|
I just discovered this website and was taken back to my days as a college kid working summers at the salmon processing houses of Bethel from 1975 to 1977. I spent three summers working 120 hours a week. I've not served in the military but when describing my experiences in Bethel, U.S. Marines have been impressed compared to their boot camp training. A recent article in the N.Y. Times described the epidemic alcoholism that has decimated the Inuit people of this area. I saw it myself over 30 years ago, and it is sad to see the tragedy continuing. Being a "dry" town has only worsened the problem, because there is so much money to be made in bootlegging. Many of the Inuit people I met and became friends with were able to avoid the dangers of liquor, and I learned a great deal from them about how to raise a family, appreciate the best of life and thrive in what most people would say is an inhospitable environment. I'll never forget my lunch on the river at Isaac's fish camp, munching juicy smoked salmon and watching his kids play on the river bank. A part of me is still in Bethel, where I think I became a man. I thank Bethel and all its residents for the opportunity to know this special region at the top of the world. "Snow is falling winter time, keeps me mighty cold! That's why I keep my gamukluks on, everywhere I go! In my little home town, the land of Eskimo, across from Tikchik Mountains, that place where I was born!"
October 14 2008 - San Diego
|
