Yup'iks are probably the most resourceful people I know of. We fix our own outboards, fix our own snowmachines, fix our own four-wheelers and so on. We hunt for our food, we make a lot of our hunting gear. We make good use of what we have and always adapt to change.
One of the things that has been bothering me is our complete dependence on casket companies during deaths of our loved ones. When my boy died this past summer, I didn't want to be at the mercy of a casket company because I have seen what waiting and waiting sometimes does to families.
I have been to a number of funerals on the Yukon and saw that caskets that the families used were all homemade. So when my boy died, I wanted one that was made here by one of our local craftsmen. This is a trend that needs to be followed because so many times our corporations or village nonprofits volunteer to buy these unnecessary expenses of a funeral. The caskets are expensive and also expensive to fly in. Then there's the other part of organizations having to make phone calls to find out where this is and that is. We have many local craftsmen that could make quality caskets when we die. I also do not want to die bringing a $2,000 casket with me that someone else can use to buy food and other needs.
When we die, we are making Anchorage casket companies rich because they certainly won't give us a casket for free. I respect the business of death they are in. I also respect the airline companies because they volunteer their services, sometimes, for people who are in need in the villages.
We don't know when people will die around us but if they do, we should always have caskets made at home instead of relying on outside sources. We have so many wonderful people already that help each other when something happens without basically any expense to the grieving family. Communities like ours in the villages know, we all help each other by visiting, cooking, bringing food for the families.
Harley Sundown is an educator and a member of the Calista Corp. board of directors. He is a Scammon Bay columnist for The Tundra Drums, where this commentary first appeared.
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