Old Harbor

I spent that least few days in the Village of Old Harbor. I have been here three years and had not been to a village, but I got to go this year because I am working on gathering legal paperwork for the BIA and I had a very short but necessary meeting with the tribal council about NAGPRA. It is Alutiiq weeks in the villages and this year's project is model kayaks. I sanded some model kayak parts while I was there, and watched Alfred and the other elder men, i.e.. Sven, put the models together.

We had great weather. I didn't really get to do much though. No hiking or exploring or anything like that. I was mostly at the school. And when I was done with my project I left. I did get to eat sea lion. Yes, they are an endangered species, but natives can still hunt them for subsistence. I also had really fresh king crab, and lots of fish.

On the flight back I got an extended tour. The flight went to Akhiok and then back to Kodiak. It was great to be able to see the south end of the island. I didn't think I was ever going to be able to see it with my own eyes. I only know it by maps. We landed in Akhiok and the really fabulous pilot Eddy arranged for me to go to the school and see some old Russian Orthodox icons, papers, and books that are in a display case there. We then took off and I got to see Olga Bay, Cape Alitak, and Aiulik peninsula. There were TONS of game trails. Holy cow. I saw one bear moseying along. It is gorgeous down there. If it was warmer I would seriously live there! Although all the bear trails were a bit intimidating.

Near Cape Alitak there is this big long spit, it was really neat formation, it looked like paradise. Sorry, no pictures of anything, I forgot my camera! I took it out of my bag to get a pic of Abby, and forgot to put it back in! Not sure a pic would capture my enthusiasm about being able to see that part of the island. On the way back I also got to see where the villages of Kaguyak and Eagle Harbor were, also got to see Refuge Rock. Kaguyak was destroyed by the 1964 tsunami. They had just finished building a new church, and it was all washed away.