Manaq: Ice fishing
While break-up season is definitely underway, there is still a bit of ice and snow about. The frozen-solid Johnson River had been covered with a few inches of water for a few days before the solid ice layer was able to float to the surface. That floating ice then became a snowgo trail and has been good for about a week now – although traveling on it is becoming more and more risky each day. But Thursday after school I took the school snowgo and with another teacher on back, cruised down the river and met up with some of the locals to go jigging for pike. Sonya, the other teacher caught 3 within 5 minutes.
The next day, I played hook(ey) with two of my students and went out on the ice trail and spent the rest of the morning fishing. The locals are all Yup’ik Eskimos and they still rely on subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering for most of their food. It’s a big deal when a child gets his/her first fish or bird or fills the first bucket with berries. With 2 weeks left in school until summer vacation, I’d rather be out on the river than in the classroom.
Tags: alaska, eskimo, fishing, teaching, Yup'ik
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