99773. I would love to hear from you and get some old-fashioned notes of encouragement. I truly am not in need of food. I am not starving, haha (my mom makes sure of that). The one thing I am in search of (strangely enough) is Lego people. I’d like to start a positive incentive idea with my students where good behavior results in students building their own Lego person. I’m envisioning they can choose new torsos or weapons or a hat as they demonstrate good behavior and hard work. If you have any spare Lego people or parts laying around I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your comments and messages. And of course, the greatest of thanks for joining me on this journey in the Alaskan bush.

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