Craig, AK... a Visit with the Grandma

Wow. As I wrote in May, this summer was to be an Alaskan summer... and, I am happy to say, that it is has been! I have just returned from Southeast, Alaska... Prince of Wales Island, to be exact. What an incredibly beautiful place! I have been to Juneau (our state's capitol) twice, just in the past couple of years, but this was my first time to Prince of Wales (aka POW, which consists of Coffman Cove, Craig, Hollis, Hydaburg, Kasaan, Klawock, Naukati Bay, Point Baker, Port Protection, Port St. Nicholas, Thorne Bay, Waterfall, and Whale Pass).

Rosey and I on the ferry to Ketchikan from the airport!

Alaska's first city... Ketchikan! We got lucky and had nothing but sunshine there!

You can't see here, but we saw humpback whales on our ferry ride to Prince of Wales Island!

Great Grandpa Nelson (1/2 Haida, 1/2 Swedish) is the fifth guy from the left, second guy from the right. This photo was on a wall at Ruth Ann's bar.

The Hughes family! I used to work with them in Chevak and their daughter was in my first group there :)

One of Dorothy Nayamin's dolls from Chevak sitting next to a SE piece that my grandma is making me!

On the Totem Trail in Kasaan. Beautiful!

I had to have seen at least 4 or 5 deer over my stay on POW.

An untouched, traditional Longhouse!

They are much larger than today's replicas!

Kasaan with grandma

As I have written before, my dad was part Haida. He was born in Wrangell, but spent some of his years in Craig. My dad's mom is not Haida, but lived in Craig from the time she was 5 until she was 16, as her dad was a logger. I don't have all the exacts, as I am just learning more and more... but, basically, my dad had lived in Craig with my grandma at some point in his youth and really enjoyed it. After my dad passed away (2005), my grandma decided to move back to Craig (2008) where she has many friends and family and the beauty is beyond majestic.

In the Cup'ik community where I teach, we are always teaching the children to honor and respect their elders, to learn their cultural roots, etc. Grandma is now 71 and I had a strong desire to visit her in SE, AK this summer. It almost didn't happen, but I am sooo thankful it did. I was also blessed to be able to visit a family in Kasaan that I used to work with (and I was also their daughter's teacher) in Chevak my first year! To top all of that off, there was a girl on my flight-- the "milk run" (ANC-JUN-SIT-KET)-- whom I met in Chevak a couple of years ago! As awesome as fate is, Rosey was heading to Craig for work!

Just a skeleton one of the kiddos found me on the beach in Kasaan :)

Totem Pole

Great Grandpa Nelson's grave. Xuuts Digwiyaas. Jan. 6, 1912- Sept. 19, 1996

As one of the kiddos said, it's a bit like the Jurassic Park setting on this island :)

View near my grandma's apartment

Ketchikan... Creek Street area

Playing dress-up at Dolly's House! Fun, fun, fun!

Ah, the history!

Needless to say, I believe this trip was meant to be, had to be, and I am beyond thankful that it happened. On so many different levels, the stars were aligned. I now know way more about my Haida/Nelson heritage on my dad's side (even visited my great grandpa Nelson's grave), I got to see the beautiful little town that my grandma and dad love so much, I got to visit with former colleagues and a former student whom I adore, and I got to know a really cool gal. This trip will always be treasured dearly. Thank you, Southeast, for the hospitality! You'll never know just how much it meant <3

*Fun note, Holly Madison lived in Craig from ages 2-11 :) On one of the Girls Next Door episodes, her and the other two girls made a visit! Hope you have enjoyed my journey to SE!