Here I am back at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks... It seems like quite a culture shock - all these white kids sitting in the classroom... kind of scary... :)
Looking back at Buckland, I find the clear division between white/Caucasian and native very saddening. It seems like the white population in Buckland (teachers...) plays such an elitist role. Teachers are the only ones that have running water and a sewage system in teacher housing and the school. The huge, modern, white school is so much newer than all the other buildings in the town. Other than the principal and two native elementary teachers, all the well-payed positions at the school seem to be in the hands of white people. Teacher aids, cooks, custodians are all native Bucklanders. I guess that wouldn't be all too bad in itself, but there sometime almost seemed to be resentment towards the native lifestyle and community... ("Eskimos don't get cold...") I guess the high teacher turn-over rate does not help to improve the situation - particularly towards the end of the school year. Actually just about all the high school teachers are not planning on staying for the next school year. This feeling of moving on and therefore not necessarily caring as much didn't seem nearly as pronounced among the elementary teachers. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the "white education" does not seem detached in the elementary classrooms either...
One of my last days in Buckland, I visited the preschool class! The kids were adorable, they were just working on learning their alphabet. The teacher asked me whether I would like to read a "ABC on the farm" book to them. I was more than happy to do so, of course. Very soon, I realized that my task was much harder than it seemed at first. "F stands for farm" - there are no farms anywhere close to Buckland's vicinity... But the word "farm" still seems somewhat relevant... Not so much the case anymore for some of the other examples... "C stands for corn"... My favorite one: "S stands for silo" !!! How do I explain to a native Buckland student what a silo is and what it's used for?!? After my explanation, I actually found out that not even the teacher knew what a silo was used for and had successfully lived in Buckland for decades! Talk about making the education relevant for the students!!! I would have loved to make an alphabet book for the region: "C stands for Caribou" and "S stands for seal"!!
I really enjoyed this practicum and learned a lot. Nevertheless, more questions than answers remain... Is there any point in teaching these kids the education that white people happen to deem as relevant and important? How about their native ways of knowing and teaching? How about their native language, Iñupiaq, that is getting ready to disappear from the street into dry and dusty anthropology textbooks?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Going back home...
So, now I'm sitting in the Bering Air terminal in Kotzebue, getting ready to get back to my "urban" life in Fairbanks. Our flight from Buckland to Kotzebue was in a much bigger plane - there was room for almost 10 passengers! Funny enough, there was even an automated security announcement, much like the ones in big planes "Please make sure your seat is securely fastened and your seat is in the upright position." Needless to say, it seemed entirely out of place and the plane actually took off before it was over...
Ali-K with the kids that were seeing us off...
Ali-K with the kids that were seeing us off...
Friday night: Teachers' extra duties/activities
On Friday night, the teachers put together a "lock-in" for the kids between the ages of 7 and 14. It was a fund raiser to help one of the juniors go to Australia in the summer for a cross-country thing. The kids all paid $10 to get in the door, which included a pop and a bag of popcorn. There were then several activities that were offered. The evening started out with a movie (at about 8.30), there were board games in the library and computer games in the computer room. After the movie there were carnival kind of games where the kids won all kinds of prizes. To round the night off, there was a limbo competition. At 10.30, all the kids went back to the library, to put their coats, boots and gloves back on and only cleanup remained behind...
History and English teacher making popcorn
High and middle school teachers manning the concession stand
It was an interesting example of what duties rural teachers do after normal school hours. Popcorn had to be made, the concession stand and the carnival games had to be manned, the floors vacuumed after the happening etc. I enjoyed helping out and seeing how much the kids enjoyed these fairly simple pleasures and just had a blast. It was like a great party!
Shedding layers in the library... Only one sweater and two pairs of gloves remained behind.
History and English teacher making popcorn
High and middle school teachers manning the concession standIt was an interesting example of what duties rural teachers do after normal school hours. Popcorn had to be made, the concession stand and the carnival games had to be manned, the floors vacuumed after the happening etc. I enjoyed helping out and seeing how much the kids enjoyed these fairly simple pleasures and just had a blast. It was like a great party!
Shedding layers in the library... Only one sweater and two pairs of gloves remained behind.
Iñupiaq drumming and dancing
On Thursday afternoon, Ali-K and I went to the Iñupiaq dancing and drumming. We watched some songs and then joined in, either trying to dance the songs or drumming along. It was very fun. It was very interesting to see the mix of traditional songs and dances and modern songs. A song was called "cowboy" and we even sang and danced an Iñupiaq version of the well-known "Macarena"... :)
The 2nd grade teacher that leads the group is originally from Bethel and reintroduced dancing and drumming in Buckland. Together with the kids, he put the drums together and has been practicing since. They are actually going to have a performance in mid-April - I wish I could go see it! :) The kids (mostly elementary age) really have fun with the dancing and drumming and are very concentrated!
The 2nd grade teacher that leads the group is originally from Bethel and reintroduced dancing and drumming in Buckland. Together with the kids, he put the drums together and has been practicing since. They are actually going to have a performance in mid-April - I wish I could go see it! :) The kids (mostly elementary age) really have fun with the dancing and drumming and are very concentrated!
Last few days
Wow, I've been busy here in Buckland. I watched some of the elementary and even an early childhood class. The kids are sooo cute! I can't wait to have my own...
I also went and visited some Iñupiaq classes. I learned that good day is "uvlalautaq", the last q being one of those sounds produced low down in the throat - needless to say I can't pronounce it correctly! Iñupiaq also has a variety of dialects. Rosie, the Iñupiaq teacher in Buckland, actually said that she took university classes to learn the region's dialect. Sadly, like most native languages, Iñupiaq is dying out. There are only few people left that speak the language fluently and most of them are of a proud age. I met some people that said they still speak Iñupiaq to their children, but the number of fluent speakers is dwindling...
In return to learning some Iñupiaq, I taught a Spanish lesson to one of the high school classes. They learned how to introduced themselves in Spanish and 11 colors. It was great! It was very interesting to see how the students dealt with my teaching style. I made them get up, move around the classroom, hold up color cards and so on... (Long live Keagan!:) After a little bit of initial frustration "I don't even understand what you're saying!", the kids went with it and had fun. To round off the lesson, I actually tried out Larry Meath's gambling game - a review game that is played in groups and includes gambling with the group's points. The students had so much fun (even though some had troubles calculating their bets) that they tried to get students to hurry up towards the end of the lesson so we could play one more round. It was awesome - great student involvement especially considering it was the last period on Friday afternoon.
So, after teaching high schoolers and some younger kids, I am now sometimes greeted by Spanish, German or French phrases around town! :)
Looked like the students had fun!
I also went and visited some Iñupiaq classes. I learned that good day is "uvlalautaq", the last q being one of those sounds produced low down in the throat - needless to say I can't pronounce it correctly! Iñupiaq also has a variety of dialects. Rosie, the Iñupiaq teacher in Buckland, actually said that she took university classes to learn the region's dialect. Sadly, like most native languages, Iñupiaq is dying out. There are only few people left that speak the language fluently and most of them are of a proud age. I met some people that said they still speak Iñupiaq to their children, but the number of fluent speakers is dwindling...
In return to learning some Iñupiaq, I taught a Spanish lesson to one of the high school classes. They learned how to introduced themselves in Spanish and 11 colors. It was great! It was very interesting to see how the students dealt with my teaching style. I made them get up, move around the classroom, hold up color cards and so on... (Long live Keagan!:) After a little bit of initial frustration "I don't even understand what you're saying!", the kids went with it and had fun. To round off the lesson, I actually tried out Larry Meath's gambling game - a review game that is played in groups and includes gambling with the group's points. The students had so much fun (even though some had troubles calculating their bets) that they tried to get students to hurry up towards the end of the lesson so we could play one more round. It was awesome - great student involvement especially considering it was the last period on Friday afternoon.
So, after teaching high schoolers and some younger kids, I am now sometimes greeted by Spanish, German or French phrases around town! :)
Looked like the students had fun!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Delicious local foods
Tonight we were invited to Terri Walker's (the principal) house for muskox and moose. It was delicious. Both meats are very dark and seemed very lean. It was a real treat and I was actually amazed by the great salad that we all made together (maybe fresh produce is not as scarce as I thought... - or we just got treated as luxury guests!). Thanks to Terri and her husband Oscar for the delicious dinner!
In general, Bucklanders are a very happy and welcoming people. We actually had a very interesting conversation with someone that is currently here from the school district. He said that Buckland was actually an exceptionally merry community. This apparently comes from the low availability of alcohol and the fair number of jobs in respect to the size of the community. It sounded like other communities were not as lucky!
Speaking of welcoming folks, Ali-K and I were invited by Gary Hagley, a long-time Buckland resident, to try some beluga. Even though our stomachs were nicely full with delicious moose and muskox, we stopped by at his place - just around the corner from the school - and tasted some beluga. We had little pieces of the skin and the blubber and were actually amazed by the mild taste. The fishy smell on my fingers certainly wasn't part of the taste (even though it has been frozen for two years)...:) Belugas used to be really abundant at the mouth of the Buckland river, where most of the community would gather to hunt beluga in the summertime. It has now apparently been two years since belugas have last been seen near the mouth of the Buckland river...
Here is a picture of the beluga pieces and a bowl full of local berries:
According to Gary, subsistence foods (caribou, muskox, fish, beluga, berries etc.) actually make up about 90 % of his family's diet. It's therefore no surprise to find half a caribou and most of a spotted seal lying in their "freezer" or known in other places as the front yard... Even their black dog has a piece of seal to chew on!
In general, Bucklanders are a very happy and welcoming people. We actually had a very interesting conversation with someone that is currently here from the school district. He said that Buckland was actually an exceptionally merry community. This apparently comes from the low availability of alcohol and the fair number of jobs in respect to the size of the community. It sounded like other communities were not as lucky!
Speaking of welcoming folks, Ali-K and I were invited by Gary Hagley, a long-time Buckland resident, to try some beluga. Even though our stomachs were nicely full with delicious moose and muskox, we stopped by at his place - just around the corner from the school - and tasted some beluga. We had little pieces of the skin and the blubber and were actually amazed by the mild taste. The fishy smell on my fingers certainly wasn't part of the taste (even though it has been frozen for two years)...:) Belugas used to be really abundant at the mouth of the Buckland river, where most of the community would gather to hunt beluga in the summertime. It has now apparently been two years since belugas have last been seen near the mouth of the Buckland river...
Here is a picture of the beluga pieces and a bowl full of local berries:
According to Gary, subsistence foods (caribou, muskox, fish, beluga, berries etc.) actually make up about 90 % of his family's diet. It's therefore no surprise to find half a caribou and most of a spotted seal lying in their "freezer" or known in other places as the front yard... Even their black dog has a piece of seal to chew on!
I got to teach language
Today was very exciting! I visited the 5th and 6th grade classroom most of the day. It was great! Just after lunch, I even had the opportunity to teach some German, French and Spanish to the kids. They loved it! Especially learning how to say good night in the different languages - because they apparently all wish each other a good night over the radio. They also had a blast learning how their names would be pronounced in the different languages. Seeing the enthusiasm and motivation for foreign languages of these little kids actually really makes me want to teach younger kids than high schoolers. High schoolers can be so hard to move and motivate, while these kids just seemed to soak it right up! I think it really helped that there are very clear classroom rules established and respected, which made it really easy to get the kids focused after some wild pronunciation practice... It was a blast! I loved seeing the kids feverishly copy down the notes from the whiteboard before the teacher was going to erase them!
Impressions from my second and third day at school
Here in Buckland, I discovered many great posters on classroom walls. Here are some from the math/science classroom.
Also this one in front of the 7th/8th grade classroom is promising:
The technology within the school is very much impressive - smartboards in every room, every high schooler has a laptop and so on... That's what leads to a great technology-integrating lesson looking like this:
- what awesome teaching opportunities that offers!
Also this one in front of the 7th/8th grade classroom is promising:
The technology within the school is very much impressive - smartboards in every room, every high schooler has a laptop and so on... That's what leads to a great technology-integrating lesson looking like this:
- what awesome teaching opportunities that offers!
Evening walk around town
Yesterday evening, I decided to go for a walk around town. I started out at about 9 pm, which seems to be one of the most active times for Buckland. Being used to going to bed early in Fairbanks (partly due to the early school start and partly to my love for a good night's rest), this has been quite a difference for me... I just wanted to share some pictures that I took around town. I talked to Gary Hagley who explained to me the use of these little shacks: They are used to dry fish and caribou. That was an eye-opening explanation because I started noticing these shacks all over town. This one is nicely decorated with caribou racks.
This second picture shows a fairly typical backyard: lots of dogs and the remains from the last hunt (caribou hides) hung up for drying.
I also took some pictures of the transportation that the locals use to get around town - it's an interesting mix of old and new technology with the new technology actually often being used to pull the more traditional sled.
This next picture shows the "toy version". Kids ride their snow-go's and pull others along in the plastic sled. This looks quite dangerous, but is actually the kids' favorite winter activity!
This last picture shows where things are happening in town: the gym. Every evening but Sunday and Wednesday, there is open gym with times dedicated for each age group. From 9 'till 11 pm, it's the adults' open gym. There are usually about 20 guys or girls (depending on the night) playing basketball in teams of 5 - it's a blast! I must admit though, unlike Ali-K, I have avoided playing basketball myself. Getting the ball even close to the basket is way too much of a challenge for me... :) So, this picture shows the "parking lot" in front of the school during a women's open gym night.
This second picture shows a fairly typical backyard: lots of dogs and the remains from the last hunt (caribou hides) hung up for drying.
I also took some pictures of the transportation that the locals use to get around town - it's an interesting mix of old and new technology with the new technology actually often being used to pull the more traditional sled.
This next picture shows the "toy version". Kids ride their snow-go's and pull others along in the plastic sled. This looks quite dangerous, but is actually the kids' favorite winter activity!
This last picture shows where things are happening in town: the gym. Every evening but Sunday and Wednesday, there is open gym with times dedicated for each age group. From 9 'till 11 pm, it's the adults' open gym. There are usually about 20 guys or girls (depending on the night) playing basketball in teams of 5 - it's a blast! I must admit though, unlike Ali-K, I have avoided playing basketball myself. Getting the ball even close to the basket is way too much of a challenge for me... :) So, this picture shows the "parking lot" in front of the school during a women's open gym night.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Training for the Native Youth Olympics
After school, I watched some of the kids train for the native youth Olympics that are held at the district level at the beginning of April. There are 10 disciplines in total, including the kneel jump, the seal hop, the Alaskan high kick and the wrist carry (for more information see this link). The coach explained to me that all the disciplines teach one of the talents or strengths that the Eskimo need for hunting or survival. These following pictures show Stevie practicing his Alaskan high kick (notice the golf ball he's kicking):
First day at school
I attended a variety of classes at Nunachiam Sissauni, the school here in Buckland, today. It was interesting to see some similarities between Buckland and Lathrop, while other things seemed quite different. The routine of taking attendance on powerschool is identical to the one in Fairbanks: AU (absence unexcused) for students that are not present. Also the classrooms are arranged fairly similar to the ones in Fairbanks - colorful posters line the walls, some of which meant to inspire confidence, others work spirit or timely submission of classwork.
The main difference I noticed, being used to my mentor's classroom in Fairbanks, is the pace of the lessons. The teachers seem to be fairly easy-going and seem to match the lesson pace to the general pace of the town. Why rush?
Another significant difference is the level of technology. Each classroom has a smartboard and each high schooler a mac laptop. Whether the latter is beneficiary or mostly a distraction is yet to be determined... However, Nunachiam Sissauni certainly does not lag behind when it comes to technology!
The main difference I noticed, being used to my mentor's classroom in Fairbanks, is the pace of the lessons. The teachers seem to be fairly easy-going and seem to match the lesson pace to the general pace of the town. Why rush?
Another significant difference is the level of technology. Each classroom has a smartboard and each high schooler a mac laptop. Whether the latter is beneficiary or mostly a distraction is yet to be determined... However, Nunachiam Sissauni certainly does not lag behind when it comes to technology!
Confession
I think I just broke blogging rule number one... I went back to an older post and added some pictures. Please forgive my "faux pas" and make the effort to scroll down to discover newly inserted pictures... It hopefully won't happen again! :)
Evening hike
In the evening, Ali-K and I went for a walk. I figured it would be a great idea to walk up the hill behind the airport. I was hoping to get a nice view of the village. Well... let's just say that's not exactly how it worked out. We happened to follow the wrong snow machine tracks and soon decided to abandon them because they turned to the wrong direction. Well... yet another bad idea because traveling across the snow without any kind of skis or snow shoes does not exactly work very well. I discovered at some point though that walking on all fours can be easier at times... so there I was crawling across the snow! :)
Ali-K much more gracious than me! :)In the end, we decided to try to get back on the road because we were starting to feel our muscles and the hill still seemed far away - let alone Buckland on the way home! When we finally came back to the road, the walking was much easier. It still took us over an hour to get back to the village though! We were actually amazed by how far we had gone in the deep snow. It was a great workout and we learned some tricks about walking across the tundra in winter time!
Sunday morning
What a gorgeous day - not a cloud in the sky and a very quiet morning! I went for a peaceful walk around town, across the river to the wooden crosses that we see from the library window.
View of Buckland from the hill across the river.
The air was nice and crisp and hardly any noise was heard on this Sunday morning. When coming back into town, I met Erik, one of the few "newcomers". He is originally from Kansas, met his wife in the military and now "raises kids" in Buckland. Together with his little daughter, he was trying to fly a kite, but there wasn't quite enough wind... I enjoyed talking to him and playing with their two little puppies.
This boat will be ready to go as soon as the ice melts...
View of Buckland from the hill across the river.The air was nice and crisp and hardly any noise was heard on this Sunday morning. When coming back into town, I met Erik, one of the few "newcomers". He is originally from Kansas, met his wife in the military and now "raises kids" in Buckland. Together with his little daughter, he was trying to fly a kite, but there wasn't quite enough wind... I enjoyed talking to him and playing with their two little puppies.
This boat will be ready to go as soon as the ice melts...
Pictures from our trip
Short stop in Nome. Many new passengers - Iditarod spectators - joined our flight. (Rachel, Mirjam, Cat & Ali-K from left to right)
Getting ready to land in Kotzebue: plane shadow on the sea ice.
Picture from my short walk in Kotzebue - technology has certainly reached rural Alaska.
Unloading our plane in Buckland
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Arrival in Buckland!
After a long day of travelling, we (meaning Cat Whitney see her blog, Ali-K Packa see her blog and I) arrived in Buckland AK just before 6 pm. The journey certainly seemed quite long - first from Fairbanks to Anchorage, from there to Kotzebue with a stop in Nome and finally from there to Buckland!
The last flight was the most exciting one - in a three passenger and 1 pilot plane! The pilot even flew an extra circle to allow us a closer look at a few caribou on the white ground below - it was awesome!
In Buckland, Terri Walker, the principal of the school here was waiting for us in her Honda. She gave us a tour of the village, which included a stop at the local store. She showed us our sleeping quarters in the school. Very comfortable and the kitchen is luxury! Together with teacher housing, the school building is the only place in the village that has plumbing - staying here is therefore a priviledge!
Picture of Buckland from the plane (this shows that the picture I have as the header on the blog was taken before the new school was built).
The last flight was the most exciting one - in a three passenger and 1 pilot plane! The pilot even flew an extra circle to allow us a closer look at a few caribou on the white ground below - it was awesome!
In Buckland, Terri Walker, the principal of the school here was waiting for us in her Honda. She gave us a tour of the village, which included a stop at the local store. She showed us our sleeping quarters in the school. Very comfortable and the kitchen is luxury! Together with teacher housing, the school building is the only place in the village that has plumbing - staying here is therefore a priviledge!
Picture of Buckland from the plane (this shows that the picture I have as the header on the blog was taken before the new school was built).
Friday, March 19, 2010
The night before...
These two pictures show the majority of my afternoon:
In the process
Afterwards
Wow, it sure seems like I have enough luggage for 1 week! I guess bringing my bed and part of my food explains that though... I am really looking forward to my flight tomorrow! The weather forecast is really good, which will hopefully make for marvelous flights... Let's see what I could be wishing for... seeing Mt McKinley... seeing caribou herds or at least tracks... beautiful Alaskan mountains... Alaskan tundra... You get the point, how could I not be looking forward to that?!?
I just hope that I packed enough warm clothes because bush plane flights can apparently get quite cool. So, set for tomorrow... "in the air again... I can't wait to be in the air again..."!
In the process
Afterwards
Wow, it sure seems like I have enough luggage for 1 week! I guess bringing my bed and part of my food explains that though... I am really looking forward to my flight tomorrow! The weather forecast is really good, which will hopefully make for marvelous flights... Let's see what I could be wishing for... seeing Mt McKinley... seeing caribou herds or at least tracks... beautiful Alaskan mountains... Alaskan tundra... You get the point, how could I not be looking forward to that?!?
I just hope that I packed enough warm clothes because bush plane flights can apparently get quite cool. So, set for tomorrow... "in the air again... I can't wait to be in the air again..."!
I keep thinking how I really can't imagine what it would be like to grow up in Buckland. Let's try to paint a picture: you're ten years old, you're in 4th grade. There are about 450 people living in your little village and by now you probably know most of them - certainly all the other students that go to the school. Your parents hunt and fish and you've grown up not knowing any other meal plan... So far, so good, right? I mean, caribou and salmon are really tasty, so why would you mind at the age of 10? Let's move 6 years ahead... You are now in 10th grade - well on your way in high school. You're slowly learning about other places, some closer some farther away and you start to wonder what you are going to do when you grow up.
You're certainly going to finish high school even though that is becoming increasingly difficult since summer fish camp and hunting makes you miss parts of the school year. But you're motivated and therefore doing ok. So, what are your plans for after high school? Let's check out what the school district offers. So far the homepage has served you well - you found information about your classes, sport events, grades. Now the time has come to explore the link 'post graduate opportunities'. One mouse click and you discover: "Check back later..." ...
I'm sure this is only due to the change that the homepage is going through at the moment, but it almost appears to be symbolic... There are only 94 employed people living in Buckland, so not too many careers that youth can observe on a daily basis and thus not too much information about future careers... I think it would be tough to grow up in Buckland!
I am sure the school district does a great job preparing high school seniors for the transition out of school and there are certainly also many advantages to this rural lifestyle even if you can't watch a DMV officer fulfill his duty throughout the year. I am sure after next week I will be aware of some of the bright sides of rural Alaska and will have a more rounded picture of the community of Buckland! Buckland - here I come!
You're certainly going to finish high school even though that is becoming increasingly difficult since summer fish camp and hunting makes you miss parts of the school year. But you're motivated and therefore doing ok. So, what are your plans for after high school? Let's check out what the school district offers. So far the homepage has served you well - you found information about your classes, sport events, grades. Now the time has come to explore the link 'post graduate opportunities'. One mouse click and you discover: "Check back later..." ...
I'm sure this is only due to the change that the homepage is going through at the moment, but it almost appears to be symbolic... There are only 94 employed people living in Buckland, so not too many careers that youth can observe on a daily basis and thus not too much information about future careers... I think it would be tough to grow up in Buckland!
I am sure the school district does a great job preparing high school seniors for the transition out of school and there are certainly also many advantages to this rural lifestyle even if you can't watch a DMV officer fulfill his duty throughout the year. I am sure after next week I will be aware of some of the bright sides of rural Alaska and will have a more rounded picture of the community of Buckland! Buckland - here I come!
Some info about Buckland
Buckland (pronounced Buck-lund) is located on the banks of the Buckland River, about 75 miles southeast of Kotzebue and 40 miles South of the Arctic circle. The temperatures in Buckland range between -60 and 85°F (-50 to 29° C). Buckland is a traditional Inupiaq Eskimo village with an estimated population of 460 people. Of Buckland's population, 97 % are Alaska Native or part Native. Most of the population live in part a subsistence lifestyle, eating caribou, fish, whale and berries.
The economy in Buckland is based on subsistence activities. Buckland is a 'dry village', meaning that t The sale and importation of alcohol is banned in the village. Year-round jobs are offered by the school, the city, the health clinic and stores. There is also some mining. The 2000 census showed 94 residents as being employed, an unemployment rate of 33.8 percent (although 57 % of all adults were not in the work force). There is one school in Buckland that offers kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is part of the Northwest Arctic Borough School District.
The main mode of transportation to reach Buckland is by plane. People get around the village and to neighboring villages by four-wheelers, boats and snow machines. In the winter, boat traffic is obviously replace by the snow machines since the river is frozen solid throughout winter. Thre are no roads outside the village, but rather an airstrip that serves scheduled and chartered flights.
The residents have moved their town site at least five times in recent memories. The places are known as Elephant Point, Old Buckland and New Site.
Here are some pictures of Elephant Point in 1938 that I found in the University of Alaska archive.
This last picture shows Thomas Sokweena and Susie Clark at Elephant Point also in 1938.
The economy in Buckland is based on subsistence activities. Buckland is a 'dry village', meaning that t The sale and importation of alcohol is banned in the village. Year-round jobs are offered by the school, the city, the health clinic and stores. There is also some mining. The 2000 census showed 94 residents as being employed, an unemployment rate of 33.8 percent (although 57 % of all adults were not in the work force). There is one school in Buckland that offers kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is part of the Northwest Arctic Borough School District.
The main mode of transportation to reach Buckland is by plane. People get around the village and to neighboring villages by four-wheelers, boats and snow machines. In the winter, boat traffic is obviously replace by the snow machines since the river is frozen solid throughout winter. Thre are no roads outside the village, but rather an airstrip that serves scheduled and chartered flights.
The residents have moved their town site at least five times in recent memories. The places are known as Elephant Point, Old Buckland and New Site.
Here are some pictures of Elephant Point in 1938 that I found in the University of Alaska archive.
This last picture shows Thomas Sokweena and Susie Clark at Elephant Point also in 1938.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Informational PowerPoint for future teachers
When looking at the homepage of the North West Arctic Borough school district, I found a great PowerPoint they put together to inform incoming teachers about life in Buckland. Wow - that sure raises questions - how do you function without a bank? How will your pet do without a vet? See for yourself: Buckland school site (the link is on the right).
I also found the school's mascot: the beluga! So for a week, I will trade in my Lathrop Malamute for a Nunnichiam Sissauni (a Buckland Beluga)! That'll be great!
I also found the school's mascot: the beluga! So for a week, I will trade in my Lathrop Malamute for a Nunnichiam Sissauni (a Buckland Beluga)! That'll be great!
2 more days...
Only 2 more days before I leave for Buckland!
Since last night I actually know for sure that I'll be sleeping at the school. I thus better bring my sleeping bag and maybe my camping mat to make for some restful nights... I also received my flight information: I'm leaving Fairbanks on Saturday at 8:10 am, flying first south to Anchorage, from there to Kotzebue und finally from Kotzebue to Buckland. I should arrive in Buckland around 6pm. Even though the air distance from Fairbanks to Buckland does not seem to be very long, the journey will certainly take us places... (if you're unfamiliar with Alaskan geography, I'm sure google earth can help you out!) I hope that I will get a chance to walk around Kotzebue because it seems that I do not often get a chance to go to rural Alaska. I guess there's a reason for rural Alaska being called rural!:)
Today, I just finished preparing my French classes for next week. Luckily, my mentor teacher will be teaching the class and did therefore not need to write out very detailed instructions... So, now that I took care of my Fairbanks duties, I am ready to really get ready for Buckland. Besides packing, I will do some research about the community. I already found some data from the 2010 census, which I will share with you either this afternoon or tomorrow... I will also post a picture of Buckland, so you can get an idea of what it looks like! So check back for more information about my travel destination!
Since last night I actually know for sure that I'll be sleeping at the school. I thus better bring my sleeping bag and maybe my camping mat to make for some restful nights... I also received my flight information: I'm leaving Fairbanks on Saturday at 8:10 am, flying first south to Anchorage, from there to Kotzebue und finally from Kotzebue to Buckland. I should arrive in Buckland around 6pm. Even though the air distance from Fairbanks to Buckland does not seem to be very long, the journey will certainly take us places... (if you're unfamiliar with Alaskan geography, I'm sure google earth can help you out!) I hope that I will get a chance to walk around Kotzebue because it seems that I do not often get a chance to go to rural Alaska. I guess there's a reason for rural Alaska being called rural!:)
Today, I just finished preparing my French classes for next week. Luckily, my mentor teacher will be teaching the class and did therefore not need to write out very detailed instructions... So, now that I took care of my Fairbanks duties, I am ready to really get ready for Buckland. Besides packing, I will do some research about the community. I already found some data from the 2010 census, which I will share with you either this afternoon or tomorrow... I will also post a picture of Buckland, so you can get an idea of what it looks like! So check back for more information about my travel destination!
Monday, March 15, 2010
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