I guess there is always a balance...#8

Just because I haven't posted anything lately doesn't mean nothing is happening here in the wilderness, or that I haven't been writing about it. I will probably spit out a few over the next week. I have had some mixed emotions the last week and a half and have had sort of a hard time getting them sorted before I could express them.

As the saying goes, no matter where you go...there you are. That certainly remains true to life here. Though I write about how beautiful it is here, and what a wonderful time I'm having, over the past week there has also been some tragedy, and sadness. As with everywhere I guess, alcoholism is a part of this culture as well. Maybe more so. Unalakleet is what they call a "damp" village which means that you can't buy liquor here, but you can have it shipped in. It is alright to possess alcohol, you just can't sell it here. At any rate there is plenty to be found.

When you take a history and physical on patients, there are always questions that have to do with habits. Do you smoke, if so how much, and how long? Do you use alcohol, if so how much and how often...etc. Here the answer to alcohol is frequently yes, and frequently the how much and how often is two drinks, a couple of times a week. These are what I consider routine answers anywhere I have been, till one day my preceptor said to ask what two drinks means. Here, a drink is a bottle of whiskey. Apparently they do not mix cocktails here, they open a bottle, and consume it. Two drinks...WOW. The purpose of drinking here is not social, it is to get drunk. I have seen only a few people who will have just a beer, or a cocktail. The vast majority of people here do not drink.

I am not judging this behavior, I have seen it everywhere I have been, but here I have witnessed the devastating consequences of this behavior, where everywhere else I guess I have been more insulated. Here it is not auto accidents that you see everyday on TV where DUI is involved and become almost immune to, it is neglect and domestic violence that is right in your face. With the adults it is a choice, and they have the right to make it, but for the children it is not, and they suffer the most. It is sad to think that this is what they see and will learn, and probably grow up to copy. You can't give what you don't have.

I really don't want to go into the details in something this public, but I can't express how sad I am to see how so many of the kids are affected by this here. I have seen kids who need close care, that simply are not getting it because their parents are drunk. I have on a couple of occasions literally wanted to kidnap children just to take care of them during their illness. Here, the kids having kids thing is pretty common. A lot of high schoolers have children in multiples. Family groups are tight here, but alcoholism is also a family disease, and often the support is not enough. Today I am attending the funeral of a baby girl, who passed away last week, and alcohol was involved. So very sad. It really took the wind out of my sails, and it has been hard to get going again. I still feel a bit of panic when a child comes to the clinic, but I realize this is the job I have chosen, and I am doing my best to process, but it breaks my heart.

I wanted to be honest about what I see here, so that is why this appears instead of the stuff I normally write. I don't want to give you the impression that this is the predominant lifestyle here, because that is certainly not the case. Unalakleet is strong in family history, and tradition and most of the people here have incredibly good values, probably better than what I see at home. When people here fish, hunt, or gather, they share with the elders who can't. Not only do they share, but it is the tradition to prepare the food before it is given. If it is Caribou, it is skinned and butchered, if it is fish it has been cleaned, or dried, berries are washed and presented ready to go. They have a wonder view of taking care of their elders, who are respected. Though they exist, there is no old folks home here in Unalakleet, and believe me, it's not because they don't have old folks. It is a very close knit community, and they share everything.

Including happiness, and grief...

rto