The other day there was an eagle shrieking about something or other high above my house. I love that. But then I heard a high-pitched yeeks from the tiny dog in the next yard over and then silence and I was all oh noooo because … eagles do love a pup snack (or, at least, that’s the chatter around the dog park). But when I heard the tiny dog yelling at the big dog it battles in the next yard over I knew all was well. Phew.
I can’t say the same for Alaska’s population. We are not doing well here. As you might have read, things have been dodgy when it comes to our covid numbers and discourse about the best ways to protect people against the dreadful virus. I won’t go into the specifics but if you want to read up on some of the ways Alaskans (including elected “leaders”) have been shitty to each other (and not just about covid), I recommend these articles:
Awful behavior at the Anchorage Assembly hearing on wearing masks.
Are you a lower-48 police office who is anti-vaccine? Our governor would like to see you now.
Some people in Kenai aren’t keen on library books (but, luckily, other people understand that reading is fundamental).
Alaskans have always pitched themselves as people who look out for each other so…this has all felt really off. Red or blue or purple or green or whatever, Alaskans are supposed to help each other. I know: rose-colored glasses. But this place can be challenging on a lot of fronts so if people need help, you help them.*
I’m hoping that one on one, people here will still take care of each other. One constant of life here that I’m happy to see is still holding tight is that people do share the fish, moose, and other food they work so hard to harvest.
Back when I lived in NYC, the per-pound price of early-season Alaskan salmon was, to put it mildly, prohibitive. So it was downright shocking to me the first time somebody in Alaska just gave me a bunch of the salmon they had caught earlier in the week. The handoff in the parking lot of a small movie theater was from a friend but, seriously, this was like $100 worth of salmon (in NYC prices).
And I hear of people sharing their harvests all the time. (There was a massive amount of fish and other resources sent to villages along the Yukon River because of a disastrous salmon run this summer.)
Many Alaskans, as it turns out, are damn generous with their salmon. Other harvested resources too. I stayed in a rental house up in Talkeetna earlier this summer and the owners texted to see if it was ok if they came in to put some freshly-butchered moose into their freezers. I ok’d that request, of course, and they generously told me to grab a package of backstrap and a package of ground moose when I was leaving. And they left their homemade moose sausage in the fridge for snacks. Now that is a rental house worth returning to time and again.
So, for now, I’m holding on to stories of those kind acts. Have any good stories to share about the ways Alaskans are still good to each other? Send them my way at jenna@jennaschnuer.com. Maybe I’ll share with the rest of the class in next week’s newsletter. We could all use a little good news, eh? (Ooh, now I sound Canadian.)
*Yes, there have always been exceptions. I’ll get into some of those issues in future newsletters though…I might go very chipper in next week’s issue. I mean, after a summer-long break I’m hitting you up with a bummer today. Fun!
A script waiting to happen
“Lobster for breakfast, lobster for lunch. Fuckin’ lotta lobsters here.”—Julia Roberts as Daisy in Mystic Pizza
Alaska needs its own Mystic Pizza movie. But with salmon.
Five things to check out
Images from photographer Kerry Tasker’s Cloud Chamber series.
Author Tom Kizzia’s new book is Cold Mountain Path. It’s the first book from Porphyry Press, an Alaska-based micropress. (I just started reading it and, so far, thumbs up. But that’s all I’ll say for now. Might try to get an interview with Kizzia. Might not. We’ll see. But I really enjoy his writing and think you will too.)
Buy your ticket to the streaming Rock Aak’w Indigenous Music Festival. Yup, whether you live in Juneau or Jamaica, Nome or Norway, Anchorage or anywhere the hell else in America, you can treat yourself to a stellar lineup of musicians. The festival runs November 5-6.
If I had a little I’d definitely download the Molly of Denali app for them.
Not Alaska-related but still worth your time
From The Statesider: “What I do know is that the meadow burned in the most recent blaze. My brother’s fire crew was stationed somewhere else — awaiting another fire, of course — and he messaged me saying that he wished he could go fight for it; for our family’s memories. I didn’t realize that one could transmit such despair via text message.”
The Alaska Dog of the Week
Back with more next week,
Parking lot salmon
I am so glad you are back! It's great to hear your voice again!