11:22 AM
| Sunrise at | 8:42 AM | in direction | 108° | East-southeast |  |
| Sunset at | 6:30 PM | in direction | 251° | West-southwest |  |
Lucy and I had dinner out, her last night in Fairbanks. On our way to drop Gary, my husband, off at Davis Concert Hall for work, she told us that they accomplished what they needed to do at the Presbytery meeting, although it had been hard work and took a long time. Later as we drove to the Double Eagle Restaurant at the Golf Course, she told me she was taking a year off from her role as Commissioned Ruling Elder (CRE). She would take time to rest and search inside herself for whether she should shoulder this role in the future. Until two women in the congregation were commissioned, they would need to fly a CRE from another village or a pastor to perform baptisms and the sacraments.
There was a lot of talk, she said, about thinking outside the box. How could Christianity compete with the media and the secular mind set of the younger generations? Then too, Christianity came late to the island, so it was not the practice of several generations. I thought to myself that they are not alone. All of the Presbyteries are facing declining congregations. I appreciated the seriousness with which she reflected on the status of the church. Later I researched the history of the island in the the Yukon Presbytery annals ( Yukon Presbytery - St. Lawrence Island ) and found that the name of the village was in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Vene Gambell, Presbyterian missionaries, who took over from the Episcopal church who had no missionaries willing to live there. Their mission in St. Lawrence ended tragically when the boat upon which they traveled to return to the island, the Lady Jane Grey, sank.
While we waited for our meal, talk turned to her life on the island of St. Lawrence. There are two villages on St. Lawrence, Gambell and Savoonga. I did not know that it was a migratory landing spot for birds and as a consequence, a destination for adventurous birders in the spring and fall. I found this link from a bird watching visitor: Bird-watching in Gambell. So the economy experiences a small boost during the migratory seasons, but life is chiefly supported by subsistence hunting and fishing.
They have whaled in small, skin-covered boats for centuries. She mentioned that in the last decade there was a whaling accident where four people died as they hauled a whale in at night, two of them 11 year old children. The loss of these four people after a whale hunt still reverberates in her memory as such loses are rare and was compounded by the death of children: Four Missing or Dead.
Lucy spoke honestly of the skill the residents show in carving walrus and baleen. Islanders are among the few native populations that have the right to sell ivory and other artifacts from their island. That is because they opted to own the land rather than be supported by the government as a result of the Alaska Native Settlement Act in 1971. Raw materials are in abundance ( Bering Sea Treasures ). From these materials scrimshaw, carvings, cribbage boards, and jewelry are created (Alaska Native Arts - St. Lawrence Island).
Lucy has three children. Two have their own families, but her youngest was born much later and at sixteen is still living at home. She has five grand children. Her husband was a subsistence hunter until his retirement and now is an aide at the elementary school. She spoke highly of the UAF Distance Education program, which allows native peoples to complete their education not only while living in their village, but providing programs and focus that fit best within the culture of the villagers. She is a substance abuse counselor in her village, and commented how fortunate she was to have done her practicum in Nome. She told me they have a vision of creating a detox center in their region for those who need the three to seven day period of abstinence before they turn to their psychological dependence.
In the link I provided above, Bering Sea Treasures, at the very bottom is a photo of the insulated sewer and water pipes. Lucy told me water and sewer systems were install about 20 years ago and it made an incredible difference in the lives of the villagers. She can not imagine living without this convenience now. She also asked about programs to further increase insulation of homes. Being dependent on heating oil is an unwelcome expense for everyone living at lower latitudes in Alaska, but it is a hardship for those who live above timber line on the tundra. They even power their electricity with fuel oil. I promised to provide her with contact information for the Cold Climate Research Center (CCRC) and the Alternative Center for Energy and Power (ACEP).
We talked about the dilemma that women face - everyone gets attention and what they need before the mother and wife - and how at some point, we realized we needed to care for ourselves so those who depended on us could hope to have us healthy and able to help them in the future. She talked about how difficult it was to find time for herself and her spiritual life. She commented several times that she was blessed to have the opportunity to stay in our apartment. She had time to be alone with God, something that is not easy to come by at home. I was humbled by her words. I would not have seen our apartment as more than a comfortable place to stay without her telling me so.
There are several things I wanted to experience in life that have so far eluded me and some that I have experienced. I have been up behind a dog team on a sled, although I would really, really like to be able to have my own small team. I have not had grand children, which often causes me deep sorrow. I want to visit a native village. St. Lawrence, despite its remote location, is the one I want to visit. I would very much like to see Lucy again.
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