Been a good couple of weeks

First and foremost i'm sorry for taking so long to post on my blog. These weeks have been busy as ever and I have not had a free weekend yet! Some exciting things have happened in these two weeks. I was able to attend a professional development conference in Anchorage for four days! It was great to be at a conference of likeminded people and it was a pleasure and privilege to go. That being said, it was the first time leaving my classes in the hand of a substitute. How nerveracking! Thankfully the students were great during my absence with no incidents. On our way to anchorage we had to stop in Nome. After taking off again we had clear skies and luckily I was able to get some great pictures of Denali and the Alaska range from the plane.




Upon returning to the village I was approached by my principal asking if I could start setting traditional snare traps with my inupiaq crafts and cultures class targeting fox. We have a huge problems with fox that have moved into the village and may carry rabies. Of course I said "set snares? Hell yes I can". Well I have never snared before in my life but decided I would teach myself. It is great how much you can learn from the internet and reading. After researching and talking to some elders I was able to set some wire snares up in trails around town that the foxes are using. I am concentrating my efforts around the school first, then I will spread to the community. I have caught 3 foxes so far! I am very proud of myself. Of course all of the students consider me a master trapper now, worthy to mentioned with names like Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett! Well...who am I to change their views? Along with teaching trapping I am also teaching skinning. We are teaching case/tube skinning. The foxes and other animals that are skinned in class will be tanned and used for hats, gloves etc. The students are really enjoying these activities and they seem to be learning a lot! These kind of projects are right in my wheelhouse as well. I really enjoy doing these projects and they are part of these kid's culture. We are also teaching them how to possibly make some big money when they are older. Last year a trapper in Norvik made $30,000 last winter by just targeting martin. Hmmmm sounds tempting......










Wrestling has been going very well. I took the team to Buckland last weekend and we went 25-4! I am so proud of my wrestlers. They have been working very hard and it was excellent for them to be able to preform in a hostile environment. It has been a very challenging season for me. Trying to coach grades 4 through 12 with varying skill levels is difficult to say the least. The most important thing is that the kids have had a lot of fun....and we have been winning ;). This weekend we travel to Noatak for the 4th-8th grade championships. Maybe it's just the coach talking but I think every wrestler I put on the mat could be the district champion! Stay tuned to my blog for updates.
Unfortunately I haven't had too much time for myself but during school I was finally able to start a pair of mittens for myself. They are going to be very warm and hand sewn! I have also made beadings to adorn the outside! This is what I have so far. I love skin sewing and beading. I have always had a crafty side (tying flies, building rods ect.) but since I didn't bring up that stuff this fills my need to be crafty.






It is amazing how fast I have acclimated to the weather. It has been sub zero most days and now I consider any temp around 0 "warm"! This next week is supposed to bring temps to -20 so we will see how well my mittens and hat hold up. I am guessing they will be toasty warm. I still need to get a better pair of boots. My boots are said to be rated at -40 but there is no way! My feet got chilled at -10 ice fishing the other night. Ridiculous! So that is the last necessity I need for deep winter. Luckily the boots i have are good enough to go back and forth from school and travel but not for long excursions out in the country. We have had bright sunny days, except it gets light at 10 am and dark around 5:30. I guess there is one more necessity, A good head lamp! I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I will try to not let so much time go between posts next time. Thanks for reading and take care.

What a delightful week!

Hello all! Well this is my second time writing this post, so if for some reason 2 posts show up on my blog I'm sorry. Let's pick up where the last post left off, I was getting my wrestling team ready to head to Kotzebue for the Bush Brawl Rumble in the Arctic. I decided to bring 7 kids to Kotzebue for the tournament. I could have taken 8 but we didn't have enough wrestlers that were eligible to travel. The tournament had over 300 wrestlers from all over the state as far away as Bethel (GoogleMap it). The wrestlers did great I am very proud of the effort that the kids put forth and the success that we had. Every wrestler won at least 1 match! We had 2 podium finishes and 2 4th places. Pretty good for our first big time tournament. As you can imagine at a 3 day tournament there is a lot of down time. Having kids you can trust to make good decisions during this time is imperative. Luckily I brought some great kids because I had to test that trust. Unfortunately one of my sophomore boys dislocated his elbow during a match, so I had to leave my kids in the care of another coach and travel to the hospital in an ambulance. To his credit my wrestler was tougher than nails. 2 hours and 2 doctors later his arm was re-located and we were back at the gym for the finals. Our travel home was thankfully uneventful.








This week in school was pretty laid back. We only had students for 3 days then 3 days of in-service training from the district. I took advantage of the easy work week by going fishing...a lot. Every night and every morning I went setting nets and lines with my good friend Brad. Traveling to the fishing spot is an adventure in itself. We take a 4 wheeler and trailer through the trees and tundra down to the frozen river. We then travel a mile down river on the ice to our spot. Some nights/mornings we have had amazing northern lights to entertain us on our ride. Other nights we travel by moonlight with Brads two German shepherds darting in and out of the brush leading the way. It struck me that except for the 4 wheeler this same scene has been played out countless time for hundreds of years in Alaska, following dogs by moonlight going fishing. The first day we set a net under the ice targeting large whitefish. We opened two big square holes about 40 feet apart. We then made a lot of small holes about 8 inches apart in between the two squares. We were then able to pass the rope under the ice from hole to hole. Once the rope was strung we hooked the net up to one side and pulled it through until the net was strung under the ice. We checked the net after a 24 hour soak and only got 7 fish. Obviously the whitefish are not in that section of the river. We decided to put the net away and "set lines". We use set lines to target ticktalik aka mud shark, burbot. A set line is made up of a drag line that about 4 hooks are attached to. The drag line then runs to an "anchor" i.e. rock, piece of metal, anything that is heavy and sinks. From the anchor your main line come up out of the hole. Once the anchor is set you tie the end of the rope to a stick that is elevated at an angle over your hole. The idea is to keep the line in the middle of the hole. The set looks like an L when it's set with the bottom being the drag and the vertical being the main line and the anchor is where the lines meet. We have been checking the lines 2-3 times a day once in the morning and twice at night. We have caught a lot of fish! We keep moving our holes trying to zero in on the money hole. We cut our holes by hand with a chisel and axe. The ice is about 6 inches thick. It is a workout to cut new holes! On the up side it keeps you warm with the weather in the single digits. We caught a fish Monday morning and I was able to bring it into my inupiaq crafts and cultures class and teach the kids about subsistence and how to cut a ticktalik! It was a lot of fun.






















Hopefully the great weather that we have been having will hold. The sun rises about 9:30 and sets around 7:30 not a lot of day light that's why you use a head lamp! I hope you have enjoyed reading this post, it has been a great week. I'm heading to Anchorage for 4 days to a CTE professional development conference today so I will be writing about that in my next post. As always, thanks for reading and taking an interest in my greater northern adventures! Oh and I updated my blog so anyone can comment!

Beautiful Week

It has been a beautiful week or so in Kiana! Temperatures have been in the teens in the mornings and almost to 30 during the days......almost. It has been bright sunny weather and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The temps are low enough that the Kobuk river is starting to freeze! What a sound the ice makes as it's flowing down river attempting to choke the mighty waterway! Soon it will be frozen solid and turn into our own iceroad!

We had our first wrestling tournament of the year hosted by Kiana. The tourney went very well, each wrestler wrestling 3 or 4 matches! The concession stand made a lot of money as did the gate! It was a great tourney and a great weekend for Kiana school. Putting this tournament on was a huge challenge. The logistics alone of flying 6 teams to and from and feeding them was daunting! But our great staff was up to the challenge, we even hosted a dance on the last night! Needless to say fun was had by all!




Classes are going great. I'm learning drafting with the students, staying a chapter or two ahead! I appear to be doing an alright job because the students are really enjoying that class. In power technology we are working on a snow go, and a Honda 4 wheeler. These are great projects and I feel like the kids are learning a lot from working on these machines with me. We are still working on finishing up our basket sled in wood tech but it is coming along very nicely. I'm very proud of the work the students are doing on the sled and the way it is turning out. Remember this sled is being made out of hickory. A very hard and durable wood. So hard that you have to pre drill for nails otherwise they fold when trying to drive them. As you can see most of the sled is tied together not nailed or bolted. This allows the sled to flex on the trails and makes it more durable. We tie it together using 300lb test commercial tuna fishing leader!





This week I am proud to show off my new winter hat! It is felt on the inside cap, river otter fur on the inside ears and leather and muskrat fur on the outside. It is so soft and warm I just love it. It was hand made by my co-teacher in Inupiaq crafts and cultures class especially for me. i begged her for weeks to make me a hat and she finally did. I think you'll be jealous!






Well that wraps up this blog post. I hope you enjoyed reading thanks for taking an interest in my Greater Northern Adventures!

Who what happened?

Time has been flying by! I have been really busy. I decided to take the position of head coach for the wrestling team. We have about 15 wrestlers that turned out for the team from 3rd grade to senior in high school. The dynamic of the team is very interesting. I really enjoy the kids but the sports really lack intensity that you see in larger schools. It is hard to have intense practices when the athletes don't want it. But at least they are showing up! When I took the position my goal was to get more matches for my wrestlers, well I should have been careful for what I wished for. The first wrestling tournament of the year is in Kiana this weekend! So not only to we get another tournament but I have to host it! Should be an experience.
Last weekend I had to be a chaperone for the high school volleyball team in Kotz. We stayed 2 nights played 5 games won 3 and lost 2. The kids were really great during the whole trip. We would walk to the stores, hang out, play volleyball and eat. The last night they set up a bouncy castle/obstacle course type thing.it was great for the kids to have something to do for the last night with a 1 o'clock curfew. This was the first time I have ever felt 29, those kids ran me into the ground staying up so late and go go go all day long!
The weather has been crazy! We have had bright sunshine for days! Granted it's only 26 degrees but it is beautiful out! When walking to school in the morning it has been in the low teens and dark! Good thing I have a head lamp, good coat, mittens and a hat!
The next blog post will have more in it I promise. Sorry this one is so short things are just running together. Thanks for reading!

Winter is coming

It's been another exciting week in the village of Kiana. First and foremost we made the front page of the Anchorage daily news a couple days telling about our fugitive situation up here. The troopers were in the village for a few days and we able apprehend the fugitive without incident much to the relief to everyone in the area. It seems that the village is getting back to normal quickly. Kids are playing outside again, people are out on the river and Hondas can be heard putting around the village.
I've been busy in the shop on weekends. I decided to build a gun rack out of scrap wood. It turned out pretty good. Our basketsled is coming along nicely and we are getting close to starting to build our own, which the students are excited about!



We had our first mini snow of the year, although it only stuck around for a day it was a good little flurry. The students can not wait for the snow. Riding snow machines AKA snow-go, snowmobile, sled is a way of life up here. It seems that every student has one. I have access to one I'll be able to use so I don't plan on buying one this year.



I have been working on my culinary arts as well! After hanging my caribou meat for 5 days I cut it up and ground it all. I plan on harvesting another caribou before the snow comes so I can cut some nice roasts steaks and stew meat. After grinding I ordered a new food dehydrator and jerky gun to start making homemade jerky. My first batch made original flavor and teriyaki jerky. They both turned out great! Maybe some lucky readers will get a caribou jerky sampler! I also had the chance to try black meat and seal oil.......that is interesting cuisine. I was able to swallow it! The oil is not bad but I was not a fan of the meat. At least I tried something new. It has a salty ocean taste. Very tough and......oily, the taste is hard to describe.





I did get out hunting Friday night. Along with doing some hunting we were also charged with spreading the ashes from a person we had never met. The ashes were mailed to a native corporation and were asked to be spread on the river. We stopped at a nice spot up river opened the box and found a candle, a photo and the ashes in a jam jar. It was a rather odd to do this for someone you knew nothing about. We were asked to document the spreading with a camera so we set up a little memorial, took some pictures, said some words and spread the ashes on the kobuk river. With our duty done we could get to hunting. Unfortunately we got out a bit late and only saw one herd of caribou and two moose. The moose were crossing the river a bull chasing a cow. He had one thing on his mind! We got close took a couple pictures and let them go on their way. The bull was pretty small but they were fun to watch.





Well that wraps up this blog entry. Hopefully I will have some more excitement to share with you next post! Thanks for reading, take care.

Getting into the swing of things.

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog post things are going fast! I am just about to finish my 3rd week of school and that feels great! Some interesting things have been going on in the village. We had our first cross country meet for the district and it was held in Kiana. That whole Saturday was volunteer work because we don't have enough volunteers so the teachers are expected to help. I started at 7 am picking teams up at the landingstrip and bringing them to the school. That went until 1 when the last team arrived. It was an early morning after a hard week but at least I was able to enjoy a nice early morning sun and great weather.







As the races began it was my job to patrol the two upper stretches of the 5k route for bears and moose with my loaded .44 mag.!!! That's right I was required to carry a loaded firearm at a school event, I love this place! Apparently this is very common out in bush Alaska. It was a great race with the Kiana Lynx coming in first place in elementary girls and high school boys divisions! Then we had to feed all the teams dinner before we took them back to the landingstrip where the last flight left at 830. Whew what a long day!





Woods class has been really fun lately. We have been finishing a basket sled, learning sled knots that we made tying jigs for, and are working on a shop stool project. I made one stool that they could model after and it turned out pretty good..... close enough for government work.









after reading this post myself it doesn't sound like a lot is going on in my life but between school, open gym (which I have been playing basketball 5 nights a week) and trying to get some hunting in I am very very busy! As always thanks for reading. My next will be a bit more exciting think! We shall see.