Portrait of an Alaska Village

Wales
Portrait of an Alaska Village
Ed Gold
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Wales: Portrait of an Alaska Village © 2014 by Ed Gold. All photos are the from the photographer’s collection and used by permission.
No portion of this book may be reproduced by digital or mechanical means, and may not be used in any way for profit without the express written
permission from the publisher and photographer.
Soft Cover ISBN: 978-0-9850487-9-2
Hard Cover ISBN: 978-0-9907428-0-7
First printing September, 2014
Printed by Everbest Printing Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China,
through Alaska Print Brokers, Anchorage Alaska.
Design: Vered Mares
Consulting editor: Sandra Kleven
Copy editor: David Kennicott
Map: Gary Greenberg, Alaska Map Co.
All photography by Ed Gold
www.edgold.co.uk
www.facebook.com/EdGold.co.uk
info@edgold.co.uk
Published by
VP&D House, Inc.
1352 W. 25th Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Phone: 907-720-7559
email: info@vpdhouse.com
www.vpdhouse.com • www.facebook.com/vpdhouse
Distributed by:
Todd Communications
611 E. 12th Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-4603
Phone: (907) 274-TODD (8633) • Fax: (907) 929-5550
www.alaskabooksandcalendars.com • sales@toddcom.com
with other offices in Juneau and Fairbanks, Alaska
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Dedicated to the people of Wales (Kingigin), Alaska
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Acknowledgments:
Ed Gold would like to thank and acknowledge the following people and establishments for their support:
Kevin Tsakoza, Prophet River, British Columbia, Canada; Michael Gesser, Alaska Coffee Roasting Co., Fairbanks, Alaska
www.alaskacoffeeroasting.com; Ed & Darcy Cook, Nome, Alaska; Shannon Thrun, Frontier Hagel & Aviation Station Manager,
Nome, Alaska; Justin M. Cadran, Station Manager, Nome, ERA Alaska Airlines; Dan Richard & Ellen Richard, Wales Native Village,
Alaska; Shelley Sailer, Evergreen Helicopters, Alaska; Pastor Mike Christian, Nome, Alaska; Julie Hall, Nome, Alaska; Johnny
Jones Buell House of Harley Davidson, Anchorage, Alaska www.harleyalaska.com; Jeff, Nicole, Rob & Ariel, Alaska Motorcycle
Tours www.akrider.com; Rod Spendlove; Josh Adam & Shannon McKague, Vancouver, Canada; Victor Penner, Vancouver, Canada
www.photomob.com; Hieu Nguyen, Malcolm Duff, Chu Yeung & all the staff at THE LAB, Vancouver, Canada www.thelabvancouver.com;
Stephen Sanderson, Pentax UK, England www.ricoh-imaging.co.uk; Darren Burrell, Snugpak, England www.snugpak.com; Amos
Oxereok; Linda Oxereok; Frank ‘Sonny’ Oxereok; Gilbert Oxereok; Noble Gene Rex Agnaboogok; Peter, Lena & Larry Sereadlook;
Raymond Seetook Sr; Raymond Seetook Jr; Tom, Jo & Teddy Bartleet; Jayne at Worldwide Travel Insurance; Hugh Adami at Ottawa
Citizen; Pat McGrath at Ottawa Citizen; Mike Dunham at Anchorage Dispatch News; Sandy Pearl at Freedom Harley-Davidson of
Ottawa; Gail R. Schubert at Bering Straits Native Corporation; Tom Steiner at The Camera Trading Company, Ottawa; Paul Corbeil,
Bourget, Ontario; Tous les ‘Tête à claques’ au Quebec et Ontario; Mary Bethe Wright & Myron Wright; Jo & Della at Keller’s Custom
Photolab, Anchorage; Phil Coomes at BBC; Owen Hughes at The Daily Post; Ronnie Wood; Richard Lewis; Savannah Snook; Sandy
Anger; Vered Mares; David Kennicott; Tom Roper; Heather Ramsay at QCI Observer (Queen Charlotte Islands); Lael Morgan;
Roxie Quick; Stacey Mueller; Staff at the Embassy of the United States, Ottawa, Canada; Dale Yonkoske; Brian at Stewart’s Photo,
Anchorage; SRS Microsystems, UK; Thomas Harley Shovelhead; Bruce Smart; Goetz Tessmer; Travis Dolan; David Phillips; Jack
Litrell; Richard Fraser-Williams; State Trooper Brian Miller; State Trooper Aileen Witrosky; Julia Elliott; Laura Margita; Georgia
Mathewson; Brittany Gushue; Bill & Justin Prine; Carl White; Phillip Dunne; Simon Olley.
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A brief history of Wales:
Wales (Kingigin), Alaska is the westernmost American town on the mainland of North America, nestled at the bottleneck of the Bering Strait, where
it is believed humans first crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia into North America over 10,000 years ago. Today, the waters of the Bering and
Chukchi seas converge at the strait at the tip of the Seward Peninsula, with the Diomede Islands in the center. The International Dateline runs between
the islands, the sunsets of today and tomorrow visible at the same time.
In 1778, English explorer, Captain Cook sailed north into the Bering Sea looking for the elusive Northwest Passage. He named the land mass that
stretched out into the sea, Cape Prince of Wales for King George III’s son. The prominent mountain at the tip of the cape was named Cape Mountain.
Wales was historically a major center for trade and whaling prior to the late 1800s. The village itself had a large permanent population of over 700
people at its prime. Wales was a settled area due to its location along the migratory routes of game animals and sea life. As such, traders would come
from all over the subarctic region to trade animal skins, ivory, jade and other goods in Wales.
Wales was home to the Kingikmiut people who lived in two villages, Eidamoo near the coast and Kingigin further inland and below the sloping bluff of
Cape Mountain. The name Kingigin means “high bluff,” and Kingikmiut, “people of the high place” in the Iñupiaq language. The two historic villages
no longer existed after American missionaries established the present day site of Wales in 1890.
In the late 1800s when Europeans invaded the strait in search of new whaling territory, up to 20,000 whales per year were killed and Native people across
Arctic Alaska suffered from starvation. In addition to European whalers who devastated the whale populations, Russians enslaved some Alaskans, and
brought with them typhoid, influenza, dysentery and other illnesses that further damaged the population of Wales.
After Seward’s Purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, yet another round of illness found its way to Alaska. In 1918, the influenza pandemic reached
Wales, killing more than half of the population and orphaned dozens of children. Although the 1918-1919 influenza had devastating effects world wide,
it was deadlier in Alaska than anywhere else in America. Wales in particular never fully recovered, and then again in the 1940s, another outbreak of
influenza further devastated the village.
Throughout the early part of the 20th century in the post-Russian time, the US systematically assimilated Native villages, including Wales, and banned
Native rituals, dances and languages. Fortunately, in the first decade of the 21st century, Alaska has seen a push to celebrate its indigenous people,
recognizing the importance of Native cultures, subsistence hunting and the preservation of Native languages. In Wales, the Kingikmiut Dance
Festival has been vital to reviving the rich traditions of the Kingikmiut people. Today, Wales has a population of 145 people, one school, an air strip
and a community dedicated to preserving their heritage for future generations.
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Chukchi Sea
Lo p
o
ag
pL
on
To Cape Mountain
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Top Left: Flying north up the west coast of Alaska from Nome along the
edge of the Bering Sea towards Wales, Lena Sereadlook clears pressure
from her ears as the plane to Wales changes altitude.
Right: Lena Sereadlook’s husband, Peter Sereadlook looks north while
flying alongside the York Mountains.
Below: At Nome Airport, the plane gets loaded up with cargo and
passengers. Every single item including food gets flown into Wales - there
is no other way.
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Left: Bob ‘Tiaq’ Tokeinna adjusts wiring on his snow machine to get
it to start. Despite being late winter/early spring in Northwestern
Alaska, the temperature is still too bitter to work outside for long
periods of time even with the lengthening days.
Weather in Wales shapes daily life in ways that may seem alien to
people living in warmer climates. Machinery simply doesn’t function
well in severe cold, leaving people to cobble together solutions to
limp on until the temperatures climb high enough to work outside.
The nearest auto repair shop to Wales is in Nome, nearly 110 miles to
the south. Thus, the people of Wales must be self-sufficient.
Right: “Octavia (Bob’s wife) moved from Brevig Mission two years
ago and was already working as a Health Aid. Now in Wales, she
moves between the 15 villages within the Bering Straight District.
She says, “The federal government has got to try and retain the
Health Aids. It gets pretty tough, there are lots of emergencies
which cause burnouts, weather factors, call outs. It gets stressful. We
depend on community members to help out, but we need our own
vehicles so we can do it on our own if we need to”
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Top Left: The pilot Jesse, flies a Cessna 206 Single propeller
plane for ERA Alaska. This was our first attempt flying
from Nome to Wales. We had to turn back to Nome
within just a few miles of Wales due to zero visibility and
fly again the next day.
Bottom Left: A view from the airplane on the first attempt
to fly to Wales shows the coastline and encroaching sea
ice while cruising below 500 feet.
Right: Flying over Teller, Alaska not far from Wales. It’s a
very late spring and the sea is still frozen. I hear some­one
else on the flight ask, “Are you having a good winter this
summer?”
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