Moose Tag, You're IT!

Wednesday, the 15th of July was the LAST official day to get a resident Moose Tag for Unit 23.

Like a bunch of other people (who are procrastinators!) I went at 3:30 pm on Wednesday to get it! I saw a load of other procrastinators like John Baker, Herman and Brettlyn, Spencer, Dominic, and our very own Cathy Jones! Chad was rollin in when we were leaving, so I'm sure Charlotte will have plenty to do today!


waiting impatiently

Dean, Koy and I went ahead and got a tag...JUST IN CASE. What we would do with THREE moose (which weigh like 1,200 lbs each) I don't exactly know. But, what if there are no caribou, like in years past? I mean, I'd live off moose meat for a year! Its better than (gag) cow!

This is the first year Koy has gotten the tag. Max could have come, but since he's at Sivu, we'll get him one next year.


Charlotte, the local Moose-tag-giver-outer!

I had to find out a little more, so I (duh) Googled Unit 23 Moose and found this site.

If you're a resident, you can get both a caribou and a moose tag for free. Honestly, I can't tell you when the season opens, because quite frankly, I never paid attention! Within only the last generation have we had to "follow the rules" for state and federal lands. Actually, I found out just two years ago that I had to have a hunting liscence to hunt caribou! I had never had one before...why?! I shoot, gut, clean, quarter and leave the skull, antlers, etc. and take all the good stuff back home and eat it.


Koy signing his very first moose tag! (tear...I'm so proud!)

I know plenty of locals whine and moan about "the Camo Clan" that come in during the fall to hunt caribou and moose. But I don't. It doesn't really bother me too much. People log on every year to get a hunting liscence. They pay thousands of dollars to people who don't even LIVE in Kotzebue.


"Smile or I'll pinch you..." He didn't smile.

We had a guy stay in the B&B last year who paid $8,000 plus plane tickets, and hotel, and bag the weeniest caribou I'd ever seen! I mean, it was a BABY! And their "guide?" Some schmuck from New Mexico who comes up every year to the same camp. He doesn't buy food from our local stores, he doesn't pay local taxes, etc.


It's official!

As a matter of fact...if you don't want to pay $10,000 to a guide or transporter, and haul all your gear from your home to here in KOTZ this fall. Just call us, we'll pick you up, put you up in the B&B, hang out with you, take care of your meat...and you can hunt in places you couldn't dream about. You see...I'm native, and my husnband and I can hunt Native Land. We have no problem opening our community and our home, IF...you're willing to spend money at the local stores, to mingle with the locals, and to really, enjoy yourself. We have a boat. We have a plane...you name it, we're game!

Psh...while I'm at it, we have four freezers, a meat hanging rack, a bone saw, fish/meat boxes, a canner, and we're just COOL people! :)


Go get yourself a moose! (Or Caribou...they're better anyway!)

Why not?! All it'll cost you is a plane ticket, food and gas, and smiles! The more positive influence outside hunters have, the better our community will be. Consider it our own form of developing our economy in Kotzebue.

Just don't forget the wine...cause Kotzebue's a damp city!

Father's day picnic.

Cart full of Picnic Groceries from your only grocery store: $49.89



Ten Gallons of Gasoline and a quart of oil for your boat: $85.45



Three float coats for the kids in the boat: $150.00



Time it takes to get two kids, two almost-adults, and two dogs and two adults ready: 2 hours



A VERY happy Father's Day picnic out on Lockhard Point with your family: Priceless...



For us "northerners" a picnic is an all day ordeal. You have to get food, gas and life jackets. We use the float coats, because its freakin cold in our water, and a regular life jacket is just a vest. We want the entire coat to help keep warm in case the boat sinks for some reason.



We had asked Dean what he wanted for Father's Day, and he simply said, "nice weather, and a boat ride." So, he got the Moshi Alarm clock, an Orvis oilskin hunting hat and a picnic!


Stacey

Kaisa is in Anchorage spending Father's Day with her father, and Koy had to get ready for his weeklong camping trip that the local tribe puts on. The 12-16 year olds go for a week, coincidentally at OUR camp in Sisualik, and learn stuff we learned as kids! My cousin Stacey is running it this year.


Koy finally looked, so I could take a photo.

So, the Lukin kids spent Father's day with their dad all to themselves!



Aside from forgetting the ketchup and utensils, we had an awesome trip. The weather was perfect, and no sooner had Dean commented that we needed a bit more wind to blow the THOUSANDS of mosquitoes away, the breeze picked up enough to blow them away from us!



I, being the cool and resourceful person I am, fashioned a spoon out of some driftwood and we ate some jarred BBQ caribou, hot dogs, and of course, s'mores.





Right now, Dean is snoozing on the couch after a long day outside. The kids are playing Wii and taking turns in the shower, because when you live here, you use 100% deet mosquito dope. And, according to my mom, we must wash it off every day!


See, even I was there!

The high school basketball team also had a game today, which I reffed, where they played the And 1 All Stars from somewhere out of state. It was a show of speed, and dunks, both of which people here are unaccustomed to, so they were happy to pay ten bucks to get in. Of course, when I turned my camera on, it had died out at the picnic, so no photo's of the ballers!


Max says, "Maija, take a picture of my hair, and put it on your blog, and say, 'Max after the boatride'!"
So..."MAX AFTER THE BOATRIDE!"

Happy Father's day to everyone, especially my father and husband. Both of whom I sometimes hate to love, but fully understand the reasoning behind whatever you did to piss me off! Thanks guys for being cool, and outdoorsey...and thanks for making me that way too!

So Fresh and So Green Green!

Does all this talk on air pollution, greenhouse gasses, and carbon emmisions make you feel like me? An un-earth-educated Styrofoam eating, alien on your plastic and tin foil planet? For gosh sake, I even used HUGGIES disposables on both my kids as babies.

Its seems to me that any recycling center is in a galaxy far, far away, and with all this talk, my kids will end up in nice eco-friendly bubbles when they’re on their first dates. New York City will be in a Terrarium, with the more advanced alien life forms looking down into it, bantering about how those “poor, little humans just can’t resist waste…”

It's hard to imagine our ocean and bluffs not here to look at...
My daughter came home and said to me, “Mom, we need to save the earth!” From where I stand, the earth is nice and clean. We have beautiful rivers, trees (not HERE persay, but a little way up the rivers!), and beautiful blue skies 24 hours a day. The berries come out and we pick them next to the dumps! The only threat we face is too much dust in the summers that stirs up when kids go riding 45 miles per hour next to your inisaqs and your uugruk gets ruined.

When I sit and ponder where I live and what I do, I see waste all around me. My grandmother sauqataq (scolded) me for having more than one bag of garbage per day in our house. With two kids full time, a niece who’s always there, and various friends in and out of the house, its hard not to waste one 13 gallon bag of garbage per day. But, where is it going? And what can I do to stop that?

So, I thought to myself…”OK self! What small steps can we do to begin living more “green?”… But how can my daughter get a Girl Scout Patch at the same time?!” (hehe…) So, we came up with the “Earth is our Home” badge for Brownies. (Clara is a Brownie, and Kaisa already pretty much has her daisy stuff down, so we’re working on the Brownie patches now.)

The colors of the fall tundra are the most beautiful here.

Tonight, we’re planting mint, basil, thyme, coriander, and sage in our used jars and cans that we’ve been saving for a special day. We do have over 16 hours of sunlight, but don’t forget, up here, its still 10 degrees. Come summertime, our herbs will come to fruition and we’ll be able to savor FRESH herbs with grilled salmon and caribou.

We also made a cleaning solution together, very “green” if you ask me. We mixed baking soda and water to clean the tub, and to clean all the gunk off the dirty windows, the girls mixed some white vinegar and water, in no time, the window’s were news papered clean!

Lastly, we’ve been taking our Longaberger basket to the store to pick up groceries. Not only do we not use plastic bags, but it also cuts down on the amount of unneccesary groceries I buy. Only so much can fit inside it, and that's all I'm limited to when we go. I'll admit it’s a little tough to drive on a 4-wheeler with a basket full of groceries, but in order to “do our part” we have enjoyed the balancing act it takes! (www.longaberger.com/maijalukin) Its the Longaberger Market Basket that I use... it also fits a 9 X 13 pottery baking dish inside it as well. Very nice indeed!

For sure the girls will earn an Earth Day patch, and we’ll all sleep better, in our nice, clean air! Consider it my good deed for the day!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!