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| Nawalek International Airport |
This is Bill writing here.
This is a story of my visit to a small Native village, Nanwalek, from 1999 when I was a researcher for the Alaska Oral History Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We had a grant from the Department of Fish and Game, to conduct some interviews of Native elders. The project’s main objective was to collect stories concerning the Alaskan Native traditional sustenance way of life. Along with interviewing, we were going to collect some of their personal photos that illustrated their way of life. We would scan those photos and send them back. The village, the elders, the Dept. of Fish and Game and the university would all get copies of the project. The final outcome would be a digital project on the University’s website, Project Jukebox, for free access to anyone who was interested. It would be added as part of a larger project that already existed.
Flying in to Nanwalek was an adventure. It was an hour flight from Anchorage and pretty scenic. The plane reminded me of a small car that had wings. It didn’t seem very sturdy as we piled in. It was the pilot, myself and a co-worker. I have to admit I was a little nervous. As we headed to the village, the wind rattled the plane a bit. I was even more amazed when I found out that we were going to land on a very small beach. We did and the pilot just chuckled at us. He was a bush pilot and was used to these kinds of places. He told us that he would pick us up in a few days unless it was windy or bad weather. As we left the plane, a few locals were putting their bags in the plane. They were going to Anchorage.
A few days later we were sitting in an elder's kitchen eating bear stew and listening for the plane, there was also a bunch of little kids watching cartoons on the tv and laughing. Then we heard it, the sound of the plane. We quickly grabbed our packs and ran to the beach, only a few minutes away but were told it was going to be full and there was no room. A few people had medical appointments so they had preference. A day later we left. It was an adventure that I'll never forget.
plane arriving at the terminal :)
plane taking off
