Howard

I just got back from Howard's camp. I had to walk on water to get there! Howard Luke is an Athabaskan man who lives up river from Fairbanks about 10 miles. His camp is cut off from the mainland by the Chena river which freezes over in the winter. You can walk the half mile across the river to get to his camp when the ice is thick, or in the summer you can get across there in a boat. There's a flag you can raise at the landing to show Howard you want to come over and visit and he will come over in his boat to pick you up. Traversing the river today was touch and go as the weather is getting warmer and the ice is breaking up. Howard is a highly respected Senior Elder of the local community. One of the local schools has been named after him. He has written his own book telling his life story of growing up in the Athabaskan way and he still lives a traditional life of hunting and fishing in his camp where he lives by himself. He is a modern traditional man. He knows how to hunt moose, smoke fish, trap beaver and build a sweat lodge. He also has two snow machines, a solar powered cell phone and an outboard motor boat. He was kind enough to show me around his camp and tell me a bit about his life growing up in Alaska. What a great morning and how cool to have walked across a frozen river.