Going Fishing!

  Many of you know I teach school and the school year has started.  I live and work in a small rural village in the huge state of Alaska (we are bigger than Texas).  One of the first activities, Sea Week, is a cultural activity where the high school students head out to the tundra to camp and learn more about native ways.

So, I'll be gone from Tuesday evening to Friday night.  I'm posting a few small posters to let you know I'm alive but I doubt I'll get around to creating my regular entries before I leave.

Camping means we pile into a bunch of boats with all our gear, extra tents for the cooks, food, guns, etc.  The number of students + teachers determine how many boats will go because each boat carries about 6 passengers including the driver.  Yes we call the people who operate boats out here drivers....LOL.

After a couple or three hours, we get to our location, unload, and set up camp where we spend the next few days supplementing the food we brought.  There are definite male and female jobs such as the men hunt animals while the women look for greens and such.  It is the woman's job to prepare the food but the men eat first.

Although this is the 21st century, these roles are still being taught because it is traditional.  On the other hand, there will be times when the students are taken on a nature walk to identify plants eaten for food or used for medicine.  We are expecting to find some blueberries, blackberries, and possibly low bush cranberries although the cranberries are best after the first frost.


The blackberries are not like the ones to the left.  Our blackberries look more like a black colored blueberry but tend to be a bit harder.  They are collected and eaten in Agutuq also known as Eskimo Ice Cream. 

I'm planning on taking my camera so I can take pictures of the camping trip to share with all of you who have never had a chance to see rural Alaska.  I think many of you will find it interesting.

Have a nice week.  I'll be back on Monday.