Eaten by wolves

Last week a 32 year-old special education teacher from Connecticut was eaten by wolves while out jogging after school. We had her body in our ambulance bay for two days before she left for Anchorage. The effect on me is a total unwillingness to continue my walks along the bay or into the library. So my blogs will be less frequent.

Turns out cultures experience being eaten by wolves in different ways.  The Yupik Indians believe the first people came to southeastern Alaska in a giant clam shell. When the first man arrived "the raven looked at him and said, 'You have no claws, no teeth, no fur. The first frost you will die.' The other animals replied, 'If we give him our fur, our claws, our teeth, he may live.' The raven asked, 'But what will he give you?' to which they said 'He will give us respect.'"

This is how the Yupik people view animals. They feel animals see things, hear things, and know things humans do not. Animals are connected to each other in a way that humans are not. With this belief, the Yupik have a traditional, respectful way to kill and use animals; And they do not see a human eaten by an animal as such a horrific event (I have to admit this is a difficult concept for me.)




I also visited a village ten miles north on a frozen lake with friends. The mountains are extremely pretty.





On another cultural note, my new word for the week is 'yokuk'. Loosely translated, it means 'I go down to the beach and watch the water and the wind and the birds to see how the fishing will be this afternoon'. There is not an equivalent in English. I do, however, see JT and Pete do this and think there should be.


Dog sledding was incredible. A local musher volunteers 45 minute runs and donates the proceeds to a children's charity. He does one a night from his house after work. We left just as the sun was setting. There were virgin white tundra, black forest, mountains, and a bright sunset behind. Snow muffled silence broken only by running dogs and the sled cutting through snow.



Dog sledding was not the only excitement Beaver Roundup had to offer. In addition to the craft fair and parade there was a lecture on goose calling with shotgun shells (shotgun shells provided!). It was given by a Yupik man. He says, "the key is to think, 'I love you! I'm desperate for you!' with each call".

"I love you! I'm desperate for you!"

Love,
Bee