#rubyalaska

Our hosts are an older married couple named Katie and Ivan Kangas. He grew up in Ruby and she is originally from Philly. They have grandkids that are over at the house quite often and participate in Camp Fire programming.  Above you can see Ivan laying out his net after catching some fish that morning.  Katie is testing the fish as a part of a program that gives village people $7 per fish that they test.  This information goes to a nonprofit which I assume will be going towards Wildlife Fish and Game subsistence statistics.

Subsistence is still a very important part of life in the village. Though food from the grocery store is more readily available than ever before it is very expensive to ship food out.  (A bag of chips can cost you $10 and $3 for one apple!) People in rural Alaska depend on the food they catch over the summer and fall to last them the remaining parts of the year.  I heard many elders talk about the good ‘ol days when King Salmon were giant beasts and were plentiful. Things have changed drastically and this effects their very traditional way of life.

Because of fishing restrictions king salmon are only allowed to be caught during a short two day period.  After that fishing for King Salmon closes unless Wildlife Fish and Game decide to open it again for a short period. During that two day period everyone was out all day and night trying to catch as many King as they could.  Unfortunately no one in the village caught any fish and many people are worried at the lack of fish that have been caught so far this summer.

There have been wide restrictions made throughout Alaska and it heavily effects those who count on it for subsistence.  Sadly much of the fish that is allowed to be caught is used for McDonald’s fish sandwiches or frozen fish sticks.  There’s a short documentary on You Tube about the effect this has had on these small communities. I recommend giving it a watch if you have 20 minutes to spare.  (Also, the community being documented is the same village I’m going work in at the end of the summer.)

Three weeks of training flew by and before I knew it I was assigned a partner and villages to work in.  The first village I’ll be in is Ruby.  It’s an interesting place because originally it was a mining town that had no Native people living in it. Because of laws changing and the availability of school people had to move from the surrounding areas and settle here.

We are staying in a yurt that has a door facing the Yukon River. The view is breathtaking and every time I come outside the house I am surprised by it’s beauty.  

Ruby is a hilly village and you get a serious workout wherever you go. Going up and down these hills multiple times is hard work but after a week I feel like  am starting to get used to it.People here have been so welcoming and friendly.  Each of them reminds me why village life is so special. Each person is closely connected and everyone looks out of each other.  Just in our first week we have been invited to dinner twice and even had moose chili brought to us.