A little more than a month after a fire destroyed the Kivalina Native Store, shoppers are back to business but with only basic necessities, such as food, available.
A few days after the blaze, a temporary store was set up in the warehouse near the site of the old building. But the warehouse is about a quarter of the size of the old store, and so things like hardware, sewing supplies and household items are not readily available to the community because there is simply no room to house them.
The electrical setup in the warehouse is old and last week, the new store was down to a fraction of its power.
"Things were going pretty good until yesterday when half our power went out, but it's being worked on," said Native Store manager Henrietta Adams. "It's just an old building."
As of last week, fuel for the village still had to be pumped manually as the fire damaged the electric system. Adams said that she hopes it will be fixed this week.
The store has had to go back to a conventional cash register because the computerized system was destroyed, and the credit and debit machine had to be hooked into the phone line, which makes for slow and spotty connections.
But store employees and community members are making do, she said.
"I personally want to thank everyone that sent donations and called to encourage us," Adams said. "People are being really patient and good about it."
The cause of the fire, which burned the store to the ground on Dec. 5, has yet to be determined, said Colleen Swan, who works with the local volunteer fire department. They haven't heard anything from state investigators, she said.
A new store will be erected, but not until the fall, when the barges come in carrying supplies.
Until then, locals are getting by with what the store is carrying and sending out orders to Kotzebue for what isn't available.
"It's not what I want at the moment but it's what we have," Adams said. "It's still far from normal."
And though the weeks have passed, the village is still basking in the glow of kindness and generosity shown by many individuals, corporations, agencies and governments. Kivalina received pallet after pallet of much-needed supplies, including food and basic necessities, after the fire.
Late last week, local artists were busy making dozens of signs with all the people and companies that helped out for a group photo to be sent out this week, said Shirley Adams, who is the bookkeeper at the Native Village of Kivalina.
There were so many villages and people from all over the state and Outside that jumped into action immediately to help, she said.
"It was awesome, it was good," she said.
In the weeks after the fire, the city of Kivalina sent out a statement after the fire thanking the hundreds of people who helped the community get back on its feet.
"(Thank you) to those who organized and contributed to the needs of our village of Kivalina and to those who volunteered in Kivalina to fight the fire, to organize the distribution of donated goods, most importantly to the Kivalina Volunteer Fire Department chief, Replogle Swan Sr., and officers," it said.
"Initial thoughts about the time of the fire that destroyed our Native Store was that it couldn't have happened at a worst (sic) time just before Christmas," the statement read. "But after the kind and compassionate response from the people outside of Kivalina who responded, and are continuing to contribute, to our needs changed that thought to, 'It couldn't have happened at a better time,' because December is when people are at their generous best in the spirit of the Celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.
"Not only did the kindness put food on the tables of the people of Kivalina, it has also restored the spirit and hope of many who reside in Kivalina."
This story first appeared in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission.