A quick bite to eat

I found myself shedding tears more than once, but I must say the funeral of Johnny Aiken was a beautiful gathering - as the funerals of good people so often are. Along with deep sorrow, good people generate an outpouring of love at death and that love translates into beauty at their funerals.

This is the blessing of the food at the post-funeral dinner inside the house that Johnny Lee Aiken built and with wife Marietta made into a home for their famiily. That's Marietta to the right, with niece Ruby Aiken Donovan and her baby, Shaelynn. I had a plane to catch so I took just 5 minutes to eat a bowl of soup and grab three strips of smoked salmon and then headed toward the door, but it took longer than that to pass through all the hugs and to make it to the car of Marietta's brother, Tony Edwardsen, who drove me to the airport.

The plane is delayed. I could have stayed longer and enjoyed my food. If time permits before I leave again in just a few days, I will blog the funeral, but I don't believe I will Instagram it.

Savik's umiak and sleds

This is the umiak, sleds and storage area of Savik crew and the place where I usually stay in Barrow, including this trip. My time for today is all claimed. I will not post again before I head for Wasilla this evening. After I get home, should time and energy allow, I will see if I can cover yesterday and today in a traditional blog post, the kind I commonly did before Instagram first caught me a month or so ago.

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.

Between funerals, part 1: James plays guitar and sings for his brother

Along with his large family and huge extended family, James Nageak buried his younger brother, Lloyd, today. In his speech, he stated that as the older brother he was supposed to be the first to go, but instead God had given him this pain to bear. The Reverend Dr. Nageak is a minister in the Presbyterian Church, a Phd and retired professor from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he developed Iñupiaq language study programs and taught.

In his speech, he also recalled what a bookworm Lloyd was and how he excelled at mathematics. He recalled going on an ugruk (bearded seal) hunt with Lloyd. They spotted an ugruk but it dove and swam away under water. Lloyd sat down in the boat, recited a mathematical formula, did some calculating, then guided the boat to a certain spot and told James to get his rifle ready. Sure enough, the ugruk surfaced right in front of him. Shortly after I took this picture at tonight's post funeral singspiration, James sang a duo with his sister, Priscilla Sage: When the Saints Go Marching In. He did a pretty good imitation of Louis Armstrong and he told a good story about how this song became part of his repertoire. I'll save that for another time.

Logbook: Wasilla to Barrow, entry 5: Barrow: Luggage

Note: I tried to post this about seven hours ago, but the wireless signal was too weak and it failed. much has happened since, but it is not material i want to post before I give it time and thought. As noted in my original failed attempt below, I could have problems accessing a strong signal until I leave for home. I may not post again until then.

Logbook: Wasilla to Barrow, entry 5: Barrow: I arrived in Barrow right on time, but could not get a signal until just now. I doubt it is strong enough to post, but I will try. My posts will probably be very infrequent now. No 4g and my access to wireless will be sporadic.