It was nice to reconnect with the wisdom of Grandmother Rita, Marie and Jennifer. To connect with the salmon season and the traditions of catching, processing and eating the beautiful red salmon. What a difference with our salmon farming.
As always when I travel, deep respect for nature comes to the surface the overwhelming, untouched perfection of life.
Alaska is a landscape of Scandinavian countries, Scotland and Switzerland in one.
How the different tribes lived in the past is to me similar to the Sami people. They do have a lot of contact with each other and meet each other once in a while.
Jennifer showed me where Grandmother Rita picks her healing plants and where there are still a lot of fossils to be found.
Marie showed us the hospital that is only open for natives. Many native people still live along the rivers. You can only reach them by a small charter boat. There is a hotel next to the hospital where the natives can stay close to their sick family members. The hospital is built in a round way and when you enter you will see a circle where music is made and where dancing is performed. On all floors you can enjoy the beautiful indigenous art. All this gives such a positive energy that you cure yourself. But how healthy will we be in the future anyway?
Marie shared some of the wisdom of the Elders she visited about our well being in the future: Lillanaqluteng akemkut yugugaat qilak tangvagaat akerta nalallrani.
As I work here in my work station at my home in Anchorage, I just wrote and translated narrations talks by Elder Amarr’aq (Annie Nelson) from Naparyararrmiut. She shared this when I recorded her last April.

She said:
Cali maa-i qaniallrat augkut umyuaqela’arqa. Maa-i tamakunek niicuirutevsiarluta piukut. Waten- llu ellingramta niicuiterayagaqluta illikun. Qanlallruut waten, “Avani kinguqvaarni yuut, nakleng, kakeggliliyaramegteggun umyuangecigut.
Still to this day I remember the words of the people in the past. Today we hardly hear about them anymore. And some of us Elders behave inappropriately at times. They talked about the future and said, “In the future people will lose the ability to think rationally and wisely and only use their nose septum to think.”

Umyuangeciqut-gguq kakeggliliyaramegteggun; ikegliluni naniliuni. Tuaten-gguq ayuqliriciqukut. Kitumek assiilkenritelta, assiilkellemteni-gguq arcaqanruyuartukut.
Qanellrit elitaq’laranka tekitaqamki.
They say people will lose their thinking power and only use their nose septum to think and reason; their minds becoming shallow and short. They said that was how people will be in the future. They told us not to bad-mouth and victimise others; saying that we might be worse than those who criticise. Today when I experience and see things in my life around me I recognise and remember the words of those old ones.

Marie Made