A visit to the last remaining Nunamiut settlement, Anaktuvuk Pass

Anaktuvuk Pass, at 2,200 feet elevation and 68.14* North Latitude, is located on the divide between the Anaktuvuk and John rivers in the central Brooks Mountain Range. There are approximately 250 residents in this Nunamiut settlement that sees record maximum highs of 91*F and lows of -56*F. The Nunamiut are semi-nomadic inland Inupiaq Eskimos and Anaktuvuk Pass is their last remaining settlement.

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The tour company I work for provides visitors to Alaska a chance to experience this place by going on their Arctic Circle Anaktuvuk Pass Adventure. I was excited to be offered the opportunity to travel up to Anaktuvuk Pass on said tour for free; one of the awesome perks of working for Northern Alaska Tour Company is being able to hop on any of their tours on a standby status. I got to sit in the cockpit of a 10 seater, twin engine, Piper Navajo Chieftain plane. 

It was a thrill!

 

 I controlled by desire to touch all the gadgets!

The views from the aircraft proved amazing.

Leaving Fairbanks behind.

Stevens Village, middle of nowhere Alaska.

Crossing the Arctic Circle.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline running along the Dalton Highway.

That speck of "civilization" is Coldfoot Camp, built during the pipeline construction days as a place for workers to rest their work weary heads.

Yea. It's not that much bigger up close. We stopped in Coldfoot to drop off some guests that were doing a tour there and picked up other guests who had signed up to go to Anaktuvuk Pass.

This is pretty much the coolest thing in Coldfoot.

Oh, wait. I take it back. This is the coolest thing in Coldfoot.
After conducting some business behind an obliging tree, I continued my adventure up to Anaktuvuk.

This is Anaktuvuk.

This is the only way in or out of this place, unless you want to wait until winter and ride a dogsled an ungodly distance.

WoooWhoooo! I'm in Anaktuvuk!

Apparently their police department consists of one dude who mainly helps with medical support since there are a lot of accidents here.

All the dumpsters are brightly painted and many contain messages like "share", "friendship", "take care of your environment", to encourage positive values in Anaktuvuk youth.

If they don't have your size you're going to have to wait a while.

So we may be in the middle of the tundra but we've got satellite T.V., internet, and telephones. While people who read too much Thoreau would argue against such amenities, here they are a matter of practicality and survival; people have to get medevaced out of here with relative frequency and they are dependent on communication with air transport services for essentially everything.

This is one of the last remaining examples of a traditional Nunamiut house style. It's built into the ground for optimal energy efficiency. No one lives in this type of house anymore, having decided on living in larger structures that cost much more to heat.

Quads provide the main mode of transportation in Anaktuvuk. I'm not sure why anyone would bother having a car cargo planed up here since none of the roads go anywhere for more than a mile.

Our guides, Harriet and Dave, mentioned several times during our tour how the weather in Anaktuvuk Pass could change from one minute to the next and they weren't kidding. Our pilot was anxious to leave as soon as we arrived at the runway since a storm was quickly moving in on us.

Take off was a thrill for sure!

Safe and sound back in Coldfoot.
Since my partner in adventure came up to Coldfoot to pick up a vehicle left by his neighbor, we now began the drive portion of our expedition: a five hour drive from Coldfoot down the Dalton Highway to Fairbanks. It was about 11:30pm when we left Coldfoot.

We made the mandatory stop of touristic interest at the Arctic Circle sign. Most popular guest question: "Why isn't there a giftshop at the Arctic Circle?" Because there is one pretty much everywhere else.

The heavily guarded pipeline bridge crossing the Yukon River, which is incidentally the 20th longest river in the world at 1,980 miles long.

I wasn't allowed to stop on the bridge since apparently doing so would incur the wrath of the pipeline guard who would then yell at us over the loud speakers that line the bridge so I had to settle for haphazard shots with my arm hanging out an open window.

This is Buddy the friendly moose we saw on the side of the road.
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The journey past the Arctic Circle to the tiny village of Anaktuvuk was an awesome experience I feel very fortunate to have had. While I appreciate the poetry of the remote, I think I would go a bit nuts after a couple of weeks. There's only so much berry picking, four-wheeling, talking to the same handful of people, and poetry writing a person can do, right? Plus, there's no Thai food.

Blood spurts from the Ear Pull at the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics

Alaska Natives compete in the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics (WEIO) over a four day period each July in Fairbanks, Alaska, attracting people from all over the world. The morning and afternoon sessions are free and I was fortunate enough to attend a few events before making it to work. On Wednesday, the opening afternoon, I saw the preliminaries for the One Hand Reach. In this event competitors must balance all of their body-weight onto their fist and reach up with their free hand to touch a ball hanging far above their heads. 

David Thomas, who placed 2nd last year with 66'', prepares to reach. He effortlessly made it into the finals.

Another competitor barely misses the 6 foot high ball but was given another chance. The WEIO events are more about community building and encouraging fellow competitors than about winning.

On Friday I was fortunate enough to watch the last few minutes of the Two Foot High Kick before catching the popular Ear Pull event. In the Two Foot High Kick, a traditional Inuit jumping event considered by many to be the most demanding Arctic sport, competitors must jump up with both feet, kick a ball well above their heads with both feet and land again with both feet. At no point can their feet be separated.

This jump was disqualified. 

He did better on his second try.

Right before contact with the ball, this guy made it look easy.

Now for the Ear Pull, where two people sit across from each other with a string looped around one ear each that they then pull away from each other, hoping the other person will give up first. 

It's basically about pain endurance.

The ref makes sure the string is in position and then calls the match. Each match has three rounds to determine who moves on. When a person wins a round, they keep the string looped around the same ear but the loser gets to switch to a fresh ear.

Competitors stare each other down before the match starts.

It's easy to see why the woman on the left wearing the head scarf is the champion for the second year in a row.

The loser poses for a photo while nursing her bleeding ear.

There were a lot of people with paper towels on their ears.

The men's final match was seriously brutal. I had a hard time getting photos because they pulled hard and fast and blood actually spurted! They had to clean the mat between rounds. The man in the light gray shirt ended up winning the gold. This is an event I was more than happy not to compete in!

Next I caught the beginning of the native clothing regalia contest, which thankfully did not involve any bloodshed!

My vote is on her. She made this outfit herself.

A young woman stands before the judges in her traditional wedding dress.

Between the reaching, jumping, ear pulling and traditional clothes, WEIO proved an interesting event I was glad I had a chance to attend. I'm just disappointed that I missed Friday night's seal skinning and muktuk eathing contests because they would have been really awesome to watch!