In what would be the most amazing time of her life, Rita Ramoth took the trip from Kivalina to New Orleans in stride. Rita had won a contest sponsored by Shell to 'name that ship'.
I received a visit from Rita in my office one day in November and she asked me how to spell the Iñupiaq word for 'beluga', which is 'sisuaq'. I told her and asked her what was up. She said she was entering a contest sponsored by Shell. She then asked me what she could write about the beluga. I told her to express how valuable as a resource it is for the Iñupiaq people, how it's an important part of our culture, and what it means to us. So she left my office to work on her essay.
Several months later, I received a call from McQueen School's principal, Zoe Theoharis. She said she had something of importance to share with me and if I can come to her office because she doesn't want anyone to know what was up…..and I got a little apprehensive. I made plans to go to her office at 3:00 p.m.
"So what's going on, Zoe?" I asked her as she closed the door to her office. My immediate thought was 'uh oh, this is bad; she's closing her office door'. She proceeded to tell me that it had to do with Rita. I sat there and waited to hear the news. Then she said, "Rita won a contest." I exhaled.
She went into the plan of how to get her and my parents to the Regional basketball tournament without them knowing what was going on. I told her to leave it to me, I can get them there and they won't suspect a thing. See, they have all grown accustomed to me taking care of their expenses when needed. This wouldn't be a surprise for them. So we finished with working out the details.
We were in Kotzebue for the high school basketball tournament and I was told that Rita needed to be in the gym during the boys' championship game. So I said ok. I looked for her in the gym and she was nowhere to be found. I asked the students. They said she was at the hotel. I called the room and she tells me she's going to visit her Uncle Tiny to see her little cousin instead of coming to the gym. In a firm voice, I said, "You are coming to the gym!" She reluctantly said 'ok'. I exhaled.
She came in and I settled to watch the game. Zoe came to find me. She asked me, "Where is Rita?" I said she is sitting by the Kivalina crowd. She said 'no she isn't.' I am now in panic mode again but decided then and there that I was done.
"You find her! I got her here, now it's up to you to keep her here." I said to Zoe. She replies with 'okay but if she's not here, I don't know what we're going to do.' I grumble inside but return to my seat. But I can't stay still. This is too big for Rita not to be here. I join the search but see that Zoe has found her. I exhale.
"And now for the moment we've all been waiting for," says the Shell representative. "We'd like to present this award to a student from Kivalina who entered a contest."
I can see Rita standing beside Zoe near the wall behind the Shell people. She had no idea what was going on. She hears her name being called and what goes though her mind is, "Adii, what I do now? How come they're calling my name?" She has no idea what is going on. Mission accomplished! I exhale.
I was sitting by Dad and Mom, Joseph and Lona Swan, when they called for them to the floor. Dad is asking, "What? They want us to go down?" I said yes. Then he looked at me, "You liar!" I burst out laughing!
"You made me think that YOU were paying for everything. I was wondering how come you can give us money everyday, like you're rich!" he continued on with a big grin on his face. I am still laughing and say, "I am good, huh?"
Rita Ramoth won a contest that gave the Iñupiaq program $5,000, a gift certificate for herself in the amount of $500 and a trip to New Orleans to christen the ship. Her grandparents Joseph Sr. and Lona Swan were to escort her on the trip, but Lona felt the trip would be too long for her elderly body and opted out. Joseph agreed to accompany Rita only if I would also come along, so everyone agreed. Unfortunately, several days before the trip, Joseph developed a medical condition and bowed out so that left Rita and me. We had a ball!
This was Rita's first trip out of Alaska, her first visit to a zoo, to a swamp in hopes of seeing a live alligator. We saw a two 2-foot alligator. We met and talked with a genuine Cajun man. He asked if any female in the boat was single. Several of us raised our hands. Then he asked if we owned a boat. None of us raised our hands, even though I had one. We saw where this was going. It was a joke so we all laughed! We were wined and dined by Shell Oil and Harvey Gulf company personnel. It was cool!
We walked to have a look at the Mississippi River. We toured downtown of New Orleans. We saw some homes that had been abandoned because the owners had no means of doing repairs to them after the storm Katrina. We drove through Holly Grove street where Lil' Wayne was born because her friend playfully asked her to drive through there. Our driver was kind enough to take us there simply because Rita spoke of it.
We toured the ship Rita had named inside and out. The captain of the boat took us all over. New Orleans was already hot and humid. The air inside the ship was double that so everyone from Alaska were all very hot. We went to the living quarter area and there was a kitchen. Our tour guide said, "And here is where we keep our food" as he opened the door to a walk-in freezer. I said, "OMG, let me in! I need to cool off! This is as close to the Arctic as we can get!" The tour guide let me in until we cooled off. It was to laugh.
The grand finale was the NBA game between New Orleans Hornets and the Utah Jazz! We had box seat paid for by Harvey Gulf. We saw Scottie Pippen in the photo I had taken of the sidelines. He was sitting with the Utah Jazz team. It was an amazing experience to sit in a NBA game, and we left reluctantly.
As we were leaving the arena, Jason, our driver, said, "If you guys were staying another night, I'd take you to meet Lil' Wayne. We're taking Harvey Gulf's employee's daughter there for an after-party gig." We were so disappointed we were going to miss that. That was an opportunity of a lifetime. Jason told us he had known Lil' Wayne as a kid because they were at the same school together and they watched Lil' Wayne's career blossom.
But we had fun! The food was great and so was the hospitality. Amazing place and amazing people.
We would like to thank Shell Oil, Harvey Gulf and everyone who has made the trip to be an unforgettable experience for both Rita and me. It encourages the young people of Kivalina to try new things; something just might happen unexpectedly of epic proportions for them too.
Janet Mitchell lives in the Northwest Alaska village of Kivalina.
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