Yeah, you can drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage, and to Valdez, and up the haul road to Prudhoe Bay, and the Alaska Highway through Canada, and to Haines in SE Alaska through Canada. South Central AK–the Anchorage area–has a road network more like what you’d see in the lower 48. Oh, and you can take a train between Fairbanks and Anchorage, through Denali park.
But once you get off the main highways, there are no roads. If your town is not on the highway the only way in is via air or barge. And this includes Juneau, the state capitol.
Some of the “main highways” barely qualify. The road to McCarthy comes to mind, as does the Taylor Highway from Tok to the Canada border at Poker Creek (which has a spur “highway” to the village of Eagle). The old Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell is spectacularly beautiful, but it’s pretty much a 25 mph road. Even the haul road to Prudhoe can be one rough sumbitch. Believe me, I’ve driven them all.
As Alaska was a Russian territory Russian Orthodox was popular. Now it is a homogenized Christian. And it is VERY christian, we love us some God. But it is very non-judgemental church. Or at least it is now. My mother says the church pulled a footloose and banned dancing for a while. It didn’t catch on fully in the region and well within my grandma’s time we were dancing again.
I say we are Christian but there is some lore thrown in, and even an eskimo Jesus figure if you talk to some. It seems to me that our people are pragmatic…if Jesus tells us to be good we will, and if he lets us tell our stories we will.
As most of our heritage was spoken it is slowly being lost or retold in different ways. The few elders that I’ve talked to accepted this but did not like the idea of the stories passing.
Our highways are fucked. They are 2 lane roads that have to be maintained yearly due to frost heaves. If you travel the Alcan highway go from Tok to Fairbanks and down south. Anchorage to to Valdez has improved a lot in recent years but is has been a while since I’ve driven from Anchorage to Fairbanks. However I know without a doubt that Fairbanks to Copper Center and then to Anchorage is rough. Or fun if you like bouncing in the air while going at highway speeds.
If you wink at me I’ll give you all of my oosik
I’ve never had one and don’t want one…cuz tjat’s not my bag baby. If I did get one I’d sell it because I dob’t need to feel worse about me than I already do. :eek:
yay…my first smiley on this forum if it works.
Jesus Christ I swear I’m not as ignorant as I type! I might not be much better but I’m not that bad! Slow net speeds and my tiny phone/fat finger combo is irritating.
Thanks for the link to an oosik. I’ve never heard of them used as a war club…but what better way to humiliate an enemy?
In the next world your ancestors talk of the honorable ways they passed…and then you get to say ‘A walrus penis in my head killed me.’
As pork-barrellish that Don Young is he did a lot of good for the rural people in Alaska and kept getting re-elected for doing this for the state.
One of the complaints of rural people is about high paying industries in Alaska. All the high paying skilled jobs, welding, pipefitting, oilfield work, are almost held exclusively by people from out of State.
If we could keep more money in state pork barrel policies wouldn’t be so popular.
Thanks for bringing that up.
I am not a doctor and have no idea about the medical stuff in the column.
As for myself, I am 5’11", wear size 12 boots, wear size large gloves and I am not considered a giant. There are a lot of people shorter than me but I would guess the average height is well above 5’2" now. I have not noticed a difference in limbs of people in the region versus elsewhere.
Thanks for pointing this out BigT I forgot to answer that. While dating cousins is not a ‘garb the pitchfork’ moment there will be severe frowning and much gossip being said. In such small communities it happens of course, by mistake and knowingly. There has been an influx of new people since I’ve lived there so this isn’t as bad as it used to be.
The only time this pertained to me was during a visit to the region. One of my aunts who helped raise me would take me to see ALL the relatives, and me being me would notice good looking female. When I asked my Aunt answered with a big laugh ’ That’s your cousin!’ and much laughter would follow. Much merriment was had at my expense and I laughed right along with everybody.
I don’t mind it and do find the article interesting. And that is one of the reasons for this; to answer questions. And it’s a little bit cool to be able to tell people I’m a hybrid human!
And a lot of the people in my family are big boned. I am barrel chested, thick necked, knobby knuckled looking person. When I got measured for fire fighting gear I was bigger than weight lifting people who were going for size. Maybe it is due to eskimo DNA or not, I can’t say.
A question that I’m surprised that hasn’t come up is the ‘using my wife as a wife’. People assume this means sex. What it means if a stranger show up in need he will be taken care of; clothes mended, food etc.
Murder was virtually unknown but in most cases it was due to taking advantage of a lady/wife.
