I have been asked to produce more information about the needs in the arctic so I will try and write about my burden for northern Alaska.


“Alaska Village Initiative”

The Setting
It is early morning and I am sitting at the kitchen table in a little parsonage in Savoonga. This little Eskimo village of 650 lies at the east end of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering sea 130 miles west of Nome, Alaska. It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from here for the island is about 35 miles off the coast of Siberia. It’s been 26 years since, as a volunteer worker, I sat at this very table crafting my first sermon.

It is still many hours before the sun will rise and the village is finally quiet. This visit has reminded me why I love these Eskimo people for they are a remarkably intelligent race, so gentle spirited, kind and generous. They are always ready for a laugh.

After an absence of so many years, my heart aches as I see the changes here. This village hangs suspended between two cultures. Their entire way of life, skills and priorities are caught in a vicious generational time warp. The subsistence way of life is in the last throes of death. The very things that gave these stoic people a sense of self-worth is evaporating, like frosty breath in the cold air. On this remote island there is nothing to offer the young people except twisted visions of a Hollywood society and video game entertainment. They graduate from high school with no prospects of a future, no anticipation of a career or even a return to the old ways and sadly, nothing in which to place their hope for the coming generations of their children.
Yesterday morning as the sun arose about 11 am, the village was astir. It was a rare and beautiful day and walrus had been spotted many miles south of the village. Some hunters left in anticipation of some additional food for the village and some of the young men left with them for the joy of the hunt. For the rest of the four hours of light the village is alive with families and children.
Later, as midnight draws close, the quiet, unhurried climate of the village begins to change. Many of the younger generation slept the day away and now while many of the people in the village are preparing for bed, the young people are ready to party. All night the village is a constant roar of snow machines, four-wheelers and the sounds made by the young people trying to stave off boredom that covers their existence like a suffocating blanket.
On the door to the post office the graffiti is telling.
”I wish I die now! “
“Want to die! Right now!”
“Can’t wait until it’s my turn!”

The elders in the village are watching the destruction of their future with no tools to begin to deal with the terrible problems. This is a dry island but there is no one to enforce any laws that are in place. The traditional system of social intervention in the village has always been based and operated on respect, and now they have nothing to replace it with.
Savoonga is in the winter of its life. Suicide is rampant, especially among the teenagers, and every family here has been touched by its devastation. The government has abdicated its responsibility to help shape the culture and only offers bandaged prescriptions that do little good.



As the village slowly and imperceptibly disintegrates into anarchy, the only preoccupation is alcoholism and depression. Seventh-day Adventist Christian families stand as a beacon of light on a dark stormy night, yet even they are not untouched by the pain.

Our goal at the Alaska Conference is to try and make a difference. I want to appeal to those who are missionary-minded, have a spirit of sacrifice and want to make a difference. In Alaska, we need funding as well as leadership in the villages. While the living conditions may be a challenge, the needs are a far greater challenge. W e need both young and young in heart, in a number of villages in Alaska, to be willing leaders that would give a year or two of their time and energy to make a difference. Are you that person?

The Facts
Suicide in 2004 in Savoonga claimed four teenage lives with many, many more unsuccessful attempts. Mayor Jane Kava noted that in a single month there had been six unsuccessful attempts among 13-16 year olds. In a village of 650, four deaths is roughly 200 times the national average.


The Needs in the Villages of Alaska
In a recent feature article in the Washington Post magazine*, reporter Gene Weingarten noted. “Suicide, we would learn, has reached epidemic proportions among the young people of Savoonga. They have been taking their lives in violent ways and in breathtaking, heartbreaking numbers for some time now, and there is little agreement in the village on precisely how to stop it.”

*Washington Post, May 1, 2005, “Snowbound, Life in Savoonga, Alaska” by Gene Weingarten.



The Target Village for a suicide prevention program.
Savoonga is on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. Archeological digs show that the island has been inhabited by Siberian Yup'ik Eskimos for at least 1,400 years and probably closer to 2,000 years. In the late 1800’s Whalers brought Small Pox and alcohol. In less than a decade, the village population on the island went from 15,000 to 600. There are currently two villages with a total population of around 1400. In 1900, a herd of reindeer was moved to the island, and by 1917, the herd had grown to over 10,000 animals. Savoonga is known as the "Walrus Capitol of the World." Walrus, whale, seal, and reindeer comprised 80 percent of the islander's diets but that is rapidly dropping as modern food becomes more available.

More on this as I can write it.

Blessings

Ken

Savoonga Church and parsonage