who laid this beautiful egg? WINNER ANNOUNCED! discussion in progress

[Kansaseq]

Would it be too personal to ask what tribe you belong to? I have always been fascinated with Alaska, and native people from North America. Alaska is the one place I want to visit before I die.

 

[KattyKillFish]

Quote:
that is not too personal at all! I am three quarters Dena'ina Athabascan. i belong to the Raven clan and i am a registered tribal member in the Village of Nondalton.

Alaska is a great place to be! people are friendly and the scenery is amazing! even though i see it every year, the northern lights never fail to strike awe and amazement into me. it will be a visit that you will never forget, and will talk about for years! i guarantee it!

i reccomend the drive from anchorage to Chena Hot springs. lots of scenic views, and you would pass through Denali National Park. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America, but surprisingly it doesn't really tower over the mountains around it. (i forget the other name for it, but it was named after a president AFTER he climed it. we still call it Denali because that is the Native name for it)

you should also visit Katmai National Park. Brooks camps is beautiful BEARS BEARS BEARS! the highest concentration of grizzlies in the world. there is a lot of protection between you and the bears though, so don't worry about attacks.


anywho, enough of trying to attract tourists

thank you for asking. i am glad to answer any questions anyone has

 

[Kansaseq]

Thanks, Katty!
And it's inspiring to hear that someone who has lived in Alaska all her life is still awed by the Northern Lights. I've seen them in the lower 48, but they weren't very spectacular.
Anyway, thanks for the information--very cool!

 

[KattyKillFish]

no problem!

this time my nephew got to have a whole egg to himself. he really enjoyed it

he usually has to share it with someone else because it's really rich. that and we usually don't have enough and end up cutting them in halves so everyone gets some.

i HAVE to get pictures of a cooked one! you guys would get a kick out of it!

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
it is Naive Alaskan subsitance. i myself am a Native Alaskan. this is what my ancestors are ti survive! we have very strict rules on it, too. for example if there are only one or two eggs, we cannot take any. if there are three we can take one, and any more than four we can only take two. generally there are 4-5 eggs in a nest. we are also only allowed to harvest them during certain times of the year.

it sounds cruel and odd, but to me as a cultural person it is the way of my people. i am as respectful as i can be about it too, i often leave them a good amount of fish eggs near the nest when i take an egg. they do eat it, and i always make sure i never ever take all of the eggs. THAT is just cruel, and it is damaging to the species. plus, only registered tribal members are allowed to take the eggs. we pick up a paper at the local Fish & Game and write down the amount of eggs in each nest and how many we took, what day it was and so fourth. we return the papers after we are finished gathering. so, there are some pretty good rules put on us to ensure the survival of the species. we aren't allowed t visit the same area more than twice in one week iether.

i personally am very glad there are rules and regulations on subsitance food. out here in Alaska there are quite often food shortages and high prices due to the supply barges being late and such. a lot of the local Natives are very poor as well and can't afford to buy food, so they have to subsist. salmon, moose, caribou, grouse and eggs are what they usually eat, and it is a healthy traditional food, too.

i am no disagreeing with you, just giving information so that people don't think i go crazy stealing eggs from nests. i was raised eating these kinds of things. i grew up in a very small village of less than 100 people and no local market or store. to get to Illiamna Trading we had to jump in the boat and go 40 miles across the lake. it was pretty tough, so the majority of what we ate was what we could find.

it's not poverty, we feel like the richest people in the world! i am very thankful to live in a land that is so bountiful with plenty of wildlife and potential meals. it is not surviving, it is a way of life! and that is the way that we like it

i would much rather go hunt a moose and share it with the village than go to the supermarket and simply buy my meat. Keeping Chickens is a pretty good way to be sure we always have food, too! a lot of Natives like to keep them around. and i mean A LOT! most of my family keeps them so that when the caribou herd decides to take another rout, we at least have some fresh eggs!

thank you for asking the question

i like educating people on the Alaskan Native subsistence lifestyle.

What an excellent post! A bit of history AND humanity!

 

[KattyKillFish]

thanks, wyo-helpmeet

when I gather eggs, I am very careful. we never harass them, but black-headed gulls will actually dive at you and draw blood when you are near their nest. they nest right along side the gulls who lay the eggs we eat. the eggs they lay are about the size of a quail egg and we don't take those, we're not allowed. but you never expect it. just sloshing along in the swamp and BAM! your face is in the mud. so, it's not easy to find eggs, you gotta watch your head! you don't wanna get scalped!

 

[AkTomboy]

KattyKillFish "even when your out hunting they always manage to find you! those Fish & Game people, they're NINJAS! "


Soooooo true! The hubby, brother n law and I were hunting at Pillar Lake on Afognak Island last october. No sooner did Jason (bro in law) who is from GA said somthing about there being no one around did a trooper plane pop over the ridgeline and land. It was so funny he was so shocked being that I guess the Ga fish and feathers down there are more layed back in his area.

I always love when you are fishing and there are a million people on the banks and you see a person in normal every day clothing ask another about how many kings they have gotten or what not and when the person answers the fish and feather pulls out his / her badge and scares the heck out of the other fisher.

Good luck gathering and I look foward to seeing the new pics later

 

[gardenak]

Katty, the mountain is McKinley-

 

[KattyKillFish]

Quote:
HA! i knew someone would remember! here in Alaska, that's not what most people call it. we still call it Denali National Park and Mt Denali because that's what our people (and the people of Alaska) have always called it, long before anyone "conquered" it.

thanks though! now i know will remember what other people call it.

 

[KattyKillFish]

Quote:
they do that to me all the time! i'm like MAN! good fishing here, ey? and he pulls out the badge. eep! i hope i didn't say anything to get myself in trouble!

i wonder how they get everywhere so fast! and how they just know! it's almost creepy in a way