Eskimos Face Hard Times After Iraq Call-Up

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.forbes.com/business/manufacturing/feeds/ap/2006/06/19/ap2825058.html

Military families across America often endure hardship when a loved one ships out. But there are not many places in the U.S. where those left behind have to chop ice out of the tundra for drinking water and make sure the freezer is well-stocked with walrus and seal meat.

The first major call-up of National Guard reservists from rural Alaska since World War II could mean sacrifice and upheaval for Eskimo villages that practice subsistence hunting and gathering in some of the most remote and unforgiving spots in the nation.

Eric Phillip's job in the small Yup'ik Eskimo village of Kongiganak in southwestern Alaska is to hunt walrus, seal, mink, otter, geese, ducks and other animals to provide food for his immediate family and other relatives. With Phillip shipping out, his wife and their two young sons will be moving to the city of Bethel, about 70 miles away.

"Out here it is harder for them to live alone," Phillip said. "In the village we don't have water. We have to go to the tundra and chop ice for water and melt it, and we don't have flush toilets. It is hard for a single parent to live around here in the village."

[MADem]

1. Aside from those hardships, the climate adjustment is BRUTAL

I went to a subtropical country from a moderate climate and had a bitch of a time adjusting. Then I visited Alaska during the heat of summer and froze my ass off. Those poor kids will melt into the pavement at this time of year...

[maxsolomon]

2. his family EATS mink & otter?

call me a skeptic, but those are fur animals.

[bleedingheart]

3. clearly you have never had Otter Quiche or Mink Barbecue

:evilgrin:

[Betsy Ross]

4. Not to worry.

Our Clear Skies will see that Alaska warms up enough so there is no ice to melt. :sarcasm: