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Archives! Archives!
Q. What about Employment? Uncharted Lands? What to see and do? Cannery Jobs? Statehood? Weather? These were some of the questions sent in by Stephanie, Laurence, Selena, Barb, Desaray, Ron, Cody and Anglea.
A. Well, to all of you listed above I would like to remind you of my archives. I have fully answered these questions (sometimes in more than one place). I ‘could’ answer them again, of course, but in the interests of not repeating myself, I’d like you to just scan back thru the previous postings – a.k.a. ‘Archives’! I have probably 50 different categories, but tried to by helpful by assigning them concise, accurate titles. It doesn’t take that long to scan back thru, and who knows? Your eye just might catch something of additional interest to you. Which might spark a new question from you to feed my column’s voracious appetite! -BJ
RV Touring in Alaska
Q. What do you think is the least expensive way to see the major attractions of Alaska by RV? -Mike
A. Hmmmm….well, let’s think about this one for a moment. Off the top of my great brain; which by the way, might not be at its peak today, I’d say that with the price of gas and the way I’ve heard RV’s guzzle it, you would want to not do a lot of backtracking to see things. So I’d probably stop at the visitor’s center for each area and ask them to help me map out what to see and do. We love our tourists and the visitor’s centers have a wealth of information.
Another thing you might consider is finding a cheap place to park. I know some people park overnight at the edge of a parking lot of our overnight groceries, such as Carrs Quality Food Centers, and even Wal-Mart sometimes. I don’t think it is necessarily ‘encouraged’, but I don’t believe it is banned.
A couple years or so ago, the Anchorage School District started a program of letting motorhomes park on school grounds, as a deterrent to vandaliism.They found just the presence of a motor home sitting there was enough to discourage those rascals who think it is fun to vandalize a school. You can get a permit from the school district for doing this. Then you use that as a base for your motorhome, going off on day trips in the car you’ve towed behind, or one you have rented, or at least just come back to that spot for overnight.
This program is call the Summer Host Program. They ask for a commitment of a month if possible, as you come and go from the Anchorage area. So you don’t have to just be there all the time. The parking is free, as is utilities for your RV. They provice power, water and even once a week holding tank pumping. It’s a pretty good deal. If you are interested, you can find out more about it by calling the Anchorage School District Security Office at (907) 348-5170. There are 40 some locations for this, and the season is from June 10th to September 5, 2006.
I’m not familiar with whether the Fairbanks School District has such a program, but think it’s possible. Hope this helps. Take care, -B. Jennings
Alaskan Crops & Permanent Fund Dividend
Q. Does the Alaskan government really pay you to live there at first? Also, I’d like to know what kind of crops do you raise there? Thanks! -Otis
A. Otis, I’d like you to look in my archives for a listing posted May 17, 2006 which will fully answer your question about what we call the Permanent Fund Dividend. You will also find many references to the weather in the archives also, either under ‘Weather’ or ‘Temperatures’ Please look there, so I won’t be accused of repeating myself incessently! I can’t help but do a ‘bit’ of that, but like to keep it to a minimum.
Now, about crops, lots of things grow really well here because of the long, light days of summer. Root crops especially do well. We raise great potatoes for instance. There are large potato fields near me, and an industrious person who doesn’t mind getting ‘down and dirty’ can go thtu the fields, gleaning what the potato picking machines have missed. It is expected and even encouraged. Back in ‘ought seven’ when I had ‘legs’, I would take the kids and go gleaning and often picked up enough potatoes to last us all winter. Fun!
Members of the cabbage family do well, also. Cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli,, cauliflower, carrots, all do great. I guess you would say the only things that don’t do well are things that need really hot sun and soil; things like green beans,, melons, okra, etc. You can grow tomatoes here if you have a greenhouse. Well, there are a few varieties of far north tomatoes which can be grown outdoors, but don’t believe they are big producers. I do have a friend who has raised canteloups in her greenhouse!
Corn can be grown, but not on any big scale, and then ONLY if you plant it under black plastic, cutting little slits for the corn plants to come thru. This keeps the soil warm enough that there are a couple varieities, bred for the northland, which do ‘okay’.
Hay is a good crop here and there are several hayfields nearby. Up by Delta Junction, there are some big barley fields also.
Weather can be different from year to year. You just can’t make a ‘blanket statement’ about it. For instance, this year, at Delta Junction, near Fairbanks, they had the coldest weather in 115 years on June 1st, when our daughter in law Susan lost her greenhouse full of tomatoes to a hard frost. It even snowed a bit in Fairbanks that day. Totally crazy weather, but makes for a good topic of conversation.
Hope this answers your questions. If not, write me again please. -BJ
William Seward
Reply
Q. Was William Seward ever in Alaskan history? Thanks. -T. Seward
A. Well, Mr. Seward, I can only think you are enquiring because perhaps he is an ancestor of yours? I’m happy to report that, yes, William Seward certainly did figure into the history of Alaska. Who knows? We might not even be a state today except for his efforts.
William Seward was born in New York in 1801. He was a lawyer first and then served as both a state senator and as governor of New York. He was a member of the Whig political party.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, he wanted Seward for Secretary of State. He accepted, and served in that position both during Lincoln’s presidency, and following his assassination, as Secretary of State for Andrew Johnson. History tells us he had a lot of influence over Lincoln.
In 1867, Seward was very instrumental in buying Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000.00 Some people thought he was crazy, but time has proved them wrong…..and William Seward right! If he is your ancestor, you can be rightly proud of him. -BJ
State Facts & Pictures
Q. Where can I see a picture of your state bird, flower, flag and your capitol building? -Rudy
A. Our state flower is the Forget-Me-Not; state bird is the Willow Ptarmigan; the flag, which is a blue background with the Dipper and North State on it was adopted for use in 1959.
Alaska is one of the most beautiful of states, I think, but I will admit we probably have the ugliest capitol building of any state. Ours is a very utilitarian looking ‘box’. You can see it by going to a website called www.cupola.com and then clicking on the square that says something about Cupolas of Capitalism. Then click on Alaska. See what I mean? A box!!
I’ve found a good site for the other things you’d like to know is one called www.enchantedlearning.com Scroll down and click on US States Info & Printouts. Then find Alaska in the list and click on that. I think you’ll find what you need by doing these things. Write me again sometime. -Bonnie J.
Alaskan Legends & Folklore
Q. What are some interesting stories or folklore from Alaska? – Coco
A. The one which comes immediately to mind, Coco, is the legend of The Sleeping Lady. We refer to Mt. Susitna as the Sleeping Lady. Mt. Susitna lies directly across Cook Inlet from Anchorage and is readily visible for miles around. The outline of the mountain looks exactly like a lady lying on her back, covered by a blanket. Here is the story, which has been told by word of mouth since the 1930′s.
Long ago in Alaska there lived a race of giant people along the shores of Cook Inlet. The land was warm then and fruit trees of every kind covered the land. Wooly mammoths and saber toothed tigers roamed the forests, but they did not hurt the gentle people who lived there, because peace ruled the land.
A young man named Nekatla and a fair maiden named Susitna were very happy as they were soon to be married. The wedding day was approaching when suddenly a stranger burst into the village and cried out that warriors were coming from the north who would kill their people and burn their homes.
The stranger was asked how he knew? He said that he knew because it had happened in his village,and only he was still alive.
The village elders began discussing what to do and how to fight them. They didn’t even have weapons in their village because they had always been a people of peace. Nekatla and Susitna listened with alarm; then Nekatla had an idea. He stepped forward, and said, “Look, I have an idea. I will not fight these people because we gave up the ways of war long ago. We are a people of peace. Neither will I run away because then they would just kill others. Le’s go forward to meet them, bearing gifts, and when they see we have no weapons, but only gifts, they will see there is no reason to attack us. Who will go with me? Immediately all the men of the village began preparing to go north.
By morning they were ready to leave. Nekatla and Susitna said goodbye on top the hill where they had spent so many happy hours. Nekatla tenderly held her close and whispered, “We’ll be married as soon as I return.” She replied, “I shall wait for your return, right here.” Then she sadly watched as the line of men disappeared into the forested mountains.
Susitna hurried back to the village and gathered up her basket making materials, needles, knife and baskets for gathering seeds and berries. She busied herself upon the hill, awaiting Nekatla’s return. She kept thinking that he would return any moment.
Days and then weeks passed by, slowly, and still Susitna waited. She told herself one day, “I will lie down for just a moment. I am so tired.” She fell fast asleep.
While Susitna slept, word of a terrible battle reached the village by a boy who came running to report that Nekatla’s idea of going in peace with gifts had not worked. Although Nekatla and the others approached in peace with gifts outstretched, the warriors from the north threw spears and set upon them fiercely. Nekatla and many others were killed by the spears of the enemy. The women wept to hear of the fathers, brothers and sons they had lost.
When the women of the village went to wake Susitna they found her sleeping so peacefully they hated to wake her. “Let her rest in peace some more. Why break her heart sooner than we must”, they said. So they wove a blanket of soft grasses and wildflowers and gently laid it across the sleeping Susitna. “May Susitna always dream of her lover”, they said.
That night all warmth and joy left the village. It grew colder and colder. Susitna settled more deeply into sleep. The fruit trees froze and began dying like men in battle. The tears of the villagers gathered into clouds that rose into the air, falling back to earth as Alaska’s first snowfall.
For seven days and nights the snow fell, until Susitna and all her people lay beneath a shimmering blanket of white. Days passed into weeks and weeks into months.Months became years and years became hundreds of years. For a few months each summer, warmth returned to the land allowing birch and willow and spruce to grow. Grizzly bears and moose and other animals came to replace the old animals; and eventually a new race of people, smaller than the first came to stay in this land.
Today, Susitna still sleeps peacefully. You can look across Cook Inlet from Anchorage and see her lying gracefully and peacefully asleep. In the winter she is covered by a lovely blanket of white snow. In the summer, her blanket is soft grasses and wildflowers.
It is said when people of war change their ways, peace will rule the earth. Then Nekatla will return. Then, Susitna, the Sleeping Lady will awaken!
Don’t you like this story? I do. It is a slightly shortened version of the retelling of this folklore, by Ann Dixon, librarian at Willow, Alaska. I will find some more stories and folklore to bring you really soon, so keep watching. -B. Jennings
Arctic Survival
Q. Could a man survive 12 daytime hours at -75 below degree weather? -Josh
A. Well, Josh, I am assuming that you heard someone claim to do this, and are skeptical. Right?
The answer is ‘yes’ he could, given a few conditions. Did he have warm clothes? Did he have food and water? Any shelter? Was the wind blowing?
You know if it is minus 40 to minus 50 and the wind is blowing at 30-50 mph, what we call the wind chill, makes it like it was a hundred degrees below zero! The wind does sometime blow like that, in places, in the winter.
When we lived in the bush in the 70′s, it once got 72 below where we were. I remember us arguing about who had to go out and check on the chickens and the geese, feed them and take warm water to them. That was COLD. Brrrr. I got a chill just thinking back on that.
If this man had on insulated underwear (long johns), then warm shirt and pants, couple pair of wool socks; then a parka, warm hat, insulated outer pants such as snow machine pants, and warm, insulated footwear such as Paks, or Bunny boots, or moosehide and fur mukluks, well, yes, I’m sure he could survive even 12 hours outside at that temperature.
An important thing would be some high calorie food in his pockets. The normal man gets by on something around 2,300 calories a day. To be out in that temp for that long, you would need to eat about 6,000 calories to stay safe.
In 1909 Ernest Shackelton and crew tried to reach the south pole. They got within 100 miles which was a feat even of itself. His journals record a day when the temperature was 70 degrees below zero, with a fierce blizzard blowing all day. They survived. So the answer to your question is ‘yes’ (but who would want to try?) I am thankful for my warm house I know that. Take care, and stay warm. -Bonnie J.
Alaska State Nut
Q. Does Alaska have a state nut? Thanks. Laurie
A. Oh, you bet we do! That’s gotta be my Uncle Artie. One time we were having a birthday party and he was lighting the candles on the cake. He went to blow out the match, but he was distracted by something Aunt Inez was saying and he looked away just at the crucial time – and set his mustache on fire! Boy, was that exciting! He was so vain about that mustache, so we thought it was totally hilarious. But then, it doesn’t take much to amuse this tribe.
Another time, on a crisp sub-zero winter day, Artie had a fine idea. He would scare the you-know-what out of Inez. They were visiting us while we were still living in a primitive cabin out in the ‘bush’. We had an outhouse but had, what we thought, was a good way of handling the problem of ‘frozen buns’. We would keep a toilet seat hanging on a nail behind the woodstove. When nature called, you would grab the warm toilet seat, shove it inside your parka and run like the dickens for the two-holer, before it had much time to cool off. Inez announced that she was going to make a trip down the path and while she was getting her boots, mittens and parka on, Artie slipped out and hid behind a big hump of snow near the path to the outhouse. When Inez came alongside, Artie gave a mighty convincing growl. Aunt Inez, who was paranoid of bears didn’t even stop to think there couldn’t be a bear outside this time of year. She was terrified and giving a loud scream, she threw out both arms, flinging the toilet seat high and wide as she slipped on the icy path. The toilet seat landed on the windshield of Artie’s pickup, shattering it royally, which we thought was good enough for him! He was pretty subdued for awhile after that.
Yes, I’m sure that Uncle Artie is our State Nut!
P.S. Seriously, Laurie, we don’t have a state nut, as in pecan, walnut, hazel, etc. Sadly, nuts you can eat don’t grow here. -BJ
Eklutna
Q. Any information about Eklutna? I like to know the location, population, businesses, etc. Thanks, Norb
A. The village of Eklutna is located at the head of Knik Arm in Cook Inlet, and at the mouth of the Eklutna River. This location is just 26 miles N. E. of Anchorage, at mile 26.5 of the Glenn Highway.
It’s a neat little village of about 400 Alaska natives. The village has been in use for over 800 years! It was a traditional winter village for the Dena’ina tribe (Tanaina) and others. The Russian Orthodox church has had a big influence there, as evidenced by the colorful spirit houses adorning their cemetery.
The residents depend largely on the tourist trade. The village has a nice little museum, with guided tours of the village and cemetery, a historic park, gift shop with native crafts and two chapels.
Once a summer they have a big potlatch and powwow. In fact it is coming up June 17 and 18. There will be native dancing, drumming, storytelling, and arts and crafts. Other tribes such as Athabaskan, Inupiaq, Yupik, Tlingit and Aleuts participate too
In the summertime, when we travel to Anchorage, we always slow down and wave to the Indians sitting atop the big bank by the side of the road. On top that bank is the village of Eklutna. The natives have a pretty neat way of spending a summer day. They have a line of couches and easy chairs sitting on top the bank. Just like the kind you’d have in your living room. Usually there are two or three of them sitting there, swapping stories of the good old days, and waving to the traffic.
If you want to read more about the village of Eklutna, go to www.eklutna-nsn.gov
When someone says ‘Eklutna’ they also might mean the big hydro-electric project furnished by Eklutna lake, and the big dam built by the federal government bureau of reclamation in 1965. The lake is fed by Eklutna Glacier. The dam furnishes power for a wide area.
I’m going to the potlatch the Saturday the 17th. Better dig out my dancin’ shoes! See you there. -BJ