Marshall Cultural Atlas

This collection of student work is from Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available for educational use only.

 

 

 

 

From Galena to Barrow

It was a windy overcast day when Mike Smyth decided to start his journey from Galena to Barrow in the minus 35 degree weather. His skis were just waiting to be used on the hard packed trail over the tundra. His dog, Granite, knew this was the day to guide and protect his boss over the miles and miles of long cold nights ahead. Mike put on his thermal clothes and fur parka to attack the tremendous pressure the wind would put on him. A few days earlier he counted the miles from Galena to Barrow, hoping all his clothes would protect him. He struggled to walk next door to his neighbor's house to inform them that he would be leaving that day, and that he could not put it off any longer.

After gathering his gear, Mike set out to break the world's record for traveling in Alaska by foot and skis. He was determined to reach Barrow in 15 days in spite of the news on the radio that there were four grizzlies spotted 70 miles outside of Galena. With skis put on comfortably, poles in hand and a back pack weighing him down, he eagerly and confidently started out on his trek.

Right away the wind was so intense that it dried up his eyes as fast as he blinked to get moisture in them. To relieve his eyes, he stopped and searched for his goggles in his back pack. Mike was also pulling a sled attached to him that held some of his food and extra essentials. He didn't have to worry about taking too much food along on the trip because he had arranged for his best friend to fly out every two days to deliver his food. Rick Webber, Mike's best friend and a private pilot, was located in Ruby, Alaska. After securing his goggles on his face, Mike started skiing north to his destination.

As night fell upon him, it forced Mike to stop and pitch his tent and start a fire to thaw out his mittens. He gathered some dry twigs and a few dead spruce trees then quickly started the fire. To make it bigger he put piles and piles of wood on the fire. After that he cooked up some soup and had some hot cocoa. After filling his stomach, he decided it would be best for him to relax and sleep. So, he cuddled up in his sleeping bag and dozed off into the starry night.

Rattle. Twigs breaking. Heavy breathing. Strong scent. Mike awoke immediately out of a dream he thought he was in to find the largest grizzly he had ever seen in his life chewing at his back pack right in front of him. Hibernation wasn't on the bear's mind, but food certainly was. Quiet as a mouse, Mike crawled out of his sleeping bag and put on his parka and shoes. He grabbed his pocket knife and cut the back of his tent, trying not to disturb the busy bear. As he was slipping through the hole, Mike tripped over the peg sticking in the ground and screamed. The bear got startled and began to run all over the place. Before Mike could stand up, the bear was right in his face. Mike started hollering and screaming to scare the bear away. The bear was not the least bit frightened and he swung his paw at Mike missing his head by only an inch. Mike continued to holler and the bear swung again, this time successfully hitting Mike right across the stomach, cutting through his parka and slashing his skin. Mike dodged around the bear and ran toward the tent. He found his first aid kit in pieces and tatters, so he had to wrap his wound with a couple of his shirts. After realizing that the bear was gone and he was still alive, Mike crawled into his sleeping bag, hoping Rick would find him the next day.

When Mike awoke he found himself in the Anchorage Humana Hospital. Rick and Mike's sister, Stephanie, were standing by him. He didn't remember what had happened to him. Rick told him that he was attacked by a bear and was in a coma for two weeks. That was unbelievable to Mike because it seemed like he had just fallen asleep five minutes ago.

During his recovery, Mike soon found out that the bear was more than half blinded and was starving. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally shot the bear to protect itself and other people who were in the country. After four months Mike was back on his feet again, living a happy life in Galena. He was disappointed that he didn't make it to Barrow, but he would try some other time in his life when he was fully recovered from the tragic incident that he would never forget.

Flora May Evan

Marshall School

 

Bear Fire

Creative Stories from the Imagination

From Galena to Barrow	- Flora May Evan
The Three Amigos	- Henry S. Manumik
The Great Legend of Shawn Johnson	- Tina Papp
Bear Struck	- Leslie Hunter Jr.
The Bear	- Palassa Sergie
The Magic Bear	- Marlene Papp
Austin and his friend the Bear Cub	- LaVerne Manumik
Carayak	- Billy Waska
The Bear Who Never Learned His Lesson	- Carmen Pitka
The Bear	- Olga Moxie
The Bear	- Theresa George
Grizzly Bear	- Katherine Duny
The Bear Attack	- Fred Alstrom
An Adventurous Day	- Gerilyn Fitka
A lot of Bears	- Victor Shorty
Grizzly	- Ben Peteroff
The Human Who Ran With Bears	- Yvonne Evan
The Grizzly	- Chris Fitka
The Bear That Was Swimming Across	- Teresa George
Bear	- Garrett Evan
The Big Bear	- John Tikiun

 

 

Bear Fire Stories and Poems about Bears

by Marshall High School
Language Arts Classes
Spring, 1992

 

Produced by 

Information about Bears

Creative Stories from the Imagination

True Stories from Experience

Poems

 

Christmastime Tales Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year Winter, 1996	Christmastime Tales II Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year Winter, 1998	Christmastime Tales III Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year Winter, 2000
Summer Time Tails 1992	Summertime Tails II 1993	Summertime Tails III
Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995	Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996	Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997
Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999	Signs of the Times November 1996	Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations
Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out, the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993	Yupik Gourmet - A Book of Recipes
M&M Monthly
Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997	Happy Easter! March/April 1998	Merry Christmas December Edition 1997
Happy Valentine’s Day! February Edition 1998	Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000	Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997
Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition	Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon Bay	Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981
The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska	Poems of Hooper Bay	Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students)
Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord	It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997	People in Our Community
Buildings and Personalities of Marshall	Marshall Village PROFILE	Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A Glimpse of the Past’
Raven’s Stories Spring 1995	Bird Stories from Scammon Bay	The Sea Around Us
Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the Weather Spring 1996	Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November, 1998	Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993
Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming and the future November, 1997	Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves	Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring, 1992

 

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