thearcticsounder

Barrow crew takes dream whale, season’s first

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:21:00 -0800

After 50 years of whaling, it is hard to surprise Eugene Brower, a Barrow whaling captain. But this year even he was surprised by how easily the North Slope’s first whale of the season was taken.

On Friday, May 2, at around noon, Brower was at his home, pan frying some whale meat for steaks as he told the story of the easiest whale hunt he had ever experienced.

On April 26, Brower and his Aalaak Whaling Crew set out for the hunt. On Sunday, April 27, they returned to town with a 28-foot plump female whale in tow.

Ordinarily, it would take days if not weeks of waiting to harvest a whale.

Brower said getting the first whale of the season is a good omen because it means more will follow. Sure enough, no less than a day later the Itta crew harvested another.

The Aalaak Crew’s hunt began on Saturday when the men headed out to open water. They stopped about a mile and half off the ledge to wait out some bad weather and search for a safe spot by the open water.

The crew set up camp and prepared to overnight. In the morning, the crew checked for open lead. It didn’t take long to find a good spot – and the whales running near by.

Price Brower, the crew’s designated harpooner, took to the lead and began setting up the area for the hours of waiting the men were bound to experience.

Once arriving at the spot, the crew completed the launch ramp at the edge of the ice and placed the boat on it, so that the whale could swim right up to the hunters.

Shortly after all setup was complete, two whales were spotted popping up above water about 200 feet away. Ronald Fisher and Charlie Brower took charge of both sides of the boat and shoved it into the water towards the whale, causing the harpooner to fall backwards.

Just as he sat back up, a third whale was spotted. At 2:30 p.m., the harpooner struck it as it surfaced a second time. At 4 p.m., the crew was offering prayers and letting the community know a whale had been taken.

"We all worked hard to share all the glory and praise of a successful hunt," said Eugene Brower.

"I was glad nobody got hurt and I thank all the crews that came out to help butcher the whale," he said.

The whale, a very soft and plump female, according to Brower, was 28 feet, 7 inches long, and 24 feet around the girth.

Just the kind of whale Brower said he always dreamed of getting.

This year, Brower had a new member on his crew, his 11-year old grandson, Jonathan Nelson. Nelson joined the crew as they brought in the whale and helped the men cut it up.

The whale was split up into 43 shares and divided up for the community.

His wife, Charlotte Brower, and several women neighbors got together and made 20 gallons of whale oil from the jaw, lip and blubber – a delicacy they plan to save for the blanket toss celebration, to be held in June.

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.

Students, senator discuss ways to boost Alaska Native teachers

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:21:02 -0800

For The Arctic Sounder

It’s not often one receives 45 minutes of personal time and attention from a U.S. senator.

But that is exactly what a group of North Slope students experienced when Lisa Murkowski spoke via a Poly-Com videoconference and teleconference on April 21.

The meeting was sponsored by Ilisagvik College’s Teachers for the Arctic program, headed by Martha Stackhouse, coordinator of the program.

The group started in August to encourage more North Slope residents to become teachers.

The college believes it needs to commit this level of investment and resources to increase the number of teachers who are Inupiat because current numbers are so dismal.

Less than 3 percent of the borough school district’s 163 certified teachers are Inupiaq, compared with a student body of 1,811 that is 81 percent Alaska Native.

"Native teachers bring with them a knowledge and many attributes essential to teaching Native students that do not result from formal training," said David Beaulieu, editor of the Journal of American Indian Education.

"They have knowledge of the community and of the children and have grown up in the community.

"They know the lives of the children and have language and cultural knowledge that will aid them in their instructional roles.

"It is not necessary to focus on sensitivity training and other forms of orientation typically related to professional development for non-Native teachers ... . A Native teacher, particularly from the students’ own community, shares with those students a culturally competent way of interacting and communicating," he said.

Following a meeting with the senator in February, Ilisagvik College President Beverly Patkotak Grinage shared with Murkowski that the college had started a new program to encourage more Inupiat students to enter teaching.

Murkowski was so impressed with the college’s efforts that she offered to conduct a live videoconference with the Teachers for the Arctic clubs that Stackhouse had established with the school district in each village school.

Students from Ipalook, Barrow Middle School, Barrow High School, the Kiita program, Wainwright and Point Hope participated. Kaktovik students were unable to attend because a blizzard closed school for the day.

Following introductions, the students identified reasons for wanting to be teachers. These reasons ranged from their own enjoyment of learning to wanting to help prepare future generations to succeed.

Murkowski began her remarks by noting the differences between the North Slope, where it takes a blizzard to close the school, and Washington, D.C., where school is cancelled if there is even a chance of snow.

The senator answered students’ questions that covered a broad range of topics from the cost of the war in Iraq and how that is affecting our ability to finance America’s future, to the cost of college, the role of technology for teaching in remote areas and whether the No Child Left Behind Act will continue to require so many tests.

"What you all are doing through your future teachers’ programs is going to help us get to where we want to be, which is more young Alaska Natives in rural communities and rural schools acting as mentors and teachers to those in the villages," the senator told the group.

"I applaud you for your efforts and encourage you to continue," she said.

As the teleconference wound down, one of the last questions asked of Murkowski was whether she felt that Native teachers have special gifts they can bring to the classroom.

"I think that they have a special gift that they can bring because of their culture, their heritage and their perspective," she responded.

"I think we need to remember that each one of us has something unique to offer '85 . I think as an Alaska Native, you offer a perspective on what it means to grow up in Wainwright, what it means to have the ability to share with others your very unique perspective.

"I do believe it is a gift and each one of you can make that very unique contribution."

To listen to the complete videoconference, go to www.ilisagvik.cc and click on the link "April 15, 2008 Future Teachers For the Arctic."

Elise Sereni Patkotak is a writer and former resident of Barrow.

Noatak man threatens people with rifle

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:21:02 -0800

sounder@alaskanewspapers.com

A Noatak man was arrested and charged after he allegedly pointed a rifle at a group of people, including a 3-year-old child, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers say an investigation revealed that 52-year-old Gordon Wesley was intoxicated on Thursday, May 1, when he started to threaten some of the community’s residents.

The trouble began when Wesley got on his snowmachine and nearly struck a man he had been arguing with, according to the troopers. He then returned to his home, where he retrieved the rifle.

Wesley was arrested and charged with multiple counts of felony assault, reckless endangerment and driving while intoxicated.

He was being held in the Kotzebue Regional Jail.

Library program offers reading bug to young readers

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:21:02 -0800

Chukchi Consortium Library is opening its doors to patrons who want to catch the reading bug and learn about the world of insects.

The 2008 Summer Reading Program is open to young people, preschool through young adult, with programs, prizes, story hours, a reading club and more.

Families are invited to join the Read-to-Me portion of the program. Registration for the program begins on June 2.

For more information, call the library at (907) 442-2410 or visit online at www.chukchi.alaska.edu/users/zycclib .

The library welcomes children of all abilities. All programs are free of charge.

Sparrows of Shishmaref sing happily far from their normal range

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Just in from Shishmaref science teacher Ken Stenek: On this late April day, two house sparrows are singing their little hearts out while perched on the metal roof of the Shishmaref School.

This is unusual, because the closest brethren of the tiny birds are at least several hundred miles away, with most of the population many thousands of miles away.

Stenek, who for the last decade has lived in the village on the exposed sand spit just above the Bering Sea, saw a group of about five birds near the school last October. At least two of them seem to have survived a harsh winter in the windy village, and birders have taken note.

The "house sparrow is a very rare visitor anywhere in Alaska, with only a few records in the state," wrote renowned birder David Sibley on his blog.

"Interestingly, one of the few prior Alaska records comes from Gambell, on St. Lawrence Island, in mid-summer about 15 years ago. So the question is whether these (Shishmaref) birds, at the very western edge of Alaska, came from North America or Asia."

House sparrows are one of the most common birds in the Lower 48, but they don’t normally occur farther north than about Fort Nelson, B.C. The same species occurs in Asia but thousands of miles southwest of Alaska.

Stenek first identified the Shishmaref sparrows when he e-mailed a photo to Dan Gibson, an ornithology research associate at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Gibson replied: "Where in the world did you get those pictures of house sparrows?"

In Fairbanks, from his office at the museum, Gibson said that if house sparrows are indeed residing in Shishmaref, they might have reached there from the Russian Far East. Though naturally occurring populations of house sparrows do not exist close to northeastern Russia, people have introduced the house sparrow to communities there several times in the recent past.

People brought a few house sparrows from Moscow to Provideniya in the early 1990s, Gibson said. Shortly thereafter, a group of researchers on a birding fieldtrip to Gambell found a dead house sparrow in the dump there and brought it back to the museum in Fairbanks. It was only the second specimen of a house sparrow from Alaska; the other was a bird found in Petersburg.

As for the Shishmaref sparrows, Gibson had many questions on how such a bird survived the winter in a place with such brutal weather.

"What are they doing to sustain themselves during the winter, where are they roosting, where are they feeding?" he asked. "I would have expected a bird like that to perish during the winter."

He thinks that the Shishmaref sparrows are probably from one of the communities in eastern Russia where people imported and released them in the recent past. Another researcher has a theory that the Shishmaref birds are the result of range expansion, but Gibson doubts that.

"I think it’s unlikely this would be a case of natural range expansion in Asia, because of the absence of appropriate habitat and a good travel corridor," he said.

Stenek has a guess that the birds couldn’t have survived a trip across the Bering Strait, and that they may have hitched a ride in one of the many large boxes on a barge that came up last fall. Right now, the origin of the birds is a mystery, and the two male house sparrows sing from the roof of the Shishmaref School, calling for a mate that probably isn’t there.

Ned Rozell is a science writer at the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Statewide photography exhibition winners announced

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

Alaska Positive 2008, a statewide photography-as-art exhibition organized every two years by the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, opened with a reception on Friday, May 2.

The Alaska Positive show was juried by Bill Owens, a photographer known for his depictions of American lifestyles, most notably in the landmark book "Suburbia" published in 1972, showing life in a new California tract-house development.

Owens selected 56 photographs by 42 photographers for the Alaska Positive exhibit. Overall, 80 Alaska photographers from 10 Alaska communities submitted 267 photographs for the competition.

The top award, the Juror’s Choice Award, went to Bonnie Landis of Anchorage for a photograph titled "Rooftop." Second- and third-place cash awards went to Ben Huff of Fairbanks and Deanna Lampe of Juneau. Brandon Hauser of Juneau received a fourth-place award.

In addition, 10 other photographers were given honorable mentions. They are: William Heath, Kenai; Ben Huff, Fairbanks; Jayne Jones, Kenai; Pat Kalbaugh, Juneau; Barbara Kelly, Juneau; Clark James Mishler, Anchorage; Tama Phelps, Anchorage; John Schwieder, Anchorage; Nathaniel Wilder, Anchorage; and Carol J. Zeien, Seldovia.

Commenting on the exhibition, Owens said, "There were about 270 photographs to look at, and from that number I had to select the best first, second, third, and fourth place and 10 honorable mentions.

"As a photographer who is always involved in the documentary image, I was looking for the winners to be people who had a big vision of Alaska, and the winner was a landscape image with an abandoned building that had the composition and color, the mountains, and the mist and spoke to me over other images where the photographer failed to get the composition right, the subject material was not interesting, or the making of the image wasn’t really thought through.

"One thing that was conspicuously absent from the group of photographs were photos relating to other humans '97 a dynamic portrait. There were only a handful of portraits of people in their environment. The images tended to be random, not really giving me the photographer’s point of view of concern for the environment, or concern '97 passion '97 for other human beings '85 .

"It is time for photographers to move on to photographing our environment and to show the impact that we have on the land and the sea. Today, with global warming being real, it is time for us to evaluate our lifestyles and to become concerned about how we live. Photographers should show this environment."

Alaska Positive 2008 will be on exhibit in Juneau through Oct. 18. It then begins a one-year tour of other museums in Alaska.

For more about the Alaska Positive and its winners visit online http://www.museums.state.ak.us.

DNA links Alaska Natives to ancient glacier man

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

Seventeen Alaska and Canada Natives have been linked by DNA to an ancient man whose remains were found in 1999 in a glacier.

Among the first to be notified last week was Juneau resident Fernando Rado, who found out on Thursday, May 1, he is one of them.

Rado was one of 250 Native people tested for a DNA match in a project sponsored by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and Sealaska Heritage Institute.

The DNA results show nine people from Alaska and eight people from Canada are related to the ancient man, named by tribes Kwaday Dan Ts’inchi (Long Ago Person Found).

"It’s kind of overwhelming and it’s kind of very exciting because I feel like I’m related to a piece of time in history," said Rado, an Eagle Killerwhale whose family is from Klukwan.

Hunters found the remains in a melting glacier in British Columbia, and scientists believe he died roughly 200-300 years ago, possibly longer. He was wearing a spruce-root hat and a robe made of squirrel skins.

In 2001, a DNA study was launched to determine whether Long Ago Person Found had any living descendants in Canada and Alaska. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from blood samples given by Native people in Canada and Alaska.

Of the Alaskans related to him, three are affiliated with CAFN and have been notified by the tribe, including Rado, who believes his mother enrolled him with the Champagne tribe.

The remaining six Alaskans have yet to be notified, and Sealaska Heritage plans to work with CAFN to locate them. Their identities will be kept confidential unless the individuals authorize public release of their names.

Fifteen of the people identified themselves as Wolf or Eagle moiety; two did not identify their moiety.

It’s not a huge surprise Long Ago Person Found is related to tribes from both Alaska and Canada. Oral histories and genealogical studies have shown there were migrations of Southeast Tlingits into the Interior and of Interior Natives to Klukwan.

There were also intermarriages between the two tribes. It’s also known that people from the Yanyeid'ed (Wolf) clan live in both Alaska and Canada.

"Alaska Native oral traditions talk about extensive contact between Southeast Natives and Canadian tribes," Dye said. "Oral histories also indicate Native people did travel from Southeast to the Interior and from the Interior to Southeast. So, the test results really just strengthen that bond that already existed between Alaska and Canadian tribes."

The news has strengthened Rado’s ties to Canadian Natives, too.

"With this information, I need to go and visit the Champagne tribe, because there’s a whole piece of family that has 100 percent enlarged my family," said Rado, also a shareholder of Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska.

Long Ago Person Found may have been from Southeast Alaska. One study found more than 90 percent of the protein in his diet was from marine sources.

That study, by the University of Glasgow, concluded he "had strong coastal connections during his life and had been on the coast shortly before he died about 550 to 600 years ago."

Some Southeast Alaska Natives believe him to be Kaakaldeini, who was immortalized in oral traditions. Many years ago Kaakaldeini was hurt while traveling to the Interior to trade.

When a storm rolled in, he told his companions to leave him, fearing if they carried him, they would go too slowly and all die in the storm. His companions piled blankets on him and left, and he was never seen again. Kaakaldeini was of the Sockeye Clan.

Cancer survival handbook aims at Alaska Natives

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

The best defensive weapon of choice for Alaska Native cancer survivors is a return to traditional subsistence food.

In a world gone awry with high-fat, processed food, scientific health studies show that a cancer-fighting, low-fat, low-processed diet can be found locally for Alaska Natives '97 indigenous people with the highest cancer death rates in the country.

In fact, the evidence is so powerful that the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium has built a book, "Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors," around the research.

Beyond its role for cancer patients, the book serves as a practical guide to wild food available throughout the state.

"The traditional food guide is not only for Alaska Native cancer survivors and their medical providers, but (also) for everyone who enjoys the natural foods from Alaska’s lands," said Desiree Simeon, a Tlingit nutritionist from Ketchikan.

Co-authored by Simeon, Christine DeCourtney and Karen Mitchell, a Yup’ik, the full-color spiral-bound book has an initial press run of 3,000. The co-authors work in the consortium’s cancer program.

"It’s the first of its kind," said DeCourtney, the consortium’s cancer program planning and development manager. "It’s healthy eating for all people."

The book, available for $24.95, is being distributed statewide by the consortium so that Alaska Natives have one of their first opportunities to not only see traditional subsistence food move center table in the cancer fight but also read about the nutritional value that scientific research has assigned to it.

"The book is very informative," said Patricia Bunyon, a Yup’ik elder from Hooper Bay. "I eat some of the Native foods described in the guide but did not know a lot about some of them, like gumboots, and some of the plants gathered from areas other than the Y-K area."

Developed with grant money from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the 142-page book also received financial support from the consortium, the Alaska Cancer Survivorship and Wellness Program, Alaska Regional Hospital’s Cancer Care Center, the American Cancer Society, the Intercultural Cancer Council, the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the state’s Comprehensive Cancer Control Program.

Two years in the making, the book was an idea in the development stage since reports on nutritional information regarding traditional Alaska Native foods became available about 10 years ago, said DeCourtney.

"I always thought that information would be so valuable to someone someday," she said. "Now it’s going to be distributed to every Alaska Native cancer survivor in the state."

DeCourtney said that all Alaska Native village clinics, libraries and regional hospitals in the state would be sure to get copies for distribution.

"Of course, we want them to go to people who will use them," she said. "It’s information for healthy eating and healthy living and it connects to the true value of wild Alaska food."

After an introduction that sets out the connection that binds subsistence lifestyle with healthful food resources, the book offers several pages of tips and suggestions on some primary cancer-battle challenges, including getting protein and fiber in the diet.

In addition, it addresses the importance of diet in fighting fatigue '97 long a cancer survivor’s enemy. Then it shifts to accurate explanations about natural vitamins and their importance to healthy body function.

After some tips on disease prevention, such as hand washing and food preservation, the handbook moves quickly to subsistence meat sources, with Alaska Native names, definitions, explanations and nutrition information.

Included are glimpses of the historical role each subsistence animal has had in the traditional lifestyle of Alaska Natives. And preparation tips are provided for those who have disconnected from the traditional lifestyle.

From meat to seafood and then to plants '97 from beach asparagus to stinkweed '97 the handbook continues to provide essential information on nutritional value based on one-cup servings.

In a wrap-up choked with tried-and-true recipes, the book shares instruction on how to make just about anything from caribou soup to herring egg salad.

Under other foods, the book focuses on at least two favorites: pilot bread and Eskimo ice cream. And tucked on two pages near the end is a useful outline of moose and caribou parts, along with tips on how to use everything but the noise.

With 11 Alaska Native cultures in more than 200 rural and urban areas, the book signs off with a pitch for sharing and exchange '97 again, part of the traditional lifestyle known today mostly to the elders.

But that pitch is an invitation for urban and rural Alaska Natives to continue using their strong family ties to share the subsistence food resources that have sustained the many cultures for thousands of years.

For more information, contact DeCourtney at (907) 729-3922 or by e-mail at ul cdecourtney@anmc.org . Or go to the consortium’s Website at ul www.anthc.org .

Randall Howell can be reached at (907) 348-2463 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 463.

State tries to get a grip on deckhands’ economic impact

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

It’s hard to account for a work force if you don’t know who or where it is.

An ambitious new project aims to craft a system that will provide labor data on the thousands of crewmembers who work aboard Alaska’s fishing fleets.

Best guesstimates peg the number of deckhands at 20,000. Because fishermen are contract workers, no wage reports are collected by the state. Crew licenses are required, but they don’t tell where or when a crewmember fished, how much they earned or if they even fished at all.

"Without that information, communities really don’t have any basis for accurately estimating the effects of fishing. It makes it difficult for both harvesters and communities to apply for economic assistance or other state and federal programs," said Mike Catsi, executive director of the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference.

The conference has led initiatives to get fish harvesters counted for several years.

The project will use a $150,000 one-time appropriation to develop a system to collect and input the new information into a database at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

It will be able to use electronic landing reports and fish ticket systems already in place.

The first step will be to hire a contractor and begin scoping meetings around the state, said Geron Bruce, deputy director of the state commercial fisheries division.

"I want the stakeholders to have an advisory role in what questions we ask, how we shape the study and what outcomes we want. From the beginning, everyone needs to feel that we are moving forward together with a common purpose," Bruce said.

Two advisory groups will be formed during the summer, Bruce said. One will comprise members of various state agencies; another will include fishing stakeholders representing different regions and gear groups.

"We really need to broaden the discussion to include more regions," Bruce said. "Basically it has been focused in the'a0Westward Region, particularly dealing with fishery rationalization programs, either existing or proposed ones. For other regions, it’s not even on their radar screen. But it’s going to be a statewide program and will affect everyone."

"Given the wide variety of fisheries and areas around the state, it will take some time to sort through all the issues," division director John Hilsinger said.'a0"We need a system that works in Bering Sea crab fisheries as well as skiff fisheries on remote rivers."

There is general agreement that the harvester workforce is an important part of the employment and economic picture, and better data is needed. But there is no consensus yet on how, who or where to get it.

"Both the state and'a0the fishing industry would be best served to take their time to design a program that works best for everyone," Bruce said. "It might put a year or more lead time before it is in place, but it will be time well spent."

Solar tenders

Alaska fishermen, processors and small businesses can benefit from two federal grant programs aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Nearly $16 million is available nationwide through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program.

One grant helps fund renewable energy projects that include geothermal, biomass, wind and solar energy. That could be a natural for fishing tenders, said Dean Stewart, program director of the Alaska USDA Rural Development Program.

"They could use solar energy or some other type mounted on their vessel while they are anchored up in the fishing grounds rather than using diesel generators. Solar panels also can power ice machines," he said.

A second grant is designed for energy efficiency projects, such as improving insulation in fish holds or improving fish chilling systems.

Both grants cover up to 25 percent of the eligible costs of the project. The maximum grant for renewable energy projects is $500,000 and $250,000 for energy efficiency projects.

Deadline to apply is June 16. Call the USDA Rural Development agency in Palmer at (907) 761-7722 or visit online at www.rurdev.usda.gov/ak/.

Feed me Omegas

Omega-3s have become one of the most popular food additives due to a whole host of health benefits. Last year, omega-3 fatty acids were added to 250 food products, from eggs to orange juice, and the list is growing fast.

National surveys show that baby boomers are very aware of the benefits of omega-3s and are adding more to their diets. But most young parents don’t know how essential omegas are to developing'a0babies. According to a Harris Interactive poll of 1,220 U.S. parents, 60 percent were not aware of the benefits of so called DHA omegas to their children’s health.

DHA is one of two key omega-3 fatty acids essential for brain and eye development. It is especially important between birth and 5 years of age, when the brain increases nearly 3-1/2 times in weight. Leading authorities recommend 150 milligrams daily for children aged 1 through 5.

Omega-3s cannot be produced by our bodies and must be obtained from foods. All omegas are not created equal – the critical DHA compound is found only in seafoods, especially wild salmon, or in fish supplements.

The Fish Factor column appears weekly in 20 newspapers and Websites. Laine Welch’s daily "Fish Radio" programs air on nearly 30 stations across Alaska.

Volunteers turn Northwest villages into skiing playground

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

The bell at the Kiana School rang at 3:30 p.m. sharp, announcing the end of another day at school.

For some students the bell was their cue to hurriedly line up in front of a classroom where ski equipment was being checked out for another day on the Kiana slopes.

Some older students favored an afternoon of thrill rides on their family’s Sno-gos.

That left the grounds around school open for the middle and elementary school students to zoom up and down the snow as their hearts desired.

Skis are available all winter for students in most Northwest Arctic Borough schools, but the activity gained popularity especially during the month of April when a group of eight ski instructors returned to five villages to teach and play during and after school.

This is the fifth year that groups of volunteers lead by Jennifer Johnston, an Anchorage-based outdoor educator and enthusiast, head north to bring cross-country skiing to rural schools in the region.

Every morning, separate groups of elementary, middle and high school students clipped into their skis and headed out for two hours of games, contests and skiing in the nearby hills.

In Kiana, the snow was plentiful but also deep and wet. Falling was part of the game, and it was quite common to see a child lying almost completely buried in the powdery snow. The struggle to get upright was not an easy task with those long extensions hooked to their feet.

On one excursion out to a hill called Old Village, the snow was particularly deep, and children happily fell face first into the snow – their version of snow angels.

Even Sebastian, a local dog who followed the group, dove nose first into the snow, only his tail wagging above as proof he was there.

During their 2008 round, RurAL CAP Ski Go Club, the official name of this urban-rural exchange program founded by Johnston, visited Kobuk, Shungnak, Ambler, Selawik and Kiana, spending about three days in each village.

Originally, the instructors skied from village to village, accumulating hundreds of miles. However, the group now flies between most villages to allow more time with the students, according to Johnston.

"It’s all about the kids," she said one evening in Kiana, while winding down at a local teacher’s home from a full day of skiing.

The ski lessons are met with excitement in all the stops, but instructor Marcy Baker said she knows from experience to expect the most eagerness from Kiana.

Baker and her 16-year-old daughter, Megan, have joined Johnston every year since the program started. The name Ski Go club, an offshoot from the local name for snowmachines, was Megan’s idea.

Marcy Baker was instrumental in fundraising and gathering equipment for the skiers from the get-go. Many students mistook the high-spirited and fit 48-year-old to be a sister rather than a mother to her daughter.

Other volunteer instructors this year were Brook Kintz, Mandy Kaempf, Michael Mumm, Matt Raferty and Alex Wilson, a former Olympian and member of the U.S. national ski team.

The idea for the program originated in Johnston’s mind in 2003 after a skiing trip from Kotzebue to Ambler and back with her daughter, Merrick Johnston.

As part of her college thesis at Dartmouth, Merrick had to measure metallic contaminants from storms in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

Along with her mother and a support team of dogs and Sno-gos, the duo – which already had a McKinley summit under its belt – stopped in every village and dug pits with the help of local students.

Merrick’s idea to get students interested in the science proved only slightly successful, as the students had something else in mind.

"My daughter would talk to kids about science, and the kids were real excited about skis," Johnston said.

"We wanted to see if there was interest in skiing. It was serendipity," she said.

Since then the program took on a life of its own as grants from Maniilaq Association and the Rasmussen Foundation, in addition to help from local airline companies, allowed Johnston and Baker to purchase equipment that was in turn given to the villages for use outside of the program.

This year, the program received additional sponsorships from Nova Gold and the Charlotte Martin Foundation.

While funding is crucial to the success of the program, even more crucial is willingness of the volunteers who pay half their fare to Kotzebue and must contribute one meal and one dessert for the whole group. The trip also requires a long period of time off work.

But mostly it takes energy and a love for children.

It seems that this year’s group lacked neither. There was rarely a moment when a child was not hooked by the hand to one instructor or another.

On Wednesday, April 23, as the group prepared to leave Kiana, students from the elementary school sang them a farewell song. It was so moving a gesture it made one instructor cry.

Alex DeMarban contributed to this article.

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.

Point Lay whaling brings together elders, youth

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

Preparations are well under way for Point Lay’s first whaling season.

"I’ve never seen so many youth so excited about whaling, and the adult’s whaling crew is willing to take time in teaching the children how it’s done," Marjorie Long said.

The youth crew has been hard at work fixing up the equipment and giving some of it a facelift.

Long said her son, Lloyd Pikok, a member of the youth crew, has been working hard helping his captain get ready for whaling.

"They have already made a cellar outside of Nukapigak’s house to store the whale that they will catch," she said.

Pikok has been working on the boats cleaning and fixing, all while keeping up with schoolwork.

"Watching my son I know something good is going to happen," Long said.

"His face tells me that he had a good day working with his peers and captain. I’m so joyous that the captain is taking time in teaching these youth about whaling," she said.

Inupiat Studies program receives Shell grant

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

Inupiat studies at Ilisagvik College have received a helping hand in the form of a $224,000 grant from Shell Oil.

During his visit to the North Slope in February, Shell’s president, John Hofmeister, toured the college and met with students and teachers.

On the evening of Feb. 21, staff, faculty and students held a dinner in his honor with a performance by the Tagiugmiut Dancers. It was at this dinner that Hofmeister presented the college with the certificate of donation, according to Pearl Brower, special assistant to the president, external affairs at Ilisagvik College.

"We have had a pretty nice partnership with Shell, a really good relationship," Brower said.

"They are supporting higher education in the North Slope by donating grants to the Inupiat studies program."

The grant arrived not a moment too early as far as Brower is concerned. It has helped fund two much-needed positions in the Alaska Native language and culture department that prior to the grant were staffed by one person.

The positions are department program coordinator and department program assistant.

In addition, some money from the grant will be set aside for travel to the villages and program support, according to Brower.

The department did not wait long to fill the position of program assistant and hired Jamie Smith, originally from Point Hope. They plan to hire a coordinator by July 1, Brower said.

"As a tribal college, we have a dual mission to educate and perpetuate cultural studies," Brower said.

"This program is in the forefront for assisting and maintaining the culture."

Fannie Akpik, an Inupiaq studies instructor at the college. has been requesting support staff since 2003.

"It has been hard to find adjunct instructors in our villages," Akpik said.

"With this funding we will be able to travel to the villages to hold village meetings to identify our village adjunct instructors in Inupiat studies and classes such as sewing, carving, song, dance and baleen basket weaving," Akpik said.

Brower and Akpik are excited about another college program in the works. The Inupiaq studies faculty plans to offer an Inupiaq language symposium, taught by Edna McClain, former president of Ilisagvik College. The symposium will bring in fluent Inupiaq speakers and train them on how to teach the language to others.

Brower said the training will not target teachers alone but is meant for those interested in teaching their children and grandchildren, as well.

The program is being planned now and possibly implemented in the next school year.

With the grant in hand, the Inupiat Studies program ended the year on a good note with a celebration and exhibit of students’ work and art through the year. The celebration took place on Saturday, April 19.

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.

Public comment requested on Northwest Land use, management

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

The state Department of Natural Resources is seeking comment on a draft for a Northwest Area Plan.

The draft plans use and directs management of 19 million acres of land from Point Lay to St. Michael in Northwest Alaska.

The public review draft of the NWAP is out for review and public comment until June 9.

The original Northwest Area Plan was adopted in 1989. Since then the state has selected and topfiled about five million acres of land.

These additional lands are scattered throughout the Lisburne and Seward peninsulas, and some of the larger blocks are in the Baird Mountains between the Noatak and Kobuk drainages, in the Selawik Hills east of Buckland, in the Darby Mountains east of Council, and in the Kigluaik Mountains north of Nome.

Following a series of public scoping meetings held from May through January, DNR has revised the plan, designating land use on these additional lands but carrying forward most of the designations made in the original plan.

This plan revision gives both general management guidelines describing how state land may be used as well as management intent for each specific parcel of state land.

In addition to the online version, copies of the plan will be available at local libraries and city offices; borough offices in Kotzebue and Barrow; the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Nome; DNR’s Public Information Centers in Fairbanks and Anchorage, or by request using the information listed below.

To receive full consideration, comments must be received by DNR before 5 p.m. on June 9, at:

DNR, Division of Mining, Land and Water

Attn: Ray Burger, 550 West Seventh Ave, Suite 1050, Anchorage, AK 99501-3579.

Or by phone, at (907) 269-8534, fax (907) 269-8915 or e-mail at ray.burger@alaska.gov

To learn more about the plan and to make comments, public meetings will be held from 7- 9 p.m. in:

• Kotzebue: Thursday, May 15, at the Borough Assembly Chambers.

• Barrow: Thursday, May 22, at the Borough Assembly Chambers.

• Anchorage: Wednesday, May 7, at the Atwood Building, 550 W. Seventh Ave, Suite 240.

• Fairbanks: Thursday, May 8, at the DNR office at 3700 Airport Way.

• Teller: Tuesday, May 13, at the Community Hall.

• Nome: Wednesday, May 14, at Old Saint Joseph’s Church.

Plan, maps and other information can be found online at www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/planning .

Twenty years of the Alaska Volcano Observatory

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Twenty summers ago, earthquakes rocked the town of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula. Some people were so worried that the nearby volcano, Mount Dutton, was going to erupt that they caught flights out of town. Others called in the cavalry – members of the fledgling Alaska Volcano Observatory.

In 1988, John Power had just finished his master’s degree when he became the observatory’s first full-time employee. He flew out to King Cove with a few colleagues to check on the volcano.

"I remember that the biggest earthquake happened in August, on 8/8/88," said Power, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center who still works for the observatory in Anchorage. "It happened right at the peak of salmon season, so there were a lot of people in town."

After installing a few seismometers on the flanks of 4,800-foot Mount Dutton, eight miles from King Cove, Power and his comrades saw that the character and the size of the earthquakes didn’t suggest that Mount Dutton was going to explosively erupt that August.

"We told people, ‘We’ll watch it, but evacuation doesn’t make sense right now,’" Power said.

While spending a few weeks in King Cove and bunking at the Peter Pan cannery, Power noticed the earthquake activity waning, showing that the volcanologists had made the right call. The new Alaska Volcano Observatory was one for one in advising people what to do, or, in the case of Mount Dutton, what not to do.

Since that first response in 1988, the Alaska Volcano Observatory has grown from a good idea lobbied for by scientists – including John Davies, Syun-Ichi Akasofu, John Filson and Tom Miller – into a team of people in Anchorage and Fairbanks who have their fingers on the pulse of more than 30 volcanoes in Alaska.

The observatory is a cooperative program of the Geophysical Institute, the USGS and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The job of the experts there is to monitor volcanoes and give Alaska residents information when they need it most.

"Alaska has more explosive eruptions than any other state," said Jon Dehn, an associate research professor at the Geophysical Institute.

"It’s AVO’s responsibility to be prepared so the average person doesn’t have to worry about it."

Like other AVO scientists tuned into Alaska’s volcanoes, Dehn is never far from his cell phone, which rings with Jimmy Buffett’s "Volcano" when an Alaska volcano shows signs of unrest. He and other observatory scientists now monitor an impressive data stream, which was just a trickle in 1988.

The last two decades have seen the development of satellite sensors that allow people to check for volcano hotspots several times a day, precise GPS receivers that enable scientists to watch volcanoes inflate and deflate, infrasound sensors that record sudden changes in air pressure during explosive eruptions and the advent of a helpful tool called the Internet.

"When AVO was founded, there was no e-mail," Power said.

"We were really kind of winging it in 1988," Dehn said. "But in ’08, our game is pretty tight."

Nowhere was that more evident than during the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, across Cook Inlet from Homer. The observatory not only predicted the eruption but also forecast the migration of ash clouds, which can shut down aircraft engines.

"We ended up with the best dataset we’ve had so far," said Steve McNutt, coordinating scientist at AVO and a research professor at UAF’s Geophysical Institute.

Other improvements to the volcano observatory include the late 1990s instrumentation of volcanoes in the Aleutians. Right now, scientists are monitoring most of the potentially dangerous volcanoes that make up the remote islands, which about 80,000 large jets fly over each year.

That wasn’t the case when McNutt joined AVO in the early ’90s, when a volcano named Westdahl was spewing ash into the sky.

"The first report was from a pilot who said Shishaldin (a nearby volcano) was erupting," McNutt said. "That’s what happened 16 or 17 years ago. Nowadays, we catch it first. We’re the ones telling airline pilots, not the other way around."

Ned Rozell is a science writer at the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Alaska Army National Guard returns from Iraq

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

Families welcomed home soldiers of the 297th Support Battalion at the Alaska National Guard Armory on Fort Richardson upon their return from Iraq on April 24.

Nearly 180 soldiers with the Alaska Army National Guard returned home after a successful six-month deployment to Iraq.

The returning Guard members are from Bravo Company, 297th Support Battalion and hail primarily from Southcentral Alaska, although most regions of the state are represented by unit members. The soldiers have been serving as security forces based out of Camp Anaconda, Iraq, since October 2007.

"We are excited to welcome home another successful Alaska Army National Guard unit," said Maj. Gen. Craig E. Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard. "These soldiers had the difficult and dangerous mission of providing convoy and route security, in addition to their other security forces duties; we are proud that they are returning home safe and victorious."

The soldiers of the 297th Support Battalion were mobilized for active duty at the end of August 2007. They spent two months training at Fort Richardson in preparation for the deployment to Iraq.

"We executed our security mission effectively and efficiently while we were deployed to Iraq despite attempts by the enemy to counter our productiveness," said Capt. Joshua Shrader, commander of Bravo Company, 297th Support Battalion. "We encountered numerous IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and enemy fire while on missions, but our training, skill level and the caliber of our soldiers were no match for the enemy. We are returning to Alaska with success and the knowledge that we helped keep U.S. and Coalition Forces safe while were there."

The unit was recognized for exceptional service while deployed. So far, unit members have received four Bronze Stars for Valor, 21 Bronze Stars for Service, two Army Commendation Medals for Valor, 62 Army Commendation Medals for Service, six Purple Hearts, 79 Army Achievement Medals for Service, 31 Combat Action Badges and four Combat Infantry Badges.

Tribal health issues find champion with Gilbert

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Alisa Gilbert is committed to bringing quality health care to Alaska Natives

The director of the Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation said she draws on her own life experiences, her indigenous heritage and family support as she builds toward the goal.

Also, Gilbert is quick to attribute her accomplishments to teamwork and the many mentors she has had throughout her career.

A cancer survivor, Gilbert has been instrumental in getting the foundation off the ground. Part of that launch effort was a recent inaugural Raven’s Ball fundraiser in Anchorage that brought the black-tie-only set out for a Saturday evening that included an Alaska Native art auction that reportedly hit the $300,000 mark.

The foundation, part of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, is focusing on five basic initiatives: cancer care improvement, wellness and prevention, healthy village environments, scholarship funds and elder care support, according to Gilbert, former director of the Alaska Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

She said that the consortium, which is less than 10 years old, already has made significant contributions for the birth of the foundation.

"The one thing they didn’t have was the fundraising stream," she said, noting that that’s why she came on board a year ago this month.

"Our vision is that the Alaskan Native people (can be) the healthiest in the world, but right alongside that vision, we have a huge challenge of not having enough funding to provide support to many of our programs," Gilbert said.

"So how are we going to figure that out?" she said. "A lot of that has to do with building signature events, fundraising, building community to support what we’re doing, and those are the things that I happen to be pretty good at."

Gilbert, who sees the Raven’s Ball as the foundation’s annual signature fundraising event, said the financial goal is likely to be at $500,000 next year.

"I believe in what I’m doing, so it makes it easy for me to do this work," said Gilbert, who has been working in the nonprofit world for more than a dozen years, 10 of which have been in Alaska.

She said she was drawn to nonprofit work because of adversity she faced when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Gilbert said had to choose between treating her cancer and getting a job so there would be enough money for food and rent. She said she knew she couldn’t do both.

Bald and struggling through chemotherapy, Gilbert forced herself to ask for help. She said that was humiliating but life changing.

She said afterward she dedicated herself to making sure others would not have to go through the same experience.

"I know there is an easier road," said Gilbert, who worked for many years with the American Cancer Society before becoming its director. "I know we can connect patients with the care they need. I know there are these missing gaps because I faced them myself."

Gilbert, who left that post to join the consortium, also was chosen as an Echoing Green Fellow for her program working with Alaska Native cancer survivorship. Echoing Green provides seed money to organizations.

She said that being chosen as a fellow opened her eyes to the "enormous possibility for change."

Gilbert said she always has been drawn to Native issues because of her American Indian heritage. Her family and that background have been very influential in shaping her altruistic perspective, she said.

Gilbert said her grandmother and mother taught her that the issues close to home should always come first. For that reason, she said she is "extremely community driven" and believes that "we must take care of the people in our own backyard" before addressing the plights of people on other continents.

There is much to do, she said.

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Alaska Natives, and there are 39 villages in Alaska that do not have access to fresh water, she said.

"We can do better," said Gilbert, who along with her husband has two children, two stepchildren and a grandchild.

Gilbert said her husband, a senior director at the consortium, supports her work. She said he even took over all the parenting and housekeeping responsibilities during the intensive periods of planning for the recent Raven’s Ball.

If it weren’t for that support, Gilbert said she thinks it would be impossible to give so much back to the community.

Gilbert said she believes that anyone can make a difference in the nonprofit world if they believe in what they are championing.

She confesses to being "up at night" thinking about what to do next.

"All of these problems have solutions. That’s the great thing," said Gilbert, who considers herself an optimist.

It’s just about getting the right people involved, she said.

U.S. lawmakers take aim at uninspected seafood from foreign farms

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

The 2008 Alaska legislative session might be a near wrap, but several new "fish laws" are still moving at a good clip through Congress.

One is aimed at improving the safety of seafood surging into the United States from foreign countries.

"This bill will deal with about 80 percent of the seafood consumed by Americans, because it is imported seafood," said Sen. Ted Stevens, a co-sponsor of the bipartisan bill. "We’ve had enormous increases in imports, but strangely enough, we only inspect about 1.6 percent of that seafood."

Seafoods from foreign aquaculture operations – mostly farmed shrimp, salmon and tilapia – often are not held to the same health and environmental standards as U.S. producers.

"Some of this is full of all kinds of crap. It is not fit for consumption," Stevens said in a phone conversation from Washington, D.C.

The seafood safety bill would expand the authority of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Food and Drug Administration agents to test and track imported seafood as it is distributed throughout the United States.

FDA agents also will have authority to inspect foreign seafood operations and facilities.'a0Funding for the seafood safety program has been authorized at $15 million through 2013.

Agents already are in Chile inspecting its farmed salmon industry, according to the Pew Environmental Group. The FDA will gather data on chemical use in five fish farms and assess'a0Chile’s overall operations, a press release said.

"In contrast with Norway and Scotland, Chile has not been forthcoming with adequate data on the amount of antibiotics, anti-foulants and other chemicals used in its operations. The public needs to know," said Andrea Kavanagh, an aquaculture specialist and Pew spokesperson.

Last year Chile sent more than 250 million pounds of farmed salmon to U.S. markets, and only 40 samples were tested by the FDA, a Pew report said.

Stop fish pirates

Another new law aims to stop illegal fishing on the high seas, a piracy valued at $9 billion annually. The International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act of 2008, introduced last week by Sens. Stevens and Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, would tighten U.S. laws and ban products from illegal, underreported and unregulated fisheries from entering this country.

"These huge vessels the size of battleships fish on the high seas, then dump it in various places. They know what they are doing is illegal, and they try to convince the world they have the right to fish outside the 200-mile limit using any method they choose," Stevens said. "We want to send a strong message to the world that these vessels and fish products are not welcome in U.S. ports and we hope other nations will follow suit."

Stevens said he is working with the United Nations and hopes to get global support to stop IUU fishing this fall.

"The world did not take any action against high seas driftnets until we did it. Same for the 200-mile limit. We went to the U.N. and asked them to follow us and they did. Now we’re going to do the same thing with IUU fisheries."

Stevens said curtailing IUU fishing is especially important to protect waters of the Arctic Ocean, which are expanding from global warming and can be entered from many regions.

Stevens said he is optimistic that IUU, seafood safety and other "fish laws" will be passed by Congress.

"Most of these will not have to be debated. They will be worked out on a consent agreement, and I think these bills should go very quickly," Stevens said. "Also, we have built strong bipartisan support. That has made things work out much more easily."

Farmers of the sea

It appears the keepers of the U.S. Farm Bill have finally opened the door a crack to America’s fishermen. U.S. fish farmers have long been eligible for subsidies and other federal programs and benefits.

"The House indicates it is going along with my amendment that allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make loans to small commercial fishermen, the same way they make loans to small farmers," Stevens said.

"This will help the next generation of fishermen be able to get long-term, low-interest loans to help with purchases of vessels and permits and operating expenses," said Mark Vinsel, director of United Fishermen of Alaska.

"The fleet is graying – and to continue sustainable fisheries, the first thing we need to sustain is the occupation."

Also tagged onto the Farm Bill is a measure by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that will help reduce the tax burden to Exxon award recipients.

Another bill coming before lawmakers this week is the Commercial Fishing Industry Health Care Coverage Act. It would provide $50 million in'a0matching grants to states or organizations to jump-start health-care programs for fishing industry families.

"Alaska’s delegation can’t go it alone. Any coastal senators should be hearing from their fishermen in support of fishermen’s health care," UFA’s Vinsel said.

"If they are not hearing from us, then we can’t expect anything from them. But we need them to help support our industry."

Tattletale trash

To provide a "global snapshot of the trash problem out on the water," the environmental group Ocean Conservancy organized an International Coastal Cleanup day last September.

Nearly 400,000 volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline in 76 countries and in 45 U.S. states. In all, they picked up 6 million pounds of trash in one day from world beaches.

The volume of the trash tells only part of the story. To learn how people were behaving around or on the water, the conservancy cataloged the collected trash into more than 7 million items.

In all, 57 percent of the trash came from two million food wrappings, containers, cups, plates and plastic eating utensils and 1.2 million bottles and beverage cans.

One-third of the ocean trash came from smokers. Beachcombers and divers collected 2.3 million cigarette butts, filters and cigar tips.

It reveals a "general carelessness" about what’s being tossed into the water, the conservancy stated in a report released on Earth Day. Find it at

The Fish Factor column appears weekly in 20 newspapers and Websites. Laine Welch’s daily "Fish Radio" programs air on nearly 30 stations across Alaska.

Energy authority to host local town hall meetings

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

The Alaska Energy Authority has begun a sequence of meetings it will present in 25 communities around the state with the goals of hearing what Alaskans know about local energy resources and asking how they think those resources can be developed to lower energy costs.

AEA’s Energy Plan Town Hall meetings, to be held throughout Alaska, started April 28 in Palmer and will conclude June 4 in Anchorage.

"Our goal is simple: We must reduce the cost of energy in Alaska by using locally available energy resources," said AEA executive director and energy coordinator Steve Haagenson.

"To reach that goal we are engaging Alaskans in the process of creating and deploying solutions that will not only provide stable-cost energy now but will help ensure affordable, reliable energy for our children and grandchildren as well."

Teams comprised of representatives from AEA, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development and the Denali Commission will be traveling throughout Alaska to meet with the public, business, community and regional leaders and utility managers.

"We are holding these Town Hall meetings to gain answers for two fundamental questions," Haagenson said. "First, we want to ask Alaskans what they know about local energy resources and which resources they think could possibly be developed to help lower costs. Second, we want to ask residents which resources they prefer not to develop, and why."

Alaskans are invited and encouraged to participate in this process by attending a Town Hall meeting or by e-mailing comments to energycoordinator@aidea.org . Comments may also be sent to Alaska Energy Authority, Attn: Steven Haagenson, 813 West Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99503.

Energy Plan Town Hall meeting schedule:

Meetings were held last week in Palmer, Soldotna and Fairbanks.

Upcoming meetings are as follows:

Galena May 1, 5-9 p.m., High School

Fort Yukon May 1, 4-8 p.m., Council Elders Hall

Tok May 1, 4-8 p.m., Tok Visitors Center

Bethel May 6, 4-8 p.m., Cultural Center

Aniak May 7, 4-8 p.m., Community Hall

Nome May 8, 4-8 p.m., Mini-Convention Center

Kotzebue May 8, 4-8 p.m., Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly Chambers

Valdez May 12, 4-8 p.m., Valdez Convention and Civic Center

Naknek May 14 *

McGrath May 14, 4-8 p.m., Captain Snow Building, Assembly Room

Dillingham May 15 *

Unalaska May 20, 4-8 p.m., The Grand Aleutian Hotel, Makushin Room

Sand Point May 20 *

Kodiak May 22, 4-8 p.m., Kodiak College

Juneau May 27, 5-9 p.m., Centennial Hall Ballroom 1

Ketchikan May 28 *

Wrangell May 28, 4-8 p.m., City Hall, Council Chambers

Craig May 29 *

Kake May 29, 4-8 p.m., Community Hall Gym

Barrow June 2 *

Glennallen June 3 *

Anchorage June 4 *

* Time and location to be announced.

More information on the Alaska Energy Plan and updates to the Town Hall meeting schedule are available at www.akenergyauthority.org

Kotzebue High Spanish Club Travels to Spain

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:21:54 -0800

For The Arctic Sounder

On April 4 the Kotzebue High School Spanish Club left for a 10-day trip to Spain. I led the group of four high school students: Melissa Williams, Ariel Harris, Jacqui Lambert, and Emma Melton.

These four sold lollipops and Kotzebue community birthday calendars to raise funds for the trip.

The group spent 10 days going on tours in various cities around Spain.

First, we traveled to Madrid, where we visited the Prado Museum to look at original paintings by Greco, Goya and Valezquez.

We also took a sightseeing tour of the city and visited the Royal Palace, which has 2,800 rooms before continuing on to Toledo where they spent half the day visiting cathedrals and mosques.

The tour guide told us that Toledo has 85 churches and mosques; that’s why it is called "Holy Toledo."

Later on that day, we visited a shop that specializes in inlaying weapons and jewelry with golden thread to make beautiful decorations.

We spent the night in Granada, where we watched a gypsy flamenco show.

The third day was spent on a tour of the Alhambra, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, which contains elements of both Christian and Moorish architecture.

We toured around most of the building, but when we reached the giant gardens they discovered that it does rain in Spain.

In Malaga, we stayed in a hotel next to the Mediterranean Sea and took off early in the morning to visit Morocco.

We rode camels, walked through an open-air market in a walled city and tasted Moroccan foods such as couscous and mint tea.

After spending the day in Africa, we went to Sevilla and the site of the 1929 World’s Fair. Also in Sevilla, the girls went to a theatre and saw another form of flamenco dancing.

The next morning, we took a short bus ride to the Cathedral in C uc0u243 rdoba, where they were let loose for a few hours to explore the cathedral on their own.

In the cathedral, there were huge red and white arches that were not painted but were made of an alternation of white stone and bricks.

I explained that it wasn’t just a cathedral but also a mosque and a synagogue all tied together.

Long ago, the three religions lived together in harmony.

From C uc0u243 rdoba we took the world’s fastest train, El Ave, which travels at a speed of 200 mph, to Madrid.

On the last two days, we watched a bull fight, went to a giant flea market and visited the enormous Retiro Park.

The trip was not all tourism and traveling tough. Students were given free time to go shopping and explore the cities on foot as well.

They had a chance to practice the Spanish they had learned during the past few years in the KHS Spanish program.

The students’ first-hand experience of the Spanish language and culture is immeasurable. The girls admitted that they had gained a better understanding of Spain from their hands-on experience than they had in the years they spent reading about it in books.

The Spanish Club would like to thank all those who supported it. Donations for the trip came from the Maniilaq Association, Northwest Arctic Borough and NANA as well as Frontier Aviation, which has provided the Spanish club with round-trip airline tickets to Fairbanks for the past two years.

Melissa Hemry is the Spanish language teacher in the Kotzebue High School.

Kotzebue band receives superior rating

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:21:54 -0800

For The Arctic Sounder

Kotzebue High School played host to more than 100 musicians from April 10-12, when students from Bethel, Dillingham, Nome, Togiak and Unalakleet came to town for the 2008 Region One Music Festival.

The festival, which is hosted on a yearly rotation between Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel and Dillingham, offered local music fans a rare opportunity to see the region’s finest perform.

Kotzebue music teacher Darlene Conright coordinated the event and received high praise from the visiting directors.

"It was an outstanding festival," said Dale Tumey, the director of the honor band.

"It was obvious that a lot of planning had gone into it and everything ran very smoothly."

"The kids really enjoyed themselves," said Mim McKay, the adjudicator for the choir and solo and ensemble and former teacher at Kotzebue Middle High School.

"I couldn’t believe all the hugs and thank yous I received from the students."

Roger Schmidt was the third director and worked with the mass band.

John Kagerer from the Horn Doctor in Anchorage assisted, and the Alaska Brass, an Air Force band based out of Elmendorf performed, worked with students and held an assembly for June Nelson Elementary on Friday.

The festival kicked off Thursday with the adjudication of the solo and ensemble. A concert was held Thursday evening, in which individual school performed, capped off by a rousing performance by the Alaska Brass.

On Friday and Saturday, the schools combined for mass group rehearsals and then performed together Saturday night.

The Alaska Brass closed out the event with an original rap song and finally the theme song from "Hawaii Five-0."

While schools did not compete against each other, the Kotzebue hand bells were among those to receive a superior rating.

Next year’s festival is scheduled for Bethel.

Jake Stoops is the activities director for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District.