Being from Hawaii, I have come to expect a cultural diversity in the faces that surround me; Japanese eyes, Tongan noses, shiny black hair, deep brown eyes, and skin of every shade. When I crossed the boundary north into Anchorage, the racial profile changed remarkably.
Most everyone was Caucasian. Blue eyes were common. I saw red headed adults and blonde children. Their skin was white. I felt lonely and cold.
Lonely and Cold
Lonely and cold
Many native cultures have a strong link to their environment
I missed the kindness of strangers and aloha spirit. I missed the humble respect paid to elders and the no worry no hurry attitude. I missed my Hawaiian ohana (family).
But I eventually found it again.
When I met my new friends.
I found it in Fairbanks when I bonded with the 2007-08 PolarTREC teachers and the more than fantastic and capable ARCUS staff. I found it in Seattle when I met my NOAA Teacher-at-Sea principal investigator, Dr. Mike Cameron and his associates at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.
Seal Tag
Sealtag
Seal tags, like this one John is holding, will be attached to the fur of ice seals to help find out more information about them. The tag has a small GPS unit inside.
I hit the jackpot when I met my new friends from the Alaskan wilderness who still practice subsistence living 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I listened to stories about their villages and their daily life routines. I heard about melting permafrost freezers and open water where there should be ice.
Blanket Toss
blankettoss
Blanket tosses were part of a celebration for successful hunts
They told me about abundances of brown bear and disappearance of polar bears. I listened to them talk about whaling and seal hunts that have provided foods for their villages for thousands of years.
And what I found when I met my new friends, is that we all have one thing in common. We are all trying to learn more about global warming and how it is affecting the world around us.
We all see it. We are observers of these changes. We all feel the need to tell others, to talk about it, to educate others, to learn from one another and collaborate. Because it IS affecting the world around us.
One ocean one earth one people
oneoceanone
Did you know?
polarbear
Polar bears are one of the few animals that will hunt humans.