WEIO~Olypmpics

 We came to Alaska thinking we would see Eskimos. You know the little short people that wear fur all around their faces.  But no such luck seeing that it's summer up here.  We have also come to learn that Eskimos are just one type of Native Alaskan that originates from this land.  There are several other groups of Indians like the Askabathens.  

When we saw an advertisement on TV inviting us to the Eskimo-Indian Olympics we knew that this was our chance to see real live Eskimos.  We needed up seeing real Eskimos with fur and learning about a whole new Indian culture.

This Olympic game is called Stick-Pull.  The two players grab onto a greased stick and tries to pull it out of his opponents hand.  Remember it is greased, with Crisco.  We learned that this game shows talent in the art of fish catching.  I guess if you are strong enough to hold onto the greased stick than you are talented enough to catch a fish by hand. Kinda like a bear, think I will just stick to using a fishing pole.  

Here the greasing lady, greases up the grease stick for the greased stick pull.  She very good at her job. We learned that years ago they use to use fish guts or whale fat, but they have modernized the game by using off brand Crisco.

This stick.

The greased stick.

Oops, it fell and was contaminated, back to the greaser for a fresh coat of grease.

Heston gets his hands on the stick, the ungreased version.

This Olympic game is two foot high kick.  Just like it sounds you have to start with both feed together on the ground, jump up kick the ball with both feet and land on both feet at the same time.  This was very interesting to see. This people were very talented, some jumped higher than their height.  The boys ended up with a height of 8foot 5inches.

The ball. The Eskimos have stick and ball games just like everyone else, except there's are made of animal hides like seals, whales, or rabbits.   They seldom use the sticks and balls together in the same game, and they have more interesting ways of using them.

Great shots of feet kicking the ball.

YES, FINALLY, an Eskimo.  This one is kinda small but the mostest cutest one I have ever seen.  During the Olympics they had a Regalia contest. Regalia has to do with the clothing of the Native Alaskans.  Each of the Regalia were hand made by themselves or family members.  

Oh wow, it's a real Eskimo.  She has to be hot in her outfit.  It was 80 degrees in Fairbanks this weekend.

So cute, can I take her home with me.

This lady stated that she was full Eskimo and she made her outfit after she killed the moose.  (She took off her fuzzy moose coat.)

We saw a demonstration of how they cleaned and prepared a salmon curing.  

They use every part of the salmon except for the gills.  The gills are the only part of thee fish that is thrown away.  The gills are known to make them very sick.  They even use the head, they boil it for stews.

These are the fish eggs, they eat those too. I believe that's called caviar.  These Eskimos have expensive taste.  

They use what is called a Ulu.  It was amazing to see the teen girl to cut up this fish using only this Ulu.  They say it's easier to use than a knife.  

The boys loved this game, it's called the ear pull.  It shows the strength of each player to see who can with stand the most frost bite.  Several players walked away with bloody ears.  Yuck. We were told that all these games show that Native Alaskans are no wimpy people.  They brave the cold Alaskan winters, hunt, kill and work up their own animals and even make their own clothes. It's a culture that they do not want to die in our modern age of Wal-Mart.  So they come together at WEIO to celebrate, remember, and pass on their vintage Alaskan way of life.  WEIO stands for World Eskimo Indian Olympics.  We were excited to learn about their way of life. 

Heston wants to try his feet at the two feet high kick.

This is called the blanket toss.  They used what looked like an animal hide to toss this lady up in the air. I guess you could say that these people invited the first trampoline.

The Blanket

Winners!

They had an area set up for Native Alaskans to sell their homemade crafts.  We saw jewelry, clothing, and decor items made out of seal skins, walrus tusk, furs, wood and other natural material.  

While at the Olympics we learned how to use an Eskimo Yo-Yo. So we bought one from Mabel.  She was an older lady who took pride in her art.  The ends of the yo-yo are made out of seal skin and are sewn to look like little seals.  Johnny asked her if she would give us a deal on 2 sets of yo-yos, she looked at Johnny and said, "I'm not Chinese, I'm Eskimo"She did not give us a deal on two, but she later told Johnny that she bargained for a good price on the seal skins.

The boy won the two foot high kick and so the boys got his autograph.

These Olympic games even have their own Miss WEIO.  The ladies dress in their best homemade outfits and compete for the title Miss  WEIO.

We leaned a lot about the Eskimo culture.  Which is the reason we travel, to see, learn and experience different ways of life. The Eskimo Olympics has definitely been a new learning experience for us Georgia folks. The Eskimo Olympics are something we would have never been able to see and learn about any where else except here in Alaska.  We are really blessed to be able to experience all America has to offer.

Parks Hwy to Fairbanks

Parks Hwy to Fairbanks is the road with a view.  From the road you see Mt. McKinley around every turn.  It's an amazing site to see this tall white mountain shooting up from the lush green landscape around you.  Alaskan roads, this time of year, are springing forth with flowers. Mostly the purple flower called the Fireweed.  They tell us that this flower blooms purple all the way to the top of it's steam, when the purple starts to die then summer is over. This starts the cold season.  

This is our fist pull over to see the mountain.  

Purple Fireweed.

Picnics are the best restaurants here in Alaska.  We have found that eating out is a little more than in the lower 48.  For example..back home you could get a $5 pizzas at Little Ceasers, here that same pizza is $7.99. The $1 menu at McDonald's here is called the Value Menu and the one dollar items here are $1.50.  Not too bad, but when you are out traveling through the state the best thing to do is pack a picnic and pull over at one of Alaska's great pull out picnic spots. The views are more amazing than sitting in any old restaurant. 

We learned the hard way that up here in Alaska you are suppose to call Mt. McKinley, Mt. Denali.   Alaskan people do not like the fact that someone in Ohio petitioned congress to name  Mt. Denali after one of our presidents, William McKinley.  Alaskans do not like the fact that it's their state and they did not get a say in the process.  To them it's Mt. Daneli and always will be.  The name Denali means "The great one." and it's a pretty great Mountain to see.

We arrived in Fairbanks and stopped by the visitor center. We learned all about the Native Alaskan way of life.  Here we see how they hang up salmon to cure.

In AK some of the trees will get a growth like this,  which is caused by a disease on the tree.  It forms this 'knot' or "mess up" on the tree, but does not harm the tree's growth.  People will use these trees for house post and other decorator purposes.  We have even seen handmade bowls and plates made from these knots.  Amazing how a 'mess up' could turn out to be useful and even beautiful.  That reminds me of other things in life, God can use our 'mess ups' and turn them into beautiful things.  Even our very life, when it seems that we were a "mess up", God can turn it into a beautiful amazing life with a loving family.

The museum had a Northern Lights display.

Bryson takes a ride on an Alaskan toy, a snowmobile.

If you ever come it Alaska you will understand this saying to it's fullest.

Here is a display of Native Alaskan artifacts.

Every one up here as moose horns on their houses, barns, and anywhere else they can find a spot to display them.

Typical river boat.

The best way to experience Alaska is camping.  There are camp spots all over the state.  You don't need reservations.  You just pull in!  We have became expert campers with no electricity.  These state campgrounds don't provide hook-ups.  But it's a cheap way to go.  The mosquitoes even think it's a great way to camp.  I think they get up set with us when we pull into their camp spot so they start biting. People up here joke that the mosquito is the state bird.  

Can't camp with out our Jiffy Pop! Getting to Fairbanks is just half of our weekend. I'll be posting all about the Eskimo Olympics from this weekend trip in a few blog posts. Check back soon !