A man picks up Mary Alice. We left Anchorage early in the morning and flew to Bethel, AK. We then had to take a van to Hageland Aviation, a small airline with small planes that services the small villages. This is where Mary Alice got picked up by a guy. Sean, a nice mechanic from Nebraska, saw Mary Alice having difficulty getting into the van and gently lifted her in and out of the vehicle. From the Hageland Aviation airfield in Bethel, we then flew to Marshall.
Mom, I lied about the bus. My parents don't like puddlejumper planes, so I lied and told them we were taking a bus from Bethel to Marshall. Big fat lie. Here's our "bus" to Marshall, and the little girl standing near it is Katie, the daughter of our "driver", Derek. You cannot travel by bus or car in most of bush country Alaska, because the landscape is swampy tundra and you can't build roads on it. Oh, and Mom? On the return trip to Bethel, just after landing, the electricity went out on our aircraft, and the plane had to be towed down the runway by an ATV.
An aerial view of Bethel. See what I mean about the landscape? The locals told me travel is so much easier in winter, when they can travel from village to village via snowmobile. A trip that takes 20 minutes in January can take days in June, and in the summer you also have to worry about being attacked by bears.
Our co-pilot was two years old. As the plane took off, little Katie put down her sippy cup, turned to her father and asked, "Is the plane door closed, Daddy?" Pilot Derek, who is from CA and has kind of a Malibu Taliban look, did something else we've never experienced on a plane. He spotted a pair of moose and turned the plane back so we could get a better look!
We didn't know what to expect in Marshall. A local businessman, Leslie Hunter, spoke by phone to Ginger before the trip and said he would charge $50/person to use the town's only rental car for the day. That didn't happen. Instead, Leslie greeted us at the airfield and drove us (gratis) directly to the Tribal Council Office, where we were greeted like visiting dignitaries.
"We have a whole day planned for you." After arriving at the Tribal Council office, we were told that the day's activities had been planned for us. Valerie Andrew (pictured) would take us around Marshall and show us Kate's gravestone and the site of the Plein house. Then there would be a luncheon, followed by Eskimo dances. We arrived at the TC office about 10am and hung out with Valerie, and her co-workers Nora Tikiun and Ruth Fitka for a bit. As we did, many of the locals stopped by the office to say hello. They were an incredibly kind and friendly group. The village of Marshall started out as a (white) mining settlement and slowly ended up a native village when the US Government stipulated that Native Alaskan children had to go to school. Since Marshall had an established school, many native families moved there. Today the town is about 95% Native Alaskan. Some of the common surnames in Marshall are Andrew, Boots, Duny, Fitka, Hunter, Isaac, Kameroff, Oney and Polty. Many of the people are part Russian, and the heritage shows up in not only in surnames but in the form of lighter skin and green eyes. One of the Boots' ancestors originally had a Russian name but was rechristened "Boots" in honor of his footwear.
Plein House Site. This is the site where the old Plein house stood, and where a new house is currently being contructed. It has a very pretty view of the Yukon. We were told the original Plein house was burned down in either 1980s or 1990s. When we showed a picture of the original house to one of the village elders, he immediately recognized a nearby house as the one he grew up in.
Mary Catherine Plein's Gravestone
The inscription reads "Here Rests Mrs. M.C. Plein. 1861-1932. Life with her was worth while/ Many years were spent in smiles." In anticipation of our visit, locals cleaned up the area around Kate's gravestone, which incidentally is one of only two marble gravemarkers in the entire cemetery. Kelley did a rubbing of the gravestone.
Salmon Drying. (photo by Kelley) This was a shack by the river that is used for drying salmon. Later, at the buffet prepared for us by the Tribal Council, we were served not only dried salmon, but salmon patties, moosemeat stew and ambrosia.
Fortuna Ledge Grocery Store (photo by Kelley) At about 5pm at this time of year in Marshall, everyone gets off work and goes to the grocery store for snacks and sodas in preparation for a night of moose-hunting. Only Native Alaskans can hunt moose, and even then, they are forbidden to shoot female moose, so ahem, successful moose hunters must harvest "proof" that they shot a male.
Little girl playing with a toy (photo by Kelley) The village seems like an extended family, and all the kids seem to play together like brothers and sisters. Kelley and I both thought the Marshall kids were very sweet and well-mannered.
Kevin & Emma. This is Kevin & his little sister Emma. Kevin played the drums when the dancers performed after the luncheon.The four of us all took lots of pictures of the photogenic Miss Emma.
Eskimo Dances Nora, Valerie and Anna perform an Eskimo dance. Anna, a village elder, joined in just for this dance. She was an strong and vigorous dancer.
Dance Fans One of the dancers gives us a close up of her dance fans. Kelley loved the fans and bought a pair when she was in Nome. The village elders work hard to pass on old traditions and crafting skills to the younger generations.
Valerie The always-smiling Valerie in her regalia headress. She was our driver and guide for the day and patiently answered endless questions from a certain pesky blonde.
Benton Just before leaving AZ, I decided I should bring toys with me to Marshall in case I ran into any kids. I settled on those small plastic animals that are sometimes given out as favors at parties. I brought jungle animals, cats, dogs, sea creatures and lizards. (The lizards and cats went first.) The children really seemed to love the toy animals. Here's Benton with his stash. (Kevin turned out to be major dog lover, so I gave him all the leftover dogs.)
Anna Before the festivities ended, Anna presented Mary Alice with a beautiful woven basket she herself had made. She spoke in her native Yup'ik language and her words were translated by another elder: "A stranger is welcomed into my village."
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