Blog Entry 6

Personally I don't interact with Alaskan wilderness on a regular basis. Thinking back to when I first moved to Alaska in 1999 (when I was 7), I became best friends with the girl across the street, and because of that friendship I became somewhat comfortable with Alaskan nature. When I was younger, playing in the tree house, by the slough or in the woods by my house was something I looked forward to. However, when my friend moved in 2003, I lost my desire to go out and play in nature.

Although I had some of my best childhood memories playing with my best friend in the woods, I believe that my perspective as a 20 year old has changed my view of Alaskan wilderness. I think that as I've gotten older, I've gained knowledge about how dangerous the Alaskan wilderness can be. A person can be so vulnerable when out in the Alaskan wild, and the possibilities of danger can arise not only from the weather, but the wildlife. The fear of extreme weather and animal attacks have kept me from venturing into nature as an adult. Which leads me to believe that as a child, I was more adventurous and willing to take risks, but as an adult I am more skeptical because I have some knowledge about the danger of the Alaskan Wild.

I believe that I have lost most of my wonder when it comes to the Alaskan Wilderness. Although I still find it breathtakingly beautiful at times, I make sure to keep my distance. I have never gone camping, hunting, and have only fished at a lake and once on a charter boat in Homer. I do enjoy nature, but its from a distance.

Photo of a Moose taken my my stepdad on trip to Anchorage in April 2011.

Highway infront of Mountain. Taken on trip to Anchorage April 2011.

Blog Entry 5: Alaskan Wilderness

The Alaskan wilderness is a very unique place. Wilderness in genereal will bring to mind different images for different individuals. Although wilderness can be a beautiful and solidary place in which people venture to in an attempt to escape city life, it can also be dangerous. In William Cronon's essay "The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting back to the Wrong Nature" he describes how many people now-a-days see the wilderness as a place to escape to when city life isn't going well, and also as a place that needs to be protected.

This contemporary view of wilderness is very similar to the sentiment of the Romantic writers. I learned in my Eng 309 class that writers like, Wordsworth and Coleridge believed that everyone should return to nature to find their peice of mind. Although Coleridge and Wordsworth are two very successful writer, who produced great works, their opinions for the most part were not shared by  their peers. The truth is, wilderness can be a very scary place that people enter into without the slightest idea of what is means to survive on nothing but what you can produce. Alaskan wilderness in particular is dangerous, not just for people visiting but for residents as well.

The Alaskan wild is an unpredictable and sometimes scary place to be in, especially if you don't prepare for the unexpected. In Nick Jans "Beautiful Meat", he describes the death of a "sow" all because of his folly in chasing down a family of bears in order to take pictures. Once he attracts the unwanted attention of the bears and has to run for his life back to his boat, he becomes aware that one of the bears will be killed by his friend clarence "an Inupiat hunter, part of a centuries-old tradition" (463) and feels responsible for the loss of life. The contrast between Clerance and the narrator in the story is very important to understanding the Alaskan wilderness. While the narrator has this ideal view of nature, Clerance the "Inupiat hubter" is much more skeptical and warry of what lurks in the wild.

Personally, I have a respectful but very skeptical view of the Alaskan wilderness. As an Alaskan resident I feel that I have a little more insight into the dangers (I.e. frostbite, animal attacks, harsh weather) than most Americans. In recent years Alaska has been in the spotlight, and people watching the various "reality" tv shows may see some of the dangerous situations people find themselves in, but it is presented in a very romantisized way. To see a man or woman conquering the wild, will give others the idea that they can do it, which is often not the case. Although I believe nature and the wilderness should be preserved as much as possible to pretect the species that inhabit it, I have no direct involvement with the wilderness around me.


(A collection of poems and lyrical ballads written by Willam Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge-1800).

http://www.wordsworthclassics.com/det/poet/1840225351.htm


(Logging and Deforestation of Tongass National Forest (AK/Canada))

http://www.skolaiimages.com/stock/displayimage-5666-Logging-and-deforestation-Tongass-National.html

Blog Post 4: The Theme of Resources in Alaskan Writings

The use of resources is a reoccurring theme the Alaskan Literature. Being that Alaska is a plentiful land, with an unforgiving climate means that providing for oneself can be an often daunting but fulfilling task. Many of the authors we've read about recently describe the process of procuring food in the wilderness as opposed to the gathering of the "natural resources" we tend to think about today (i.e. oil, gold, fur).

In Richard K. Nelson's "Moon of the Returning Sun", Nelson describes the Eskimo hunting method to that of the polar bear when he writes,"So it was that Eskimo and polar bear hunted the same animal in almost the same way" (409). This quote is significant to the piece as a whole, because the description shows that both man and beast are on an equal plane when it comes to hunting in the Alaskan wild. Neither man nor beast has the upper hand, and both may need to adopt each other's methods in order to gain resources necessary for life.

In Pamela Houston's story "Dall", she describes the travels of sheep hunters in Alaska. When comparing Houston's story to Nelson's, it is evident that the hunters of each story had different motives and methods of obtaining their needed resources. When Houstin writes,"Apparently they all split up and James came upon the herd and shot six animals in a matter of seconds." (439), it seems to me that the purpose of hunting the sheep was for bragging rights, rather than actual need. When put into that context, the hunting of the sheep seemed like a disrespectful use of the Alaskan resources.

In Barry Lopez's "Tornarssuk (Ursus Maritimus)", Lopez describes the hunt of ringed seals. The purpose for hunting seals was tied to the study of marine food chains in the arctic (431). Lopez's use of Alaskan resources differed from both Nelson's and Houston's depiction of hunting in Alaska, because the resources were used in the pursuit of education. Whether the purpose is food, entertainment, or education, Alaskan resources seem to appease a multitude of people.

Blog Entry 3- Sister Goodwin

Sister Goodwin is a very interesting person to read about. Through her marriage to Andrew Hope III she was able to merge her Inupiat Eskimo heritage with her husband's Tlingit heritage. Goodwin's Inupiat name was Taliifaq, and after marrying and being adopted into the Tlingit traditions she was given the name Tsanak. Much of Goodwin's poetry from her 1984 poetry collection A Lagoon Is In My Backyard deals with Alaskan nature and landscapes.

Sister Goodwin's poem "Nomadic Inupiat, for Kappaisrunk" published in 1984, relays the story of Goodwin as a young girl and gives the audience her unique opinion of the seasons. Goodwin's description of the Alaskan landscape and the changing of the seasons gives insight to how she was raised. Unlike many other poets who describe colors, feelings evoked by the weather, and physical descriptions of Alaskan landscape; Goodwin's writing gives the audience insight into what she did during those seasons with her family which demonstrates the importance of them.

The poem begins with Goodwin's parents taking the children out of school to go out and enjoy nature. The act of being taken out of the structured/ institutionalized world (school), and being put into the always changing, unpredictable world of nature to enjoy quality time with family gives the audience an idea of her Goodwin's childhood was like. Goodwin seems to have gotten her appreciation of Alaskan Landscape and nature from her parents who thought enjoying nature and simplicity was a necessary part of development. Goodwin's description of her family's activities, gives the impression that nature was synonymous with family to Goodwin as a child. I believe the best example of this is when Goodwin writes, "how special for a whole family to sit together reminiscing laughing planning for the winter" (298).



Goodwin, Sister. "Nomadic Inupiat, for Kappaisrunk" Last New Land. Ed. Mergler, Wayne. Alaska Northwest Books, (c) 1996. 296-298.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=klea&id=I33661

Blog Entry 2- John Haines' Poetry

  
John Haines’ poetry has the ability to evoke various emotions from the audience. Although his poems vary in topic, they tend to have a similar theme, which is remembrance. Haines’ recalls many examples not only from American history, but Canadian, French, and German history as well, that most people would rather be forgotten. By glazing over some of the injustices in our Nation’s history, people trick themselves into an exceptionalist way of thinking which Haines’ seems to find objectionable.

As the old saying goes “those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it”, it seems to me that Haines’ held this idea in high regard, especially when writing his poetry. In the poem “In the house of Wax”, Haines’ brings light to the injustices enacted by empowered historical figures (Franklin, Minuit, Henry, Kennedy, Nixon, and so on) onto slaves, natives, and fellow countrymen. The passage that caught my attention was referring to the slaves in America, the line reads,”Call those from underneath, the sold and trodden, their slow and sweating sons, elevate and crown them.” This excerpt stirred up a feeling of sadness, while most of the others passages like the one pertaining to the dealings (Minuit’s payment for land) with natives was just frustrating.

I understand that people act in a self interested way, but mistreating others in order to accomplish something should not be commemorated. I believe Haines’ biggest issue with historical figures is the fact that their efforts are often applauded and celebrated and never questioned or thought to be inhumane. Perhaps the most telling passage that gives the audience insight into Haines’ point of view is in the last full stanza of the poem, when he writes, “Were we not lost, condemned to repeat these names and to honor their crimes”.

I found this photo on a blog. I though that it was relevant because the title was "Some of the Slaves Who Built the White House" and Haines' refers to many of the most popular U.S. presidents in history.

 

 

"In the House of Wax" by John Haines from For the Century's End, Poems: 1990-1999. Copyright © 2001 by John Haines. Reprinted by permission of University of Washington Press

 

(http://zmblackhistorymonth2012.blogspot.com/2012/02/slaves-who-built-washington-dc.html)

Blog Entry 1- Landscape in Alaskan Literature

The concept of landscape is a reoccurring theme in Alaskan Literature. Although the idea of landscapes is often used in fiction, oral histories, and non-fiction, I believe that the concept is most apparent in poetry. The way that an author uses landscape in their writing, can either add or detract from the reader's feeling towards the piece. If an author dislikes the Alaskan landscape, that feeling will reach the audience through the author's word choice and overall mood. We (most students of Eng 350) however, have the luxury of having some background knowledge of what Alaska's landscape is like before reading literature about the Arctic.

The benefit of being assigned The Last New Land as a course book, is that it is a collection of writings with various authors, time periods, writing styles, and landscapes (locations). As a modern reader of Alaskan literature living in Alaska, I can compare and contrast the stories by their location which gives me a greater understanding of where the author was coming from.

Just by comparing Joanne Townsend's "Looking Back I Remember", and Tim McNulty's "Radovin", I get the understanding that these two authors have vastly different interpretations of their surroundings. While Townsend appears to be more unsure and frightened by the nature around her, McNulty seems to look at some of the most simple things and find them to be filled with wonderment. In Townsend's writing she tries to imagine another reality other than the one she is living in, this is shown when she writes, "I dreamed forsythia, places where daffodils pushed through warm loam. The pussy willows brought false hope" (131). As she describes her surroundings such as "the frozen lake" and the people she compares to "pilgrims", her dislike of her surroundings is apparent. She seems to put herself and the people around her in the same role as pilgrims, inhabiting a lost land that they don't necessarily belong in while dreaming of her old life.

Tim McNulty's writing on the other hand is able to bring a poem to life with only the presence of an old miner's cabin. As McNulty look upon this cabin, he is able to evoke many images and relay them to the reader. By using such vivid descriptions of the cabin and the surrounding landscape, McNulty is able to allow the reader to picture this location in their mind and gain the same appreciation for the cabin.

The Pebble Mine

The Pebble Mine discussion is a heated topic that has no immediate solution in sight. It seems to me that both sides are sticking to their guns and will not reach any compromise. I can see both sides of the argument and some cases where the mine would benefit Alaska's residents, but I can also tell that there will be animosity and negative consequences (possible pollution, damage to the people living in the area, damage to wildlife...)that will ensue if the mine comes to be. It is difficult to trust any one source on this topic because there is always a bias. Whether or not the Pebble mine is created there will always be an opposition, so it seems senseless to me to engage in the argument.