Outdoors/Adventure

Help young hunters hunt, and help preserve the soul of the Arctic

Spring 2017: A 16-year-old Native from the Bering Straits region harpoons a 57-foot bowhead whale. His village proclaims him a hero and accomplished hunter. He is all of that and rightly so. He has done more than help feed his village, he has made a giant step in bridging diverse cultures.

Unfortunately, the myopic, wild-eyed radicals who hide behind their computer screens can’t see that far.

The hate mail and threats Chris Apassingok received caused him to withdraw and even avoid school. It is tough, if not impossible, for a teenager to stand in the face of virulent criticism. Adults can’t always do it. It may be tough for Chris, today, to see the true impact of what he accomplished. Heck, he wasn’t trying to make any kind of statement when he joined the whale hunt — he was just another hunter among many, excited at the opportunity to hunt and provide.

However, the impact of his accomplishment will reach across generations. Chris bridged the chasm faced by villagers in Alaska and other Arctic communities. How can you balance putting a spear point in a whale with being able to dunk a basketball over LeBron James? You cannot.

Most kids over the age of 8 have an iPhone or access to one. Glitz is presented at every click. Unrealistic expectations and “must have” products are presented as the norm. Why do folks in Kaktovik spend $8 a gallon to have bottled water sent there? Because the internet said that to be cool, you drink water from a bottle. No one escapes the advertisers online.

This is not just a village issue. It is something faced by every hunter and fisherman in the country. Shoot a moose and you are evil. Catch a nice rainbow trout and you are cruel. Most of us can laugh it off and deal with the abuse by ignoring it and considering the source. We need to be able to grow thicker skins to accept the virulent criticism of social media. It is not going to go away.

We can all clearly see the problem. Solutions are murkier. A couple thousand years ago it was written, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” That holds solid today. Your culture, your home, is the basis of village life, the soul.

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Canada’s Yukon has some terrific examples we would all do well to emulate. Whitehorse has enclaves of Germans, Irish, Scots and others. They are Yukoners, one and all, but still hang on to valuable pieces of their individual cultures. Peace of the soul comes from within and the culture that moves you. You can be a janitor or a doctor and remain true to your heritage.

You do not need to do great things in the world. Small things in a small pond have far-reaching effects. You can shoot a nice brace of sharptails and take it to the neighbor’s house for dinner, and your neighbor will never forget that. Chris Apassingok did a huge thing and the world will not forget.

You would never buy a snowmachine without knowing the cost. Yet we buy into crap on the internet every day without any idea what we must pay.

Our “savvy” society understands the solution, we just don’t know how to pass it on. Individually, most of us can consider the source and handle or ignore the criticism. It is not so easy for young people. Those in the Bush need to realize they are valuable. They are the future of rural Alaska, a place that is far too valuable to lose. Resource development is fleeting. In 50 years the oil is depleted and the gold is in someone’s bank, but not the village bank.

The caribou are still on the tundra, and the bowheads swim by as they always have. Look hard at Chris Apassingok and help him hunt them. We should be carrying him on our shoulders. Make his giant step become a rallying cry for the individual hunter and gatherer. If a change is to be made, it must be made individually, one person at a time, by each and every one of us.

John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives near Paxson with his family. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest.

John Schandelmeier

Outdoor opinion columnist John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest.

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