One of the Last Elders

Rhoda Ahgook (L) at the community center city offices in Anaktuvuk Pass, July, 2005
Bob Ahgook, seeking me out at the AKP Community Center

One of the Last of the Elders
Grant Spearman, longest-term resident archaeologist-anthropologist of the Nunamiut Eskimo wrote, "bob ahgook left us on the 14th, his services were on the 22nd. sorry to see him go. Hard to imagine he is really gone."
Bob was a Nunamiut who was always a stalwart upstanding guy; a level and sober influence in Anaktuvuk Pass, who knew both the old ways and the new. A leader and a worker for what was good and right for everyone.
When I became a victim of North Slope Borough politics, when the principal offered me free housing in the Borough "bunkhouse" (which was not school district property to offer), and I was evicted right during the start of the school year, Bob got together the partially completed, decrepit shelter at the air strip, hauled it over to the school district work site and finished the narrow little building with a floor, insulation and plywood walls so that I’d have a place to stay. The village council, that Bob was chief of, offered me 2 lots so I'd have space for my dog team and a place to put the hut on. The principal got greedy as he was prone to be (he was prosecuted 2 years later for embezzlement) and said that the building had to stay on school district property. The village council let the offer of 2 lots stand, but I didn't have the time to put up a "soddy"as well as the ground was frozen by that time. I ended up leaving after that winter and so never had the means to fly in materials to put in a dwelling. The lots were on the other side of the Contact Creek, that had no houses when I was living in AKP but is now a bustling part of the village. I visited Bob and Rhoda, his wife there last summer. As a resident of Anaktuvuk Pass, I was a frequent visitor to Bob and Rhoda’s house in the middle of the older village for tea, caribou "fry" and Eskimo donuts. Bob would always look kindly at me and ask when I came in, "How’s Donwatson doing today?" We would talk about hunting, the land and commonplace topics, whatever I wanted to talk about, and often not talk, but just be there and observe the goings-on of the Ahgook household. Bob and Rhoda’s children were always intellectually sharp and respectful. Rhoda was cut of the traditional Nunamiut cloth; happy unceasingly with her family and life.
Bob worked closely with the old wolf biologist, Bob Stephenson and was who some wolf chronicler was referring to who said that the Nunamiut "have the greatest practical knowledge of the Arctic wolf of any people in the world". Bob wasn’t one to talk very much about the old nomadic way of life that these one and only mountain Eskimos used to live, at least to me. One pet peeve that he did voice to me was that the Nunamiut didn’t follow the caribou, as some journalists and scientists have said. "No, we never followed the caribou! We waited for them to come to us", he would say in mock disgust.
Bob always enjoyed having mechanical stuff. His snowmachines were always in good repair, he was one of the first, if not the first to have a car(jeep) in the village. When I was visiting the village the summer of 2005, Bob had a compact car as well as a full size pickup truck. His Argo ATV sat in his front yard. Bob’s quiet wisdom was always present, whether hunting or in the village. Bob worked a regular day job - maintenance for the borough. His mechanical abilities were sure and he used power tools safely.
Bob came down to the plane that I was supposed to arrive in to see me after all of 27 years of separation. Unfortunately I arrived in an earlier flight. I was picked up by Harry Hugo at the plane. He was the baggage handler and took me around to the clinic and community center. Bob and Rhoda came over to the community center offices to visit and wish me welcome.
Bob was having difficulty health-wise in his last years. He had heart bypass surgery; after that he complained of a lack of energy and his life slowing down, almost intolerably so for him. As he was telling me this, Rhoda was bustling around Bob, doing the little chores that a good mate does for the other, as an assurance to the other that all isn’t yet lost, that they still have each other and the big extended family of their village. Rhoda said this only through her body language and activity of domestic serving. At their home, in the morning after visiting with their son Jimmy, with Sandy Hamilton there for coffee (another great reunion for me), Bob was telling us this and he seemed more distant. Not feeling as good as he would like, perhaps knowing that there was cancer gathering in his body, that would cause him to have to be medivaced to Fairbanks a couple of months after my visit. As he sat in his living room, the TV on as a diversion, I think we both knew that this was the last time we would see each other again, that it was a wonder that I was back again. Few of the "tanniks" ever did return, at least not if they didn’t return due to a job. Not much, really, to say. Good knowing you many years ago...
Jimmy and I left with a goodbye, walked out through the entryway and over to Sue Hugo’s house, in a hurry before my plane came in, sad that I didn’t have more time to spend with the people who I had done so much growing up with as a young man.

Wolf by the Road & Firesteel River Paddle

The timber wolf that was feeding off of the road-killed deer. Though he wasn't welcoming of the attention we were giving him, he was not going to pass up the venison that was a free meal because of two guys in a little car.

Dean Juntunnen of Mass City
Al Koivonen, of South Range, paddling upstream just for the fun of it in his Mad River Courier canoe. That's Dean's titanium and carbon fiber wheelchair in the stern of Al's canoe.


04-15-06 Wolf by M-26 & Firesteel River Paddle

On Friday I went out to Chassel Bay for the first paddle of the 2006 season. The day was in the 50's with sun and some gusting wind. I was using my new paddles - the "Maine Guide" style ash paddle and the Nashwaak Cruiser paddle out of Canada. I liked the grab of the Maine Guide and practiced with it. Saw 2 immature eagles near the Pike River, paddled up the river and on my return saw a nesting goose right on the bank with 4 eggs thus far in the downy nest. Also saw my first male redwing blackbird warbling in a willow above the stream.
I went out with Dean Juntunnen and Al Koivonen on a long and roundabout trip to the Firesteel River which was running with class 2 and a couple of #3 rapids along much of the 13 miles we went on.
We were a couple of miles before the turnoff to Mass City , near the Firesteel River when I noticed a timber wolf at the side of the road eating a road killed deer. I stopped the car, turned around and pulled off to take some pictures of it. It was scared of us but couldn’t pull itself away from the meat for long so we did get some decent pictures.
When we arrived at dean’s place off of Aspen Rd., about a mile south of Mass City, there was quite a bit of work to do preparing for the boat carrying on his car, as Dean is paralyzed from the waist down and has special attachments on his rack for getting his kayaks on his roof rack, etc.
We then had to drive to Ontonogan and take lakeshore Dr. To other roads and finally to where the Firesteel River outlets into Lake Superior to drop one vehicle with trailer and then drive to another place to put in for the paddle down river. I was a bit hesitant in the first couple of rapids, not knowing how the Wildfire would do. It was very forgiving and handled well. The royalex skin slid off ledges well and in the few holes that I went in the cover made it a dry boat. We saw a number of eagles and I saw quite a few kingfishers chattering as they fished. Big bunches of ducks and geese were in the air and on the river. There were a quite a few deer stands and logging taking place back from the river with occasional camps back away from the river. The fairly continuous rapids made it very nice to run and the only drawback to that was that I had to watch the river and not the shore. The sun was bright on the water so that the glare made it hard to see rocks at riffles, but no harm done. I tended to favor the 57 inch beaver tail paddle though a wider blade would have been better for control in the fast water. I used the Maine Guide paddle quite a bit with its wide blade tough it is a bit heavy and long. Al saw the first turtle of the season though I missed that.
I didn’t get home until 7 PM after leaving here at 7 AM with all the time involved in driving. Nice water though and a fine 60 degree day.

Home Is the Eldest Son

Oldest son Muir (23 yrs old) relaxing at home. Not quite used to our brand of spring compared to Florida.
Muir's trailer and truck camper that brought up one load to Michigan. His Toyota 4X4 is the second load in a few weeks.


04-14-06 Bloomin’ Spring
The goldfinches are getting their nesting plumage and Muir, our first-born has come and gone on his freighting back to home base. For some days prior to his arrival Lynn and I had been getting the room at the top of the stairs ready for him and when his imminent arrival was a day earlier than usual, I finished painting and Lynn did an all-nighter getting his room ready. Muir arrived here Sunday, April 2 and was able to bring up his new Ford truck with our camper loaded with stuff, and towing his utility trailer filled with his motorcycle, tools, and plastic take-down storage shed.
While we had snow (and on Sunday, late afternoon), he and his mother went out to the Pilgrim River on a snowshoe jaunt. He was well-pleased with his new Red Feather "Powder" snowshoes, though it was hardly powder snow but consolidated crust and slush that we traipsed around on the week + that he was here. He had gotten the snowshoes on a half priced sale through Sierra Trading Post deal and said that he had always wanted red Feather snowshoes since we had gone out to Michael Schwei and Raven’s Headwaters Environmental Center log cabin out by Misery Bay. This was when Muir was in 9th grade; we went there to make a pair of snowshoes. Mike and Raven had commented that when they thought of the modern snowshoes that Redfeathers were their choice, though they only wished they had the money to get a couple of pair of the aluminum shoes. At least that's Muir's remembrance; I just remember raven being quite traditional in her preferences for snowshoes.
Muir had maps of geocaches that he had downloaded and was intending to find them with brother Matt, but time limitations for both of them, and Matt’s reluctance to thrash through the woods to find the geocaches left only one searched for by the time Muir left.
I went out with Muir to Churning Rapids with our snowshoes to find the one that was deep in the woods. We went bushwhacking going south out from Kinzel’s place (Christenson Rd.), following our GPS receivers rather than the 2-track that I’m sure the person putting in the geocache had used. Rough going and Muir was going too fast, falling on his snowshoes and on a rushing quest. The day was sunny and warm and we worked our way along a ridge and over creeks until we came out at the 2-track and then went in the woods again. Eventually we arrived at the original place where the geocache had been placed, which was the lookout tower and found a second set of coordinates for the changed position of the cache. We went again through the woods to the second place, but down by the rushing creek the snow was deep and maybe that stopped us from finding the cache. But it was a great day to be out and his snowshoes got a workout, not to mention us. He was surprised that he would get as much use out of the new purchase as he did, visiting so late. We put about 5 miles on our snowshoes that day.
Last Friday, the 7th we headed up to Copper Harbor to do some crust skiing. Muir was using skis and boots that I had purchased years ago from a MTU graduate who was selling the virtually unused gear prior to going to a city without snow. We stopped in to see Sam Raymond, who had out a pair of back country telemark boots and skis that Muir could borrow, but Muir thanked him and said that the gear he had was adequate. We first went across from the Keweenaw Mtn Lodge driveway at a new Michigan Nature Association area and followed an old logging road through areas beginning to melt and forming pot holes and over streams flowing snowmelt. In most cases we could cross at areas that were snow covered over logs or other snow bridges that were nearly ready to collapse. We ended up having lunch at a cedar blowdown off the trail and then headed back the way we had come and then to the end of US 41 and out to Horse Shoe Harbor. The road-trail to the turnoff was ½ snow covered and the other ½ sand. Muir went up in the woods just off the road so that he didn’t have to take off his skis and walk. The day was a bit windy and the sun was beaming down. After going out to the sanctuary (Nature Conservancy, Mary MacDonald Preserve) we went back up the trail to where I had camped a couple weeks before. No trace of my old camp, it melted away with the snow. We stopped long enough to eat Cliff Bars that Muir had in his fanny pack. We had been having to ski around a couple of 4-wheeler ruts that had created deep ruts from a single 4-wheeler on the main trail and on the way back I had commented to Muir that it seemed that the same guy had come after us because there were new tracks over the old. As we were almost back a rummy-looking guy drove by us on his way back to Copper Harbor.
We saw bear tracks, one set each on the MNA trail near a roiling stream and a second set crossing the trail ½ mile or so before the Horse Shoe Harbor trail.
I thought that my digital camera was broken (again!) When I tried to take a picture of Muir and it didn’t turn on. I tried a second set of batteries and it still wouldn’t turn on. What I didn’t realize was that both sets of NIMH batteries were discharged, so got no pics of our ski trip.
Muir left Tuesday evening and after that we were mostly getting ready for him to go - getting the storage shed up, packing, getting Dixie, Muir’s bulldog, accommodations ready for her to stay with us ( Muir took the bus back to Florida), and making plans for his return in early May.
The snow banks remain, but spring is definitely here now. Migratory birds are back and a little rain and lots of sun are sending down light for the crocuses and bulb flowers to bloom. Maple syrup is about through and we already sampled the Santiford’s syrup from this year.
I put on much longer roof rack bars on my Geo Tracker for accommodation of 2 canoes and so am ready today for one Wildfire solo for the first paddle of the year 2006. I still have to final sand and finish varnish and oil the basswood paddle that I carved this year and another cherry paddle is in the works for this spring. Also have to get rolling on my second cover for the composite Wildfire now that I inherited Lynn’s old 2 speed sewing machine and put money into getting it adjusted for sewing heavy fabric. All of this doesn’t account for my training for guiding kayak trips this Summer as well as having to take renewal course work for first aid training, which sounds like it will be a hassle to keep my WFR without going through the 2 week course all over again. Such is my life as spring progresses.