Neechee Culture

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeanie Greene-Heartbeat Alaska
By Chris Scherza

Up in Anchorage Alaska, in the coldest of all the States in America, can be found a small television studio located in a storefront building, with plans as big as Alaska itself. Jeanie Greene started the program Heartbeat Alaska three years ago. She produces, edits, and hosts the half hour program which features news taken by home videos from its viewers and edited to produce interesting stories. With second-hand equipment Heartbeat is transmitted by Rural Alaska Television Network. RATNET to some 250 villages.

It was in April that the Alaska Legislature was in its budget cutting mood and one of the first items projected for elimination was RATNET. Heartbeat Alaska was in jeopardy.

Ms. Greene has faith that the "law makers" will restore the Fund for continuing the network. In the meantime Heartbeat Alaska is continuing on, "We are upgrading our equipment, gaining new sponsors, and picking up States all the time. The skies the limit. When you begin with nothing, then you're not afraid of budget cuts, we've become very resourceful". So Heartbeat Alaska will continue. We're now getting on Commercial stations as well as PBS stations in the lower 48. And even being translated out of Yakoots. During the next year we will be in Iceland, Sweden, Finland, China and Japan. We're doing this because people are fascinated by our Native Americans. And have never seen a show quite like ours. The television in Northern Canada amazes me because they're way ahead of who we are, and this is our dream, to have a Network, There is a consciousness moving through America now. They said it couldn't be done, to get videos from the bush, but they keep coming in daily, and if RATNET did go off the air, I would make sure that every community and school would still receive tapes. We started something here in Alaska, and it's not going to stop unless you live in the bush, unless you live the life of the people out there. I don't think they have the realization of the importance of communications to these remote villages, and especially not the programming coming in on regular stations which means little to these people.

Jeanie Greene ended our conversation by saying about her people, and program, "We don't apologize for who we are, this is who we are and how we live, aren't we something, We have so much to share, Quayaanakpak."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Alaska Experience - Jeanie Greene Country
By Chris Scherza.

We had come in Huslia an Athabascan Indian settlement deep in central Alaska to experience first hand the native lifestyle. The community consists of 250 people. It is 400 miles northeast of Anchorage and only 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, far from the beaten path.

The aromatic smells coming from the kitchen was moose soup bubbling on the wood stove, bear and goose baking in the oven and for dessert was fish ice cream and it's made by boiling and drying whitefish, crushing it to powder and then mixing in sugar lard and berries. It does taste delicious.

Tourism is a new idea here and surprisingly it was the elders of the village who wanted to tap into Alaska's $1.1 Billion industry, only hard cash could buy modern food, fuel, rifles and ammunition. The Alaska Visitors Association says 43% of tourists these days come to experience native culture.

Huslia sits on a ridge overlooking the Koyukuk River. The river is the focus of the life for the Athabascans. It is their highway and grocery store. They fish and hunt on the cabins among spruce and cottonwoods. There are no paved roads. Each House is wired into the community, satellite TV and most have telephones. Sled dogs are in the yards and behind each home is and elevated hut - a cache - for storing meat and skins.

It is a land without signposts, everything is named for a significant event or shape. It is a land of magnificent creatures and our travel down the river showed moose, sandhill cranes, geese, ducks, beaver lodges and much more.

After supper we sat around the fire and talk eventually came to legends. Raven is the Creator, and there are many tales about him. "When Raven created the world, he made things too easy. He made humans from materials that wouldn't spoil or die, but that wasn't good because when baby is born, he's going to live forever. So raven destroyed the whole thing and redid it so a person could die.

Then on one side of the river, he got water going one way and on the other side its going the other way so no matter where you are going it's downstream, and that was too easy so he changed it too. Well punk is another of Raven's mistakes. He didn't want people to starve so he put fat on the birch trees. Punk is a white fungus which grows on birch trees. When it is burned it smolders giving off acrid dense smoke to keep mosquitoes away. But then this was too easy so Raven peed on the punk and turned it brown and that's why it smells so bad. Our trip was a trip into yesterday and also into today, where people hunt and fish, pick berries, tan hides and live in summer fish camps. Alaska is definitely a vast, beautiful country that is a must to visit. One can see why Jeanie Greene is so proud of this country, and of its people.

NEECHEE CULTURE, SUMMER 1995