Between funerals, 2: dinner at the Aikens

This is from the community dinner that took place tonight in the home of my good friend, Johnny Lee Aiken, Executive Director of The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, who will be buried tomorrow, and his wife, Marietta. Johnny is the son of Kunuk, whose bowhead whaling crew I followed for four seasons and featured in my book, "Gift of the Whale."

Those who followed my posts before I went to Nuiqsut are reminded that I drove into Anchorage four days straight without ever saying much about why and on the final day featured a photo of the Christus statue outside Providence Hospital. Johnny was staying there after prolonged cancer treatment in Long Beach, California, just before returning home to Barrow to be with family and loved ones as he departed this life.

The woman in the middle with the yearbook is his sister, Anna. In October, 1988, I, who am not a wedding photographer, photographed her wedding to the late Joe Stenkewicz. The wedding started late because her dad Kunuk was out in a tiny motorboat helping to tow home a fall whale. Anna refused to begin the wedding until her father arrived. The beautiful young woman to her left is her and Joe's daughter, Amelia. Pikok, Marietta's sister, sits to her right. Today, Lloyd Nageak was buried. Tomorrow, Johnny. It is not an easy time in this very close-knit community.

Comments

[Nancy]

Thank you, Bill, for being so kind and for your new posting methodology. Just wanted you to know how much this is appreciated! You may not be religious, but methinks you are highly spiritual and a very good man.