Sunday, December 22 2024 @ 03:22 AM JST

United States Shishmaref Island_Epilogue

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United States Shishmaref Island (49th island)

Stacy and Godmother came to see me off

Eskimos are very similar to Japanese

Last evening we took a walk on the sandy road again

Made of seal fur
I got a folk craft as a souvenir

Snowmobile toys

Stacy dancing an Eskimo dance

The third daughter Stacy and her fiancé

Folk crafts made by Eskimos

Eskimo youth eat up to the bones
At my age not eating because I care about cholesterol

Roast beef

Reindeer and Kotetsu make roast and beef from caribou meat

Caribou meat chunks

Musk ox grazing leisurely

Ruins of an abandoned house eight years ago

Eskimo dance practice

Click here for a flower slideshow

September 12-16, 2007

                   Yoshimasa Ikeuchi, a traveling iron man

In the evening, Kotetsu and the two of us slowly
stepped on the sandy beach and walked.

Without worrying about the rain that came down,
I raised my hand and exchanged greetings with an Islander I knew.

Memories are revived in the traces of the wheels of the running buggy.

Perhaps my ancestor was this Islander.

I stepped on and walked so that their footprints
would be permanently carved into the sandy road.

September 22 Stacy, the third daughter to go to her bride,
is the first Eskimo to meet at the airport.

There is a mysterious encounter with the relationship between people and there is a farewell.
Encounters with people, encounters with nature,
and tomorrow are waiting for another encounter.

The trip is interesting because it is this.

Surrounded by many families, the "Richard family" never ceases to laugh.

I got a glimpse of the cozy Eskimo life on the road
thanks to the many valuable experiences
in my daily life and the family.

A real-faced lifestyle made up of rare guests from Japan.

One of the few experiences of traveling to get a glimpse
of Eskimo's daily life rather than a luxurious meal.

The taste that was cooked for 6 hours was soft,
there was no odor, and the meat was firm.

I thoroughly tasted the loving home
cooking of God Mother "Rachel" (61).

The lean part was like venison,
and Dennis smashed her bones and sucked to her pith.

There is no word of gratitude for the treatment of the Richard family,
who provided a room at a cheap price even though it was not a guest house,
as if it were a family.

A valuable experience must give back
something for the "earth" in the future life.

At the Last Supper,
roasted caribou adorned the table.

The handling of meat lumps is also familiar.
Kotetsu was also surprised at the cooking
that chopped the bones with a saw.

In 8 years has no trace of an abandoned house
and only a part of the skeleton is left.

The Islanders who abandoned the Island have already migrated to the mainland.
Living on the Island is not easy, but Eskimos,
born and raised in Shishmaref, like this Island.
Disposable buggies and snowmobiles become piles of garbage,
and empty cans are littered everywhere
and it's hard to take pictures.

Kotetsu's one word

The autumn leaves on the river cruise were overwhelming.  I met many birds and wild musk ox.

A chartered sea that I did not meet with a single ship on both round trips to the Arctic Ocean
I was fortunate to meet when the leaves turned red all at once in a week.

The exhilaration of lying on blueberries, brown berries and crown berries will be a lifelong memorable one.

Trivia

Caribou

Thank you to all the caribou Santa is riding a "reindeer",
a wild reindeer is called a caribou livestock that are bred are called "reindeer".

Caribou has horns for both males and females musk ox although it is named cow,
it is a group of goats and sheep.

5 days on the Arctic Island of Shishmaref,
Eskimos who live in harmony with nature rather than fighting with nature.

The Islands that are being scraped off
by the effects of global warming are screaming.

I firmly confirmed with my own eyes that 14 houses
have already been abandoned and are disappearing where humans can live.

(Thank you) QUAN from the bottom of my heart to the Islanders who wanted to meet sooner.

Shake hands hard with Richard and head to the airport.

Driving is the third daughter "Stacy" Godmother's "Rachel" also saw off.

The feelings of leaving my hometown made my heart warm,
and the faces of the two who were seeing off seemed blurred.
 

Epilogue