Kotzebue Report . . .
Ey KOTZEBUE
CORRESPONDENT
October 29
The Kotzebue City Council held
their bi-monthly meeting Oct. 17.
Highlight of the meeting was the
turning over of $10,000 to the
Council from the non-profit liquor
store. The skating rink and play
ground equipment, both of which i
are maintained from this source
of revenue, are in full operation,
and are being enjoyed by the
many youngsters of the village.
There will be six new members
elected next month to the Coun
cil due to the resignation of both
Mayor Frank Stein and John
Schaeffer effective January l,
1964. Tony Joule will be the only
carry-over to the 1964 Council.
Deadline for signing up for coun
cilman is Oct. 31. To date only
one person has registered his
intent.
The Parent-Teachers Association
met Oct. 28 with a large number
in attendance. President Shumaker
appointed a nominating committee
headed by George Francis so that
elections may be held at the No
vember meeting. A program of
songs was presented by the fourth
and fifth grade room. Playground
equipment and the forming of an
advisory school board were topics
of discussion. This board would be
composed of the executive P-TA
officers and a representative from
the Kotzebue City Council. P-TA
refreshment committee for the
coming year is headed bv Mrs.
Gussie Laws.
The school children all had
their pictures taken last Thurs
day, by Mr. Metcalf of Arctic
Studios of Anchorage. The pic
tures should be finished soon and
the students can then purchase pic
tures of themselves and also of
their class if they wish.
Sterling Croell, Education Spe
cialist from the Nome BIA office,
was in Kotzebue Monday, Oct. 28,
on his way to Point Hope.
New schools have been con
structed this year at Point Hope,
Selawik and Noatak.
Volleyball practice is under way
and so far only one “casualty.” We
see Dr. Takach limping around on
crutches. Volleyball games are to
begin next week.
Dr. Brenda Bush. Assistant Com
missioner of BIA, Washington,
D.C.. is scheduled to come to Kot
zebue Nov. 21, and will then travel
to Point Hope. Apparently this is j
in connection with the Peace !
Corps.
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Lathrop re
turned from their field trip at Sel
awik Wednesday. Dr. Lathrop,
looking real sharp in his Com
mander’s uniform, departed Fri
day via Wiens for Anchorage, to
attend the USPHS dental confer
ence. The Lathrops plan to leave
next Monday for Point Hope for
field dental clinic until Nov. 27.
Dr. Harrison’s wife and chil
dren returned from their trip to
Oregon Oct. 23. Dr. Harrison
stopped at Anchorage enroute
home and is expected back Oct. 30.
Margaret Poole, USPHS travel
clerk, arrived from Anchorage
Oct. 26 for duty at the local hos
pital. This is a newly created po
sition at the hospital.
Miss Trud7~Ernit, PHS nurse’
escorted Violet Howarth of Point
Hope to Anchorage Hospital Oct.
28 on Alaska Airlines. Mrs. Ho
warth had been accidentally shot
in the leg Sunday morning. Miss
Tess Judivine accompanied Wien
pilot John Cross to Point Hope on
the emergency flight late Sunday
afternoon to bring Mrs. Howarth
to the Kotzebue Hospital.
Miss Fran Pagenkopf, Kotzebue
Public Health Nurse, went to An
chorage Oct. 25 from her temporary
duty at St. Lawrence Island to at
tend an Alaska State Board of
Nursing meeting. She is expected
back to Kotzebue Oct. 30.
Jack Manley, BIA Reindeer
Range Conservationist. arrived
back in Kotbebue Oct. 29 on Wiens.
He has spent the past three weeks
at Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island
assisting in the loading of rein
deer meat on the North Star.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilfried Zibell and
children Heidi, Michael and Billie,
arrived in Kotzebue Oct. 23. Mr.
and Mrs. Zibell are both teachers
in a language school in Germany
and have taken a two-year leave ol
absence to work at Ambler Village
writing the Eskimo language and
translating scripture and hymns
into Eskimo. They are associated
with the Wycliffe Bible Transla
tors, Inc., whose Alaska headquar
ters is located in Fairbanks. The
Zibells left Oct. 26 for Ambler.
They were house guests of Rev.
and Mrs. Perisho while in Kot
zebue.
—
The Friends High School has an
enrollment of 23 pupils this year.
The student body officers are Har
ry Harvey, senior from Noorvik,
president; Gordon Schnare, senior
from Kotzebue, vice president, and
Ellen Jane Chappel, sophomore
from Kotzebue^ s acretary-'treas
urer. The senior class is sponsoring
a Halloween party at the Friends
High School Friday night at 7:30
p.m. The high school is open every
Saturday night for youth recrea
tion. The high school has both a
girls and boys team which will par
ticipate in the Kotzebue Volleyball
League. Other high school activi
ties include a knitting club, li
1 brary club, student body organi
zations and a newspaper staff.
Travelers on Wien Airlines
I mainline this past week include
Major Stewart Spencer. Kotzebue
Air Force Station Commander, to
Fairbanks Oct. 23. On Thursday
passengers to Fairbanks included
Dr. Less of ADH, Helen Spicer
and daughter on their way to lower
48 after several weeks visit at
Point Hope, Walley Metcalf, pho
tographer from Anchorage, and
Ruth Sandvik on her way to Cali
■ fornia from Kiana where she has
- spent most of the past summer
helping operate the Blankenship
Trading Post. Arriving from Nome
on Thursday’s flight were Elsie
Adams and daughter Geraldine,
Mr. and Mrs. Loren Payne and
Nels Nordin. The Paynes and Mr.
Nordin spent the night in Kotzebue
and returned to Nome the following
day. Saturday Wiens carried Fritz
Wien who was visiting the Nome
and Kotzebue Wien offices, Lillian
Goodwin returning from Fair
banks, and Alfred Wells from
Fairbanks on his way home to
Noorvik. Mike Semaken of the
PHS Hospital left Saturday for
| Fairbanks on his way to Tanana
| where he is employed at the hos
; pital there.
Monday, Oct. 28, May Shroyer
of Kotzebue and Irene Tooyak of
Point Hope returned from Mexico
City where they represented Wien
Airlins at the National Association
of Travel Agents Conference and
where they passed out Eskimo pies.
Kotzebue Sound looks frozen
over and the first small plane
landed on the ice in front of town
Sunday, Oct. 27. Several Eskimo
women have been out on the ice
hooking for Tomcod and from all
reports they are doing very well.
Several people are cutting ice at
Ice Lake lor Kotzebue’s winter
water supply.
Northwestern
Alaska
News Briefs
Ferry at Juneau
JUNEAU UF — Alaska’s capital
city received downtown ferry serv
ice for the first time today when
the Taku docked at the new ter
minal constructed by Juneau for
use by the Southeast Marine High
way System.
Under an agreement between
the city and the state, ferries of
the Marine Highway System will i
use the downtown terminal on all
trips not involving stops at Sitka.
On Sitka trips, the ferries will
use the Indian Point terminal at
Auke Bay, 13 miles northwest of
Juneau.
I*t. Hope Report . . .
By POINT HOPE
CORRESPONDENT
Tom Martin, of Nome, is a friend
of the Point Hope people. He is
a promoter of the fun of dogteam
races. Everyone appreciates his
help with prizes for the dogteam
races, which will be held in Point
Hope during Christmas week.
* * ♦
Herbert Kinneeveauk’s daughter,
Helen Spicer, and her three chil
dren, left for Little Rock, Ark.,
where she will rejoin her Air
Force husband. They have lived
for four years in Arkansas.
♦ * •
Adella Tingook, age 69, and
Rose Ella Stone went to Kotzebue
Hospital on Oct. 23. Little Merilyn
Lisbourne and Flora Attungowruk
returned from the hospital that day.
Ira Frankson, grade 7, is reported
doing fine after surgery in An
chorage.
• * t
A two-cell jail is at one end
of the Council office room. Two
by fours were used to make the
“bars.” Perhaps this jail will nev
er be used because most residents
are law-abiding citizens. However,
it is better to have it and not need
it than to need it and not have it.
• * •
Between one and two thousand
drums were used to build the Pt.
Hope Seawall which was com
pleted on Oct. 21, 18 days after it
was begun. Two rows of drums
were placed together along the
bank by the beach to prevent
future floods. They were partially
buried and filled with sand and
gravel.
* * •
Fred Woldstad of State Fish ^
Game in Fairbanks and Mr. Neil
i Argy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife
i may visit Pt. Hope in late Novem
Unalakleet Report . . .
By UNALAKLEET
CORRESPONDENT
The new Postoffice is open for
busines. They now occupy the en
tire lower floor of the old Lodge
building, which N.C. Co. occu
pied before moving into their new
store. Word has it that the spring
will find new post offices boxes j
installed. The new lighting and
pastel green paint job make it a
very pleasant place to go.
— e —
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Kouchak an
nounce the arrival of a new baby
girl, weighing pounds. They
have named their new addition
Helena Ann.
— © —
Jack Koutchak has left his job !
as manager of the Native Store to
enable him to have more time to
manage his own business, Ruthie’s ,
Cafe. We will miss seeing him in
the store, and offer him the very
best of luck. Our new manager :s
Andrew Nashgalook, who is well j
known to all of us and has filled
in at the store occasionally.
I
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ivanoff and
family have moved to Fairbanks
where Mr. Ivanoff is employed
with the FA A. A long time resi
dent of Unalakleet, Harold worked
at the FA A station here until his
transfer to Fairbanks. They own
their own home in the village
which they will retain, as they j
feel this will always be their home.
— © —
The Covenant High School held
a Halloween party Friday night
in the basement of the school.
We saw some real weird costumes
and also realized how creative these
youngsters and teachers alike can
be. Sure didn't know who was who. j
Reports were that a good time was
had bv all.
— 9 —
MEA has the men from the fac
tory that manufactured their new
generator, here to set up the panel
boards and get this big new en
j gine running. The crews have put
i in some new transformers and in
stalled a few new street lights.
— © —
Help! Help! We are losing Miss ;
Caudill, our Public Heath Nurse.
She is being transferred to Fair
banks where she wil be doing
itinerant nursing along the high
way. She will be leaving sometime
around the middle of January and
we cannot imagine not seeing her
teaching Sunday School or dash
ing around the village on a sick
call. Her many friends in Una
lakleet, will miss her warm friend
liness and humor. We can only
hope she will remember us with
the same warmth. There has been
no replacement assigned here as
yet.
The river has frozen and the
familiar sight of ice skating is
here again. Also the tom cod have
started to run and this of course
finds our village ladies hooking.
I wonder how many have ever
stopped to try their hand at this
art of hooking. I was fascinated
by this simple method of fishing
and my very kind neighbor let me
give it a whirl. Well my hat goes
off to all of these ladies for what
I thought was so simple turned out
to be a real art, one which I am
afraid will take a great deal of
practice on my part if I ever de
cide that I can keep warm long
enough to catch my supper.
ber or sometime this fall.
Mr. Woldstad came last spring.
Mr. Argy has taken the place of
Mr. Ray Tremblay. The game
wardens have always been helpful
to Pt. Hope people. We welcome
them again. There is no sport fish
ing or hunting by Pt. Hope resi
dents — only subsistence hunting.
* * •
Pt. Hope needs lights for the
landing field. In the past two
months, Wien Airlines has made
two emergency flights to Point
Hope, arriving after dark. There
will be even more hours of dark
ness in the winter months. The
village has good electric power at
the present and is determined to
improve the village power system.
For landing field lights, several
hundred feet of good wire would
be needed, plus appropriate lights.
Amos Lane and Seymour Tuz
royluke returned to the village on
Oct. 24 with 10 caribou. Others
are caribou hunting now, too.
Henry Nashookpuk got a seal on
Oct. 26
• • •
Dr. Takach will do medical work
in Point Hope the week of Nov.
4. This will be his first visit to
Pt. Hope and Point Hope’s first
doctor for many months. He will
stay with the McKenzies and hold
medical clinic in the old school
building.
* • *
Mr. Arthur Nagozruk, Jr., post
poned his trip until about Nov. 10.
He will discuss 4th class city
organization with the Council plus
other Council affairs. He is the
Tribal Operations Officer for the
Nome BIA District.
* * *
The National Geographic Maga
zine has had a large section on
Alaska and another on Greenland.
At least 20 pages are about Point
Hope, including many full-page
photos. The article about the Ipiu
tak culture at Point Hope is inter
esting reading for anyone inter
ested in the Native people of Alas
ka. The article reports that Eskimos
were living at Point Hope before
the days of Christ. The old village
indicates that the population of
Point Hope at that time was as
high as 4.000 people. It was also
a highly advanced civilization.
Tins old village site is not
marked with an historical marker.
It has never been excavated fur
ther. This may hold the answer to
where the early inhabitants of
Alaska came from.
Those who wish a copy of that
magazine, send $2 to them at
Washington, D.C.
* * *
Mrs. Violet Howarth was shot
through the leg at Pt. Hope on
Oct. 27. She was standing by the
stove Sunday morning frying pan
cakes while her son, Michael, age
14, was removing shells from a .22
rifle. The gun accidentally went
off, passing the shell through Mrs.
Howarth’s left leg a few inches
above the knee.
Alice Weber and Lydia Nash
ookpuk, village health workers,
came from church to give first
aid. Rev. McKenzie offered to fly
her to Kotzebue Hospital in his
1941 Taylorcraft plane, but Mrs.
Howarth said she felt too much
pain to sit up in the small plane.
Rev. Dwain McKenzie flew as
far as Cape Thompson from Pt.
Hope and landed there because
his windshield had completely iced
up. Using their Wien radio, he
contacted Wien Kotzebue. The
Hospital sent the Beaver plane to
Point Hope to pick up Mrs. Ho
warth. It arrived after dark.
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