The Final Chapter in the Alaska Saga....

Well... I figured that I ought to have a little closure with our Alaska Experience before we start writing about the rest of our lives. I think I was kind of avoiding it for many reasons, one of them being that so much happened in the last week and a half before I left. I thought it would take too much time to write about it all... so I postponed doing it until now. I know that I won't due this whole experience justice with this entry but I thought I ought try and do something.

Some of the major events that took place from when I dropped Debbie off to when I FINALLY got home were quite difficult for me. In that time there were three deaths. In fact, the day I flew back from Utah, I had 3 hours in Galena before I flew out to Nulato where someone had killed themselves that morning with an extension cord. Myself and another counselor went out there and did some counseling with the individuals that who saw the body and help take it down. We had a community meeting with the village that evening which had a turnout of about 60 people. This community has lost 3 people in the last 3 weeks. It was heartbreaking to see this emotionally exhausted group dealing with so much loss of life of family and friends.
While I was in Nulato, Jessica ran our men's substance abuse group and they decided to take me out hunting for moose as a sobriety activity. When I heard about this, I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea for me to be alone with individual that I mandated should attend group therapy or go to jail.... and give them all guns. BUT, I accepted their offer and went out for an adventure that I will never forget!!! The hunting that we were going to be doing was from a boat up and down the Yukon river. Our plan was to visit offshoots of the river, which are called sloughs, and look for foraging bulls to hunt. Well, we got to banana slough, saw no moose but decided to stop and fish. After a brief fishing break, we decided to check out another area.... but the engine wouldn't start... the battery was dead. So, the individual jimmy-rigged the engine so that he could start it by hand and it worked.... for about twenty minutes... right about the time we are in the middle of the Yukon and we begin floating downstream. He gives me a paddle and says to start rowing for shore! Well as we (I) am rowing, we see a fishcamp down about two miles in a slough and paddle slowly to it. A fishcammp like a cabin where one goes to in the summer to clean, cut, and dry fish for the year. Here's a picture of Barney's fishcamp and his huge smokehouse filled with 200 drying Silver Salmon!

Well Barney wasn't there but his generator was running so we thought he would be back soon. So I made a fire and we ate hotdogs, waiting for help. Welllwe waited 8 hours back in forgotten slough until Barney arrived with his son. He told us that his generator can run for 5 days and that he just happened to come back for the night on a whim (though I'd say an angel shoved him along!) He charged our battery and we made our way slowly back home. This is now my new Alaska survival story!!!

I decided to go say goodbye to the bears at the dump before I go, hoping to see the grizzly bear that was witnessed a couple days earlier chasing out the black bears. Well no grizzly showed up but did get to say goodbye to the trio of black bears that seem to be feasting nightly at the yummy dump!

Then there was another death in Violet's village, so I was asked to go out there and support Violet in this ordeal, mostly due to the deceased being a family member. When I arrived, the body of William Solomon Jr. was lain in the community hall with icepacks around his torso and his head with fans blowing on him. This was to try to hold back decomposition until family could fly in from the lower 48 and see him before his funeral. I sat next to him, my eyes playing tricks on me as I looked at his chest... it almost seemed to be raising, as if William was just sleeping. Perhaps I was just hoping he would just wake up, yet knowing full well that he wasn't voluntarily gripping his rosary with religious conviction, but rigomortis was now setting in. Some individuals were gathering around the body and shaking him, yelling for him to wake up, and then having other community members drag them outside. I decided to see if I could talk to them or see if they wanted to talk about how they were doing. The angerly declined and as I entered the community hall once again, I was accosted by two elderly gentlemen who stated that I should sit down and not intervene unless I was told to. The other individual added that there was chief that stated that they should kill all white people. While he had a smile on his face while he said it, I could tell that at this moment, it would be best not to argue. The other individual stated that they don't need "outside" help and that they have always dealt with death, and it makes people dependent on others if they have a problem and go to a counselor for help. Once again, due to the intense context of the conversation, I merely listened and appreciated his candor. Needless to say, I decided to not directly intervene in the future, but show support and willingness to talk to anyone who wanted. What a unique multicultural experience. There was so much I learned from my brief visit with William and the community of Kaltag.

When I came back, there were posters being made up to be put all over town, inviting everyone to a lunch-in at the clinic on the day before I am leaving as I way to say goodbye (for me and them.) There was a great turnout and lots of yummy food. I was honestly surprised as to how many people came. People made speeches, told funny stories about me (mostly about how young I looked!), and they presented me with a homemade beaded dreamcatcher. Jen, the secretary also compiled a scrapbook for me of pictures around Galena, as well as the people in it! I will cherish these two items for as long as I live!

It may be surprising to some, but in the end, it was (and is) really hard to say goodbye to Galena, AK and the people. I had made some friends and memories from a brief four month stay in a tiny corner of the earth that I will always treasure. Before April 2007, I didn't know that Galena existed. Now, as I sit in my house, with a computer, with paved roads outside, with food costs at a four month low, with tons of distractions, I know that Galena still exists, and is still the same. It will likely be the same after 20 years, and I think that is one of it's most endearing qualities. I will never forget those people, especially those that chose to open their hearts and souls to be as a counselor and as a friend. I promised them that I would never forget their village and I would bust every stereotype I could that many individuals hold for Alaska and its people. They deserve much more than to be assumed that they all live in igloos and that they all drink. They are a wonderul people with wonderful lives. I envy many aspects of their views on life and how they live it. They have also taught me to not take for granted the blessings that I have living down here in the lower 48. I'll miss you Galena, and I hope you know that you'll always be a part of me, and that I will think you of often with the most fondest of memories!

May God bless you all!