Last blog

One of my Crew members taking pictures
Hey everyone. This is my last blog. I had fun doing this and fun learning about Aleut people. I would like to thank everyone who read and followed my blog. I am happy that you learned just as much as me. Hope you like what I wrote, it all came from stuff that happened to me, it was a good summer and fall semester.

Aleut Visors

While I was visiting the Sand Point Culture Camp this summer, I visited and watch an Aleut hat maker, Peter D., make his Aleut Hats. They were very interesting and very nice at the same time. I really liked how he would carve to perfection on each wood piece. Then I went outside with him and learned that he boiled the wood hats that he carved. He boiled them so he could bend them. After he bent them he put them in a strain and let them dry. After they dried they were painted with different designs. It was a cool experience to watch this. I want to learn next year.

Aleut Dancing

I never really knew much about the Aleut culture until I met my now fiance, Karis Jackson. She introduced me to the Aleut Culture and the Aleut Dancing. I couldn't believe what kind of things they did. Their dancing was so cool and so was their regalia. The first time I went to culture camp in Sand Point, I went to see what kind of stuff they did. I watched their dancing and thought that it was interesting, here is a picture of their performance. Enjoy.

Fishing

Every summer I go fishing on a boat named the Ms. Ingrid. Where we fish, there are a lot of other boats too. We all do salmon fishing during the summer time. The boat I fish on is one of the bigger boats in the harbor. A lot of the boats are small 32 ft. boats but the boat I'm on is at least 58 ft. The boat that has a stall next to ours and is about the same size, is called the Vicki Ray. The owners name is Raymond, he is a fisherman who has been fishing for many years, same as my boss. Fishing is a way of life for a lot of people. It's my way of life in the Summer.

Beautiful Sites

False Pass
I took some pictures while I was tendering on a boat called the Ms. Ingrid. I even took pictures of a small village called False Pass on Unimak Island. False Pass used to be populated with over a hundred people. Now there are less than 65 people.
Unimak Island
There are three volcanos in Unimak Island; Shishaldin, Isanotski (Ragged Jack), and Roundtop volcano. I took 2 out of 3 of the volcanos.
Pavlof
This picture is Pavlof volcano and Pavlof's Sister. In 2007, Pavlof erupted and I was living in Sand Point. There was no ash fall in Sand Point but I think King Cove had a little ash fall.
Unga Island

Abandon villages

In the Aleutians Islands have abandon villages, for example a village called Unga on Unga near Sand Point on Popof Island. Most of these villages didn't have good schools than other village and partly because of the Aleut Evacuation. The Aleut Evacuation happen during World War II. I took this picture summer of 2009 while I was tendering on a boat. The crew and I were on our way to King Cove. this place was called Belkofski; the biggest building there is a school or a church, not quite sure though.

My Thoughts of Aleut History

While I was writing these blogs, I wondered how it would be if I were the ancient Aleut man that did all of these activities. It seems like a good experience to learn these things because it teaches you how to live your life without all the modern day technology. This would be a great experience for any young boys who are in these cultures. I think it would be good if the young Aleut boys of today could learn how to do all these things like they did in the olden days. It would be a great experience for them to learn the way of their ancestors.
I can't believe all of the downfalls that the Aleut people have been through. They have experienced everything. They went through Russian slavery,world War II and almost losing their culture. This is a strong culture and they hold up their beliefs.