dj.tigersprout's photoblog
An Icy Front Yard, Downtown Anaktuvuk, Alaska
Posted by dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 31 July 2008 in Lifestyle & Culture.
during my second foray into the cold, i wandered in no specific direction though the quiet and small icy streets / backyard alleyways of Anaktuvuk. as much as i tried to understand the general lay-out of the town, the houses didn't seem to belong in any certain order or pattern. houses just seemed to be 'here' or 'there'... and anywhere there wasn't a house could be a front yard, a backyard (or both) or a street or alleyway. with the exception of the extremely 'un-busy' Main Street, there were not too many streets either... maybe just 3 or 4. and I didn't see too many cars for that matter -- in fact, i only remember a few trucks -- one of which i got a ride in.
i did however see a good deal of snowmobiles, which at first surprised me -- but only for a few minutes. as pretty much the only efficient way to get around during the long icy months, snowmobiles were a simple 'must have' by all the locals -- every house had at least one. it probably took the place of a car or truck for most families... after all, there was really no where to drive to anyways -- except to the convenience store or the one burger joint in town. if you really wanted to get out of Anaktuvuk for any reason, you simply had to fly! for most of the year, there were no roads and almost no where to go! the only ever present transportation option was walking -- and then in the winter when all open space became a possible avenue for a snowmobile, that then became the main mode of transportation. it seemed pretty 'different' to me at first and then the more i thought about it, the cooler it became and the more it made sense. after all, why buy a rather expensive automobile when you could jet around on a snowmobile - and split the cost with a friend or a sibling or parent... they could ride up to three people, if it was necessary... usually just 2 adults or maybe 2 adults and a kid.
here is a shot of one of the small houses i walked past along Main Street that gives a good idea of the type of cozy dwellings found in Anaktuvuk. in the background can be seen a good deal of other houses / shacks all facing a different and unique direction -- the owner's whimsy i guess. i quite liked the idea of a 365 degree layout... it was more as if the whole town owned the whole town as opposed to separate individuals owning certain and specific parts. there were certainly no gated communities here! :)
in all my time outside, over the many different forays i took, i think i only ran into a few people... they were on snowmobiles or in trucks and they would honk and wave at me as they sped past. i always got a big smile -- everyone was super friendly. however they were probably wondering what the heck i was doing walking aimlessly in the snow with my camera hanging around my neck. i spoke to two guys in a truck at somepoint -- they looked like rather 'big' guys and my first instinct was to step away, feeling a bit cautious when they pulled up right beside me. but they were very cordial and extremely keen to chat -- they were just completely shocked that there was a visitor in town. 'we don't get visitors up here -- ever', they told me. i almost blushed... i guess that made me a first! :)
of the 300 person population, Anaktuvuk was almost half adolescents -- just at the age to start having kids... which some of them were already doing. the rest were middle age and elderly -- and it seemed everyone worked, fulfilling some sort of job to keep the small town from grinding to a halt. it was a very complete network, and an amazing team -- something i haven't really ever had a chance to experience on this kind of isolated scale. although i didn't get a chance to ask, i would imagine most of them were related to each other. had i had more time, i would have loved to inquire about marriage and the process of finding a partner in these isolated parts. i assume partners were often found in other locations and then the question of who was going to relocate where was discussed.
from the 18 hours i spent in this amazing place, i quickly realized that life -- as similar as it usually turned out to be all across this amazing globe, could also be radically different in very small ways. it was simply a mind blowing experience!
all work protected by Creative Commons
Canon EOS REBEL XT
1/50 second
F/5.6
ISO 400
55 mm