When one strives to manifest self according to the standards and mores consistant with others' many expectations...that one will gaze upon his own mirrored reflection, yet never will he see himself.

THE FACTS:

Let's start with some of the basic stuff. You know - the school time things.  Alaska is about 591,004 square miles BIG. The population is about 550,000 people with most of them located in Anchorage. Anchorage is the largest town, and is situated on the southern coast.  Juneau is the capitol of Alaska with about 30,000 people. It is on the southwestern arm.  From north to south it is about 1400 miles long. And from east to west it is 2400 miles long. The panhandel of Alaska, which is the 'beard' of Alaska is about 500 miles of coastal land.       There is a varied wildlife population here.  There are bears, fox, lynx,wolves,moose, caribou, reindeer, elk, etc.  By the way, the estimated moose population is 150,000 which is almost 1/4 of the 'people' population.      There has been remains discovered from as far back as 40,000 years ago. It is said that these inhabitants where migrating tribes from Asia.  They came over the land bridge.  This was a solid sheet of ice covering the Bering Straight between Alaska and Siberia.  Many of these people continued on south. While 4 main groups remained in Alaska.  The Athabascans, the Aleuts, the Inuit and the coastal Indians (Tlingits and Haidas).

Vitus Bering was said to have been the first white man on Alaskan soil.  In 1728 he sailed there for the Tsar of Russia.  Him and his crew returned with many furs.  This pushed Russia to establish a fur trade center where present day Kodiak is.  By the 19th century European invaders were well established in Alaska.  But in the 1860's, Russia realized it was overextended and so they decided to cut loose from Alaska.  In 1867 they signed a treaty with the Americas.  It was called "Sewards Folly".  Becasue many American's believed to spend 7.2 million dollars fro a vast emptiness was foolish.  That price worked out to less than 2 cents per acre.      Then in 1867 gold was discovered in Alaska.  There were about 60,000 people in Alaska by this time.  The people there started pushing to become a part of the United States.  During WW1 this movement ended.  The people were more occupied with fighting the war.  In fact, many people returned to the lower 48 to help with the war efforts.      In 1942 Japan attacked Attu and the Aleutian Islands.  The US responed by taking the land of Alaska more seriously.  They built the Alcan Highway.  This endeavor took mush time and money and hard labor.  It is a 1520 mile stretch of highway from Alaska, through the Yukon and Canada to the lower 48.      Finally in 1959, President Eisenhower declared Alaska the 49th state.

You don't ask questions when you are growing up. You watch and listen and wait, and the answer will come to you. It's yours then, not like learning in school. * Larry Bird *Keres Tribe

"On March 27th, 1964, Alaska started shaking, like she never shook before" as the words to a famous song go.  This earthquake, that shook Alaska, measured 8. plus on the rictor scale.  About 130 acres of land slipped into the sea at Anchorage.   Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska, with almost 1/2 the total population of the state withing it's district.  During the quake people reported thinking that Armagedon was at hand.  The streets in Anchorage were raised and giant cavernous holes appeared from out of nowhere.  Sheer panic prevailed.  Many lives were lost in Mother Earth's growing pains. In 1968 oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay.  It wasn't until 1971 that a treaty was signed with the natives that inhabited this northern land.  Then, it took another 6 years of hard labor before the oil started to flow.   Then on March 24th 1989, the Exxon Valdez (pronounced Val-deez) ran aground at Bligh Reef.  In this disaster, 11.2 million gallons of oil were spilled.  The cost to Alaska for this disaster was enormous.  Not only in the loss of the wildlife because of  of the oil coating them.  But also because of the land and ocean that was hurt from the coating of oil.

There is much beauty and splendore in Alaska. One of the most famous sites in Alaska is Mt. McKinley which is in Denali National Park.  Mt. McKinley is 20,320 feet, or almost 4 miles high.  I remember being able to see Mt. McKinley from as far away as Fairbanks. When you came over Hagelbarger hill, north of Fairbanks, on a good day you could see the Mt. in its glory, shining like a gem.

Silence is the absolute balance of body, mind, and spirit. Silence is the cornerstone of character. *Ohiyesa *Santee Sioux

THE FANTASY

UNDER CONSTRUCTION, PLEASE BE PATIENT                                          :-)

First of all, Alaska does not suffer from 6 months of total darkness then 6 months of unending sunlight. We have night and day just as in all the other parts of the world. We do have longer summer days up there, and shorter winter days. But the only time I have ever seen the sun for 24 hours in a single day, was when I was visiting relatives up in Barrow. You could watch the sun dip to the horizon and follow the horizon till it started it's upward arc. Secondly, there has only been one time that I have ever seen an Igloo. It was when I was 2 years old and I do not even remember it. My father built it. We live in houses just like those everywhere else.  They still make Igloo's some, but it is usually only when people are on a long hunt. And that is even dying out. Tents are making their way into the Eskimos lives for hunting purposes. When I was growing up, my cousins and I were kept in line by our Inupiat mothers with a story, that now, makes me laugh at myself. When we would go out to play, we were told that if we were bad, then at night, the Northern Lights would come down and take our heads off and use them to play ball with. Let me tell you, when you are young, and if you knew you had done something you shouldn't have.... and you got caught out away from the house at night, looked up and noticed the Northern Lights dancing about.... you made a bee line to the safety of the house!!

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