Caroline sang to her comatose son

Nearly two years ago when Margie was recovering from surgery at the Alaska Native Medical Center, I stopped to check in on a friend in the Intensive Care Unit. There I saw another friend, Caroline Cannon of Point Hope. Her adult son, Leroy Oenga, was in a coma - word was that he had been declared brain dead. Caroline was not giving up. She was praying and asking for prayers. I recall looking at Leroy as he lay comatose in bed and feeling so bad for him and bad for his mother. The situation appeared truly hopeless. Yet his mother clung to hope – futile hope, it appeared. On this night in Nuiqsut, Caroline recalled the ordeal of being told Leroy was brain-dead and that she should pull the plug. Instead, she sat at his side, prayed, and sang hymns to him. Here, she sings one of those hymns: "We've got the power in the name of the Lord..." While he has some health problems to deal with, Caroline told us how her son recovered mentally and physically and today is building a life with his wife and young family. 

Marie, Annie and Saaniaq sing gospel at the closing singspiration

Marie Rexford, Annie Tikluk and Elizabeth Saaniaq Rexford of Kaktovik sing gospel at the Nuiqsut singspiration, broadcast across the Slope by Isaac Tuckfield of KBRW. This singspiration was the last event of Kuukpik Corporation's 40th Anniversary Celebration to commemorate the founding of the new village of Nuiqsut. There was, however, another singspiration held in the Presbyterian Church to welcome the guests the night before the celebration began. I am going to post one image and story from that singspiration shortly.

Isaac Tuckfield, legendary broadcaster of heavy rock, beams the church service and gospel singing to every village across the Slope

This is Isaac Tuckfield, program director for KBRW, Barrow's public radio station, relayed to all villages on the Slope. Although I have lived in Wasilla for over 30 years, back when I was publishing Uiñiq on a regular basis, I often spent more time on the Slope than I did at home with my kids and Margie, who can hardly tolerate the relatively mild cold weather of Wasilla and has always refused to go much farther north. For a time, I had an excellent darkroom and an office in Barrow and would often work there until the wee hours of the morning or even all through the night. "Seismic Isaac" had a late show and played mostly 60's rock and roll. He gave me the energy to keep going through many a long night. He always closed with Jimmy Hendrix's version of the Star-Spangled Banner. Over the past year or maybe even longer, Isaac has made a point to get out and broadcast Sunday night church services and singspiration from all eight villages in the North Slope Borough live Slope-wide. He did so in Nuiqsut, beginning his broadcast in the community center at 9 PM until after 3 AM. This is Isaac during the opening prayer. 

A hymn for Eli

Tonight, a singspiration was held at the Utqeagvik Presbyterian Church in Barrow for Eli Solomon, Sr., who was buried today. Vincent, Roy, James and Lloyd Nageak sing, "How Great Thou Art." It was a sad day, a cold day, but a special day, too, filled with warmth.

As for me, I went to bed this morning at 1:00 AM, slept little, got up at 3:30, drove to Anchorage, left the car to Margie and caught the 6:10 flight that stops in both Fairbanks and Deadhorse before continuing on to Barrow. The event that brought me here does not start until tomorrow and I could have taken the afternoon flight, but then I would have missed Eli's funeral.

I did not want to miss his funeral.

As I state, for all the cold and sadness it was a special and warm day, as Eli was a truly special, warm, man. I think I may have a few pictures that say something about just how special this day was, but right now I badly need to go to bed and get some sleep. Given the things I must do over the next few days and the fact that this laptop needs to be replaced and is too slow and makes serious photo work a tedious enterprise, I don't think I will get back to this until next week, after I return to Wasilla.

When I do, I hope to do some justice and pay true honor to the soldier, the fireman, the search and rescuer, the whaler, the husband, father and grandfather who was Eli Solomon.