HOSTESS ON THE RIVER BOAT—Nancy Plotts, hostess on the ex
cursion boat, Discovery, is shown cuddling a husky pup at Matthew
Titus' fish camp 12 H; miles down the Chena River. Nancy sees that
visitors are comfortable and serves them coffee and doughnuts. She
also tells them about native culture.
Blisters Every Weekend
: Eskimo Hosts Tourists
On Riverboot 'Discovery'
By Howard Rock
Times Editor
“Yes, and I get blisters every
weekend.” This is the answer Eski
mo hostess Nancy Plotts gives to
the question tourists ask her, “Do
you rub noses?”
Nancy is hostess on Jim Binkley’s
stern-wheeler riverboat, the Dis
covery, the only one of its kind
left in Alaska. It is an excursion
boat that takes tourists down the
Chena River on a 4-hour 25-mile
round trip for a real glimpse of
Interior Alaska.
Nancy Plotts is 22 years old, five
feet two inches tall, petite and vi
vacious. She originally came from
Pilot Station, a village on the lower
Yukon River. She will be a junior
this fall at the University of Alas
ka and her major is education.
The Discovery depicts the time at
the turn of the century when many
river sternwheelers traveled up and
down the Tanana and Yukon Rivers
from the terminal point of St.
Michael.
The Discovery travels as far as
Matthew Titus’ fish camp 12^ miles
down the Chena River. This is an
authentic Indian camp where the
natfves prepare and dry red salmon
on racks. Sled dogs in their summer
quarters can be seen and the tour
ists meet the natives who live there.
Nancy tells the tourists about tan
ning moose hides with bone tools,
exactly the way they did them in
the ancient times. She shows them
how baskets are made, handwear,
footwear, and how the Indians sew
ed them with sinew. She tells about
different kinds of fur and how
u
much they cost. She explains the
process of cutting fish and the dry
ing of it. Fish wheels at the camp
are shown the visitors and told
how they operate. Captain Jim
Binkley points places of interest
all along the river.
“I enjoy meeting all kinds of
people from the rest of the United
States and people from abroad,”
Nancy said. As hostess, she sees
that passengers are comfortable and
serves them coffee and doughnuts
as a courtesy of the Discovery. She
answers all kinds of questions ask
ed by the tourists.
One of the popular questions ask
ed by the visitors is about the Na
nana Ice Pool. They ask her what
part of Alaska she came from,
whether she went to college, and,
of course, whether she rubbed
noses. When time permits she tells
the visitors about the life of the
Eskimos.
The Discovery operates 7 days
a week during the tourist season.
The number of passengers usually
number from 30 to 80 people a day.
The trip starts around 1:30 p.m.
from Pike’s Landing on the Fair
banks side and on the Bureau of
Land Management road on the col
lege side of the Chena River..
In conclusion, Nancy recalled,
“One tourist asked me what I was
majoring in at the University. I
told him I was majoring in wild
life management.”
“Oh, you mean you are looking
for a husband," the tourist said.
“No, I haven’t taken animal hus
bandry yet,” Nancy replied.
GOOD LISTENING
AROUND THE CLOCK
Music - News - Special Evenk
KFRB
— 900 ON YOUR DIAL —
Letters to Tundra Times Editor
Schopfheim (Germany)
Bismarkstrasse 7
June 7, 1963
Dear Editor:
You will be wondering to see
from my letter that your Tundra
Times is being read even here in
Germany. I have been in Fair
banks for the last two years. From
there I traveled through almost
all parts of Alaska. This way I
learned to know your beautiful
country and to estimate its native
population.
For this reason I was very much
pleased with the appearing of your
newspaper, which I read regularly.
I like mostly the legends of the
Indians and Eskimos, the descrip
tion of their customs and their way
of living from former times until
today.
No less I am interested in the ef
forts of the native population to re
gain the country of their ancestors
and to preserve their language. I
believe the Tundra Times will be
of great importance for Alaska and
will gain in political influence too.
But one thing I do not under
stand: why do the native people
work as guides for the hunting by
the rich people from the lower
states, who are just coming here
for the pure joy of killing the
beautiful wild animals of Alaska?
This way these animals will be ex
terminated in a short time, where
as it should be of utmost import
LOOK, MA!
No Cavities
In Eskimo
Ancient Teeth
By Frank Hall
Exclusive to the Tundra Times
The men digging to lay the foun
dation for the new Pt. Hope school
uncovered five human skeletons
this past week. It is significant that
none of the teeth showed any sign
of decay or cavities.
Dr. R. L. Lathrop, U. S. Public
Health Service dentist at Kotzebue,
attributes this to the all-meat diet
of the ancient Eskimos.
When Dr. Lathrop visited Pt.
Hope last fall he found 1.972 de
cayed surfaces on the permanent
teeth of modern Pt. Hope residents.
In addition, 1,615 permanent teeth
were missing and 307 had previous
fillings. This was from examina
tions of 218 people.
" LIFF'S BARBER SHOP
""—UNION CL1JB —
423 2nd Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Cliff Cundy
BACK ISSUES
Back issues of the Tundra Times (ex
cept Vol. 1, No. II are available. 25c
per copy up to 4; thereafter 20c each.
Tundra Times, Box 1287, Fairbanks.
Adler's Book Shop
Out-of-town orders solicited
and filled promptly
Box 1159, Fairbanks
-.
CONSTRUCTION AND
GENERAL LABORERS
Local 949, AF of L
Edmund N. Or beck, President
Joel Wiegert
Secretary-Treasurer
305 Noble St.
Meetings Every 2nd Friday
7:30 P.M.
Dial GL 6-4582
ance for the Indians and Eskimos
to preserve them for the future.
Yours truly,
Ludwig Harrsch
Kotzebue, Alaska
June 12, 1963
Dear Editor:
I wish to congratulate Tundra
Times in bestowing the NORTH
STAR AWARD to our beloved Mrs.
Laura Jones, who is now Director
of Admissions and Registrar of the
University of Alaska.
Mrs. Laura Jones came as a teach
er under the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs. Her outstanding ability earn
ed her the position of Education
Specialist and Assistant Principal
at Mt. Edgecumbe.
Mrs. Jones’ understanding, un
retiring efforts, interest, encourage
ment and devotion in councilling,
guiding, and supervising, has earn
deep admiration both from her stu
dents and teachers.
As director of Admission and
Registrar at the University of Al
aska, she is again serving a great
purpose in counciling, guiding, and
encouraging native students to con
tinue higher education.
I, for one, as a teacher, learned
a great deal from her good ex
amples an^ accomplishments as a
teacher. As a supervisor she arous
ed my enthusiasm and an urge to
keep myself up to date in the
teaching profession. And as a re
I suit, I could hardly wait for the
j next opening of the school to try
I out the methods that would be
helpful to our native students.
Mrs. Laura Jones fully deserves
this recognition.
God bless you, Mrs. Jones.
Tony Joule
Bill May Release
Surplus Property
To Native Villages
A bill has been introduced in
Congress to amend the General Ser
vices Administration Surplus Prop
erty Act to enable tribes and vil
lages to obtain surplus property
from government agencies, accord
ing to BIA Area Director Robert
L. Bennett.
“If the bill passes it could be
highly significant for Alaska,” Ben
nett said.
He said villages would be able to
obtain such equipment as tractor#
and vehicles for use in improve
ment and development.
FOR SALE
Black and Yellow Retriever Pups
also
One Pair of Palomino Rabbits
Rose Hedlund,
Pedro Bay, Alaska
WIEN ALASKA AIRLINES
KOTZEBUE ..Dally ex. Sun.
•(Noatak-Kivalina-Point Hope
Cape Llsburne) .— Mon, Wed, Frl
I*(Shungnak-Kobuk-Ambler) . Thurs.
l*(Noorvlk-Selawlk) .. Tues, Thurs, Sat.
•(Buckland) .... Tues, Sat.
•(Kians) ..... Tues, Thurs, Sat.
NOME . Dally ex. Sun.
•(White Mountaln-Golovin-Ellm
Moses Point-Koyuk) . Mon, Wed, Frl.
* (Shaktoolik-Unalakleet) —._. Mon, Eft
•(Northeast Cape) .... Mon., Wed, Frl.
•(Teller-Port Clearance-Tin Clty
Wales) .. Tues, Thurs, Sal
•(Shlsmaref) . Tues, Sal
•(Granite Mountain-Candle-Deering) ... Tues, Sat.
•(Gambell) . Mon, Frl
•(Solomon-Council, (Flag Stop)) . Wed.
FORT YUKON . Mon., rues., inurs., BUI.
•(Beaver-Stevens Village) . Mon., Wed., Thurs.
•(Venetie) . Tues., Sat.
•(Arctic Village) . Tues., 3rd Frl.,’Sat., ex. 3rd Sat.
• (Chalkytsik) .- FrL
•(Barter Island) . Sat.
•(Old Crow) . 3rd Sat.
•(Stevens Village-Beaver-Fort Yukon) out of Fairbanks . Wed.
•(Rampart-Tanana) .. Mon.
PT. BARROW . Mon., Wed., Frl
•(Point Lay) . Wed.
•(Umiat) . Tues., Frl.
•(Wainwright) . Mon., Wed.. Frl.
•(Coleville) . . 1st ft 3rd Thurs.
TANANA . Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Frl., Sat
HUGHES-ALLAKAKET-BETTLES .. Tues., Thurs.. Sat.
•(Utopia) out of Hughes .- Tues., Thurs., Sat.
•(Big Lake-Chandalar) out of Betties .. Sat.
•(Wlseman-Porcupine Cr.) out of Betties. Thurs.
•(Hogatza-Huslla) out of Hughes . Thurs.
. *(Anaktuvuk) out of Betties . Thurs.
•(Ruby Creek, Kobuk) out of Betties. Tues.
GALENA . Mon., Wed., Frl
•(Kovukuk-Nulato-Kaltag-Kalaket) . Mon., Wed., Frl.
•(Huslia) . Mon.
•(Ruby) . Mon., Wed., Frl.. Sat.
•(Kokrlnes) . Service by boat from Ruby on Mob.
•(Unalakleet) .- Mon., Wed., Frl.
CIRCLE HOT SPRINGS-CIRCLE . Mon., Thurs.
RAMPART . Tues., FrL
•(Llvengood) .~.-.
WOODCHOPPER-EAGLE . Tties., Frl.
BOUNDARY-CHICKEN .- Tues.
MINTO-MANLEY HOT SPRINGS .Tues. FrL
CHENA HOT SPRINGS . Tues.
UTOPIA-HUGHES-KOBUK-HOGATZA
KI AN A -KOTZEBUE .—..... M**
• (Meade River) . Tues.
Beechcraft, DC-3, Super 46 and F-27. We invite your inquiry./
CHARTERS available anywhere uMlizing the following equipment:
Cessna 180, Cessna 185, Pilatus, Beaver, Porter, Norseman, - Twin
•NOTE: Connections are made with bush aircraft to communities
in parenthesis. - -
t >f
3rd Ave. ft Lacey Street PHONE 452-3355 452-3115
Hours — 8:06 uju. to 6:M p.m. Daily except Sunday