The Dog Days of Bethel

I have spent the past 8 days in Bethel. I have not posted recently because Bethel in and of itself is not a place that inspires a ton of stories. But despite that, there have been a few noteworthy events.
Last Friday there was an inservice for site administrators (what folks in the lower 48 call principals) at the district office. There were several other district teachers in the office for inservice and professional development as well, including my wonderful friend Erin and her roomate Christina. To accomodate all the people and make Friday fun, there was a potluck, which lent my first opportunity to sample some of the traditional native foods. There was plenty of food that would be right at home at a traditional potluck, as well. But none of the hot-dish we 'Sconnies know and love. Anyhow, the first new item for me was dried fish. This is pretty much what you might think. It is dried fish. The fish is hung up and dried. I enjoyed my dried fish. Next I had akutaq, which is pronounced a-goo-duck. Akutaq is the famed Eskimo ice cream, for which there are many recipe variations. Typically it will include berries and whipped crisco, and some other additions could be cream, potato flakes, fish, and I don't know what else. What I sampled had salmonberries and blackberries. It was also quite good. The salmonberries are tasty and unique. The third thing I had was pickled fish. I love pickled fish, especially herring and pike. So I took a couple chunks of this figuring I would surely enjoy it. As I enjoyed my meal, Erin and Christina asked me a couple of times if I had had any of the pickled fish yet. Their poorly masqueraded grins tipped me off to the fact that they probably were privy to some information which I was not. And sure enough, they were. It turns out that what I had on my plate is called salunaq, which means fish head and belly, salted. It didn't really have the pickled fish flavor. It did, however, have the fish head texture.
In other Bethel news, it is PFD time. People are getting their oil checks and that has a variety of effects. For many people, it means that they have the money to get that 4 wheeler or snow machine they have been wanting, or they can stock up the household with the many supplies needed to last the winter, they can buy new clothes, shoes, boots, and other things that they needed the money for. Other people blow it on pull-tabs, bingo, and booze. I talked with one man at the airport today who works for Yukon-Kuskokwim, the hospital in town. He stated that the amount of alcohol related injuries in the hospital since the PFD checks started coming was "asinine." Last week the police had to use lethal force on a guy. Another was found dead in the road. We're all hoping that the PFD season quiets down.
To end on a happier note, I have included some pictures of a local dog team. Mushing is big around here. This is home to the famous Kuskokwim 300. In Napaskiak, a couple of mushers were working with their teams by having them pull the 4 wheeler in neutral and that in itself was quite a sight. These pictures are for all you people who have read Jack London and envisioned a team of huskies.