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A blog by Bill Hess

Running Dog Publications

P.O. Box 872383 Wasilla, Alaska 99687

 

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Wasilla

Wasilla is the place where I have lived for the past 29 years - sort of. The house in which my wife and I raised our family sits here, but I have made my rather odd career as a different sort of photojournalist by continually wandering off to other places to photograph people and gather information, which I have then put together in various publications that have served the Alaska Native Eskimo, Indian and Aleut communities.

Although I did not have a great of free time to devote to this rather strange community, named after a Tanaina Athabascan Indian chief who knew Wasilla in the way that I so impossibly long to, I have still documented it regularly over the past quarter-century plus. In the early days, my Wasilla photographs focused mostly upon my children and the events they participated in - baseball, football, figure skating, hockey, frog catching, fire cracker detonation, Fourth of July parade - that sort of thing. 

In 2002, I purchased my first digital camera and then, whenever I was home, I began to photograph Wasilla upon a daily basis, but not in a conventional way. These were grab shots - whatever caught my eye as I took my many long walks or drove through the town, shooting through the car window at people and scenes that appeared and disappeared before I could even focus and compose in the traditional photographic way.

Thus, the Wasilla portion of this blog will be devoted both to the images that I take as I wander about and those that I have taken in the past. Despite the odd, random, nature of the images, I believe they communicate something powerful about this town that I have never seen expressed anywhere else. 

Wasilla is a sprawling community that has been slapped down hodge-podge upon what was so recently wilderness of the most exquisite beauty. In its design, it is deliberately anti-zoned, anti-planned. In the building of Wasilla, the desire to make a buck has trumped aesthetics and all other considerations. This town, built in the midst of exquisite beauty, has largely become an unsightly, unattractive, mess of urban sprawl. Largely because of this, it often seems to me that Wasilla is a community with no sense of community, a town devoid of town soul.

Yet - Wasilla is my home and if I am lucky it will be until I grow old and die. Despite its horrific failings, it is still made of the stuff of any small city: people; moms and dads, grammas and grampas, teens, children, churches, bars, professionals, laborers, soldiers, missionaries, artists, athletes, geniuses, do-gooders, hoodlums, the wealthy, the homeless, the rational and logical, the slightly insane and the wholly insane - and, yes, as is now obvious to the whole world, politicians, too.

So perhaps, if one were to search hard enough, it might just be possible to find a sense of community here, and a town soul. So, using my skills as a photojournalist and a writer, I hope to do just that. If this place has a sense of community, I will find it. If there is a town soul to Wasilla, I will document it. I won't compete with the newspapers. Hell no! But as time and income allow, it will be fun to wander into the places where the folks described above gather, and then put what I find on this blog.

 

by 300...

Anywhere within a 300 mile radius of Wasilla. This encompasses perhaps the most wild, dramatic, gorgeous, beautiful section of land and sea to be found in any comparable space anywhere on Earth. I can never explore it all, but I will do the best that I can, and will here share what I find and experience with you.  

and then some...

Anywhere else in the world that I happen to get to, such as Point Lay, Alaska; Missoula, Montana; Serenki, Chukotka, Russia; or Bangalore, India. Perhaps even Lagos, Nigeria. I have both a desire and scheme to get me there. It is a long shot. We shall see if I succeed.

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Sunday
Jun282009

Iceberg 14: those who were in the boat

DateSunday, June 28, 2009 at 1:12PM

Wainwright's Ahmaogak family Iceberg 14 whaling crew is much bigger then this, of course, but these are those who were in the boat when they harpooned the whale. At left is Artie, who, since the passing of Ben and Florence is the Elder of the crew. He was not actually in the boat, but as the Elder he commands the same respect.

Next to him is Bennie, who fired the shoulder gun, once the whale had been harpooned. Robert is co-captain and Captain Jason, whom long time readers have already met on the ice in the spring. The young man on the right is Jerry, the harpooner, who did his job well.

Yesterday, they hosted what will be Wainwright's only Nalukatak, or whaling feast, this spring. Due to weather, current and bad ice conditions, it was an exceptionally tough whaling season all along the Arctic Coast and Iceberg 14 was the only Wainwright crew to land a whale.

They fed their community, just the way Ben and Florence used to do, just about every year.

Well, it is Sunday and I am in Wainwright. As promised, I will try to find the time to do at least a quick edit of the Point Lay Nalukatak and post some representative samples.

AuthorWasilla, Alaska, by 300 | Comment2 Comments |
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Reader Comments (2)

and the one on the far right is our harpooner jerry ahmaogak

June 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAhmaogak

The four young men are all grandsons of the late Ben Sr. and Florence Ahmaogak of Wainwright. They are with Artie Kittick who has been with the Iceberg 14 crew since it was formed. Although he is a retired whaler, he is very much an important member of our crew. Thanks for this beautiful picture.

July 29, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMaak & Larry

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