The Healthy Communities Summit - where the people gathered to find a way to a better future
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 3:36AM 
Through this blog, I have told readers that I spent last week at the Healthy Communities Summit in Kaktovik. Many know what a Healthy Communities Summit is, but many don't. In short, about five years ago, some teenagers in Barrow who were high on meth murdered a taxi driver for a very small amount of money, because they wanted to buy more meth.
This greatly upset not only the community of Barrow, but the Iñupiat community of the entire Arctic Slope, and those non-Iñupiat who share in the life.
Traditionally, the Iñupiat community was exceptionally healthy and fit, because it had to be, just to survive in such a physically demanding environment as the Arctic. Along with horrible diseases that devastated the community, the early Yankee commercial whalers brought alcohol and that, too, brought hardship to the community, but mostly in bits and spurts because most of the time, there was not that much alcohol to be had and people were out in the country and on the sea, working hard to survive.
I lack the space and time to delve into everything here, but in more modern times, particularly after the military increased its presence in World War II and especially during the cold war, and even more so after big oil came, alcohol problems grew and the new scourge of dangerous drugs was introduced.
After the meth-murder, a grass-roots movement rose up all across the Slope and eventually took on the title, "Healthy Communities." A leadership group was formed, bringing together people from the government, corporate and social worlds. Youth organizations became involved, churches, too.
North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta made the improvement of the health of Arctic Slope communities his number one priority.
This year's Healthy Communities Summit in Kaktovik was the fourth to be held. The theme: "Together We Have, Together We Will."
In the above picture, people have divided up into groups, both to hash out what the major obstacles to success are and to hammer together potential solutions.
See that big guy at the back wearing black, his arms folded? That's Big Bob Aiken. At this summit, Big Bob added a brand new perspective to the movement, when he broke the words, "Healthy Community" down to "Heal Thy Community."
Each group wrote down the problems, ideas and potential solutions on huge sheets of paper.
Each group took got to stand before the summit to present their ideas.
And these are the two individuals who headed up not only the organizing and planning of the summit, but who work with many groups in all the communities to find ways to plan and fund healthy activities: Colleen Akpik Leman, Special Assistant to Mayor Itta and Inauraq Edwardsen, who works with the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council - MYAC.
Every now and then, the serious stuff was interrupted for some fun and games. This is a game called Ninja, where each contestant gets a turn to try to slap one of the hands of the person standing on either side, but then must freeze and hold the position until someone tries to slap her hands.
Once a contestant's hand is slapped, that contestant is out of the game.
And this is Price Brower, whose skills as an airplane and helicopter pilot have saved many lives. No one succeeded in slapping his hand. He was left as the last one standing. He celebrated his victory.
As they are the people to whom so many turn for guidance and help, preachers from across the Slope were invited, both to give their input and to listen to what people had to say. Toward the end of the summit, they posed with Mayor Itta (left).
One who is not in the picture because she had to leave early, is the Reverend Mary Ann Warden, herself originally from Kaktovik, born into the Akootchook family.
Popsi Tingook of Point Hope told a story about how, towards the end of his life, Billy Graham flew to North Carolina where a limousine was sent to pick him up at the airport.
Graham told the driver that he loved to drive and had driven many kinds of vehicles, but never a limo, so the driver let him take the wheel.
Graham's foot got a little heavy and so a cop pulled him over. When he saw who was at the wheel, he excused himself and returned to his squad car to radio his chief. He told the chief that he had stopped someone very important and wondered whether or not he should write a ticket.
"Who? The Mayor?" his chief asked.
"No, more important than that."
"The Governor?"
"No. Way more important."
By the chief's reckoning, that left only possibility - the President of the United States.
No, the officer told him - someone even way more important than the president.
Who could that possibly be, the chief asked him?
"It must be Jesus," Tingook quoted the cop. "Billy Graham is his chauffeur."
Many, such as Fred Miller of Ilisagvik College, came to acknowledge their own histories of battling and overcoming substance abuse and to assure those present that it can all be overcome.
Far too many people - including young people - have been lost to suicide, not only on the Arctic Slope, but all across Alaska. On their own, the MYAC youth put together a skit in which not one word was spoken but a powerful message delivered. In the skit, a young woman living a good life, started dancing with the gentleman in the clergy robe. Then one by one, others come to tear her away from her spiritual foundation - they offer her glamour, physical pleasure, alcohol, drugs... until finally a dark spirit puts a gun in her hand and tries to get her to shoot herself.
She almost does, but then fights it off. Several times she struggles to get back to her spiritual foundation. Again and again, those who brought her down throw her back, but she keeps struggling until finally she breaks through.
Just before the summit ended, several members from the host community of Kaktovik stood before the crowd to sing the song, "Praying for you... your heart may be broken, your friends may be few, but someone is praying for you."
Fenton Rexford then offered a closing prayer. Inside them, all present could feel both the pain that no one has escaped, yet also the hope and belief that things will get better.
Now I have a great deal of work ahead of me - to thoroughly go through all of my pictures and all that was said and see how I can bring it all together with everything else that I am doing for my next issue of Uiñiq. I have barely touched it here.
Next up: The Kaktovik Eskimo Dance
Reader Comments (4)
wonderful and in some cases powerful pictures, such a worthwhile cause
Perhaps it is time to go back to our own culture. What has christianity done for the native cultures other that to obliterate them. Speaking from my own family's experience I am relying on my own culture's spirituality. It wouldn't be that bad if the majority of christians practiced what the say they believed. Can you say Sarah Palin. And by the way Billy Graham was a racist and a homophobe.
great documentation of an important event. i love fat-cheeked babies.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I was NOT aware of the "Healthy Communities Summit" and this has given me much hope!!
What a great idea that needs to be shared even more. I would love to see it state wide !!
Your telling of the events with the great pictures made me laugh, brought tears and overall made the end of my day just a little lighter!!