Community Archaeology is Underway!

View southwest up Salonie creek from the new 5 by 5 excavation block

Community Archaeology began on Monday.  This is the 19th year of the Alutiiq Museum's Community Archaeology Program examining the Alutiiq seasonal round through time at various sites around Chiniak Bay.

This is our third year excavating at the Kashevaroff Site at the head of Womens Bay (click here and here for previous posts).  This year we have a big crew, and a lot of students are using the dig for field school credit. Catherine West from Boston University is helping to run the excavation and brought students from BU and various other institutions.  We also have a number of university students from the University of Alaska system.  Including our usual local contingent, our core crew is about 15 people strong.

This year we hope to check out the spatial extent of the site and see if we can find anything different from what we found the first 2 years when we focused on a 6 by 6 meter block near the front of the site.  We have opened up a new 5 by 5 meter block over a shallow depression at the southwest end of the site that we hope represents an old house depression.  In 2013 Ryan C (Thank You TerraSond!) did a Ground Penetrating Radar scan of the area and his work hinted at a buried lenticular depression with a possible hearth in the middle.  We also opened up a 2 by 2 meter block near the back of the site.

On Monday we opened everything up and removed old back dirt and Katmai Ash from the excavation blocks, and yesterday we began to dig into the prehistoric deposits in earnest.

Alutiiq people have lived on the site for the last 7000 years.  Prior to about 3500 years we believe there was a lake in front of the site and that Alutiiq hunters used the site as a base camp for hunting seals.  More recently, after the lake had filled in with sediment, an Alutiiq sod house was built on the top of the site.  I have been wondering why an Alutiiq family would have built a sod house so far inland on such a small creek.  Could this house represent an Alutiiq whaler's get away?

What will we find this year!

Patrick

Go Terriers!

Catherine removing the Katmai Ash

Ariel's bayonet base

GPR showing the cross section of what we hope is a house in our new 5 by 5 excavation block

Asters on the Mountain

Yesterday I went for a quick trip up Mount Monashka.  Everything was very green and the fields of blooming asters were beautiful.  I tried to photograph them in a landscape photo on the way down.  I did vertical pans in an attempt to capture the flowers up close in the lower photo and the landscape in the upper photo.  But it really did not work (see bottom 3 photos).  I did create nice landscapes but the blooming asters ended up too small.  I think I did the best in the top, non-panoramic photo.  But perhaps the panoramics would be better if they were blown up big, put on the wall, and you could look at them close?  Patrick

No asters in this one - the view north from the summit

Outdoor Activities On Afognak

It was just us on our last trip to Afognak - there was no one else to help provide entertainment to the kids.  And, funnily enough, they managed to stay entertained far, far better than usual.  They played together with no help from us, and took all outdoor outings in stride.  No more complaints about, 'when are we going to get back'.

I think my favorite outing was the loop up through the forest behind camp.  We follow bear trails up through the trees pretty far up the mountain behind camp.  There are views out through the trees to the ocean far below.  But it was still pretty thick in places.  The salmonberries, and devil's club bushes extended over the kids heads.  It looked like a scene from 'Gorillas in the Mist'.  Still no complaints from the kids - it was an adventure.

Patrick

Garden just past the 4rth of July

Kale and parsley - the big plant is a holdover from 2014

Since my last garden post at the solstice (click here to see) the garden has really taken off.  Everything has gotten HUGE.  Recently the garlic started to pop out scapes and I am excited to say that they are awesome on salads and pizza.  The mustard greens and arugula have started to bolt and have been mostly pulled from the salad 'bar' portion of the garden.  Last year's kale continues to produce the tenderest greens and flowers - lots of flowers.  I pick the flowers every day on my way to the car when I'm off to work.  And it appears that the days of swiss chard and carrot harvesting are upon us.  And meanwhile the potatoes continue to grow. .. ..

Potatoes, roses, and Stuey's nasturtium plant

Potatoes and garlic

Carrots, beets and swiss chard

Carrots and 'salad bar'

Bows and Arrows

MOUNTAIN VIEWS-

Kodiak Daily Mirror Article 

Printed July 1st, 2015

By Zoya Saltonstall

This summer the archery bug has definitely hit our house. (And shed. In more ways than one!) 

In front of our red shed rests an archery target-a big foam square with large pink dots painted on it. Around the foam target  are 6 hay barrels to help absorb the stray arrows. Around those barrels are a few pieces of plywood. And yet we still have many hits into the shed from stray arrows (but we really don't mind too much).   In the evenings my son, Stuey, and husband, Patrick, take turns with the bow. Sometimes its chill and other times its competitive. Stuey loves the bow and has to painfully wait his turn as Patrick takes his turn shooting their five arrows. Then, its Stuey's turn again. 

The bow and arrow fascination isn't  a recent one for Patrick. As a kid he was hooked on wrist rockets and later used  bows and arrows. When  Patrick was in his early 40's and living here in Kodiak, he learned to hunt with a bow and arrow.  For goat hunters, bow and arrow hunting means you can hunt on the road system without drawing a  permit.  That said, it is  more challenging than rifle hunting.   Goats are often perched on cliffs- icy, snowy cliffs. To hunt those goats with a bow, one must be perched on those same icy cliffs. The hunter must be also be ready to go retrieve them when they tumble off a cliff after their death. 

 Eight years ago during winter, Patrick and his  hunting buddy John B. would disappear for many Saturdays and Sundays. Off they went to mountain tops to go after goats with their bow gear. In the early hours of those cold, snowy November  mornings I was just grateful it wasn't me heading up mountains in the near darkness. 

I found their mission to be so manly. Like ultimate manly. Guys chasing after goats with bows and arrows. How much more primal can it get, really?    That winter was  a particularly snowy and cold one.   They wore white "camo" suits to keep their presence from the goats more hidden. 

Every weekend, for about 6 weeks, Patrick returned from his hunts with a similar story.

 "Honey, we were SO close. I had the goat right there, in my sights, and then a gust of wind came, and…" Patrick would say,  or "Honey, This time we really almost had one. He was 5 yards away, I had arrow pulled back and then he dashed around the cliff"

The sexy primal-ness of the bow and arrow hunting  really started to wear off. My patience for bow and arrow hunting was wearing thin.

"Ummm hmmm. Ok." I began to reply with less empathy, as I bounced baby Stuey on my hip and toddler Nora was clinging onto my leg. I wasn't sure who was more challenged-him chasing after goats on snowy cliffs or me trying to appease an infant and toddler. (For you moms in the mix-you know what I mean. Just having an extra set of hands on those weekend days can help so much!)

At the end of those 6 weeks, Patrick and John did get their goat. When he walked through the door telling me they shot one, I was in disbelief. It really happened. 

The other evening after dinner, I went outside to check out the bow and arrow time with Patrick and Stuey. I sat on the lawn with a cool summer beverage and soaked it all in.  Patrick and Stuey were taking aim at 10 and then 20 yards. Stuey carefully drew the bow back, elbow by his ear.  He would look over at me and smile, glad to finally have an audience. 

"I want to try shooting" I told the guys after almost 30 minutes of watching. 

"Ok, Yeah! Stuey,  lets let mommy shoot one round of arrows." Patrick said, "How about we start mommy on the 5 yard line?" I  got the sense that the guys were skeptical about my abilities. I understood. I hadn't practiced at all. 

So I started at the 5 yard line, pulled the bow string back. Took aim. And wham. Into the target my arrow landed. I moved back to 10 yard and same result. Wham.  I wasn't too far off, for never having practiced in my adult life. 

"Wow, Zoya!" Patrick said. I tried to act chill but inside I was screaming with delight! "You're pretty good!" Patrick remarked.

I was channeling my Camp Woodsmoke energy. Camp Woodsmoke was a sleepover summer camp my twin sister and I went to in 4th and 5th grade. It was  on the shores of Lake Placid we went there for 2 week periods, two summers in a row.  I was particularly fond of sailing, archery and canoeing. I got a little plywood carved award for archery. At some point many years ago before college I threw it away. The award may be gone, but the muscle memory for that bow and arrow shooting somehow stuck. I took myself by surprise shooting that first set of arrows. 

Drawing the bow back, aiming, releasing. Watching  the arrow fly through the air.  Then the satisfying thump as it lands into the target (as opposed to the whack as it hits the barn!). Its good to be reunited with these arrows which bring challenge, and pleasure. And the joy of knowing that archery is  part of our family and  that those Camp Woodsmoke skills are with me still. 

Kodiak resident Zoya Saltonstall is a mother of two and a physical therapist. She loves black labs and chocolate.

Kid Rhythm on Afognak

We returned from a 4 day trip to Afognak. Its been 4 years now since we started  camping there and every trip, the kids are able to help a bit more with camp tasks.  

Right upon arrival, Stuey and I sawed wood together. On the last trip, he was just taking an interest in learning how to saw and did a bit of practicing. This trip, he produced many chunks of good firewood. Side by side, we would saw and he enjoyed having mini races with me on who was sawing fastest. 

They also took interest in doing the dishes-a chore that I particularly enjoy and typically do by myself at the ocean side. On this trip, they would join me and scrub away with gravel or seaweed-whichever was available with the tide. 

When we returned back to Kodiak, I realized its going to be 2 months before we head out there again, which feels like an eternity. I'm going to have to get some camping in locally with friends or my scout troop to fill that desire to hear the wind in the trees at night and cook some camp meals. 

Zoya

Sawing with Stuey

Appetizers and drawing together.

Smores in the makin'

Stuey and I shared a tent. His little stuffed animals, "Dot and Dottie" slept between us. One morning he reported that they slept so hard they were drooling. :)

Washing dishes together

An hour of fun on the log as the tide came in

Doing "Zendoodle" with Stuey

Fight or Flight

Weekly Kodiak Daily Mirror article-

Fight or Flight

In my line of work as a physical therapist, I  work with people whose bodies and brains think they are being chased by a bear. Quite literally. No, they don't come into me with sweat pouring down their face in a frenzy. Its more subtle than that. 

 Its the "fight or flight" nervous system response gone bananas and not turning off when it should.  This presents as a series of bodily reactions which typically occur under duress. We all know the feeling-if you are driving down the road and see a police car behind you turn on their siren and lights. They pick up speed and pull up closer to you.  This moment triggers chemical, organ and muscular reactions which help us quickly respond to this impending doom. Our pupils dilate, heart rate increases, adrenaline is released, blood is deterred from our digestive track, muscles contract. Our body is made ready to  be on high alert. 

This  "high alert" part of our nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system. It works beautifully in short term stress situations.  These moments when we have to engage in combat, run or hide. It diverts blood from unnecessary immediate bodily functions (such as digestion of food) to more important areas (such as muscles). 

The problem is when the system turns on and doesn't shut off. It is active when it shouldn't be.  This is caused from prolonged stress, or very commonly-long term pain. The brain is made to believe that it is under continued duress, because of chemical changes which occur long term in the brain. Our brains and nervous systems are "on" too much and don't have a chance to breath. To heal. 

On  a daily basis, part of my job is to explain this to my clients. Unfortunately, sometimes peoples' pain has gone on for months and months or years.    I take notice  of muscular spasms. Shortened breaths. Difficulty relaxing. It is the sympathetic nervous system on overdrive. 

In our go-go-go, on-on-on culture, the ability to relax and renew has been lost. With phones and technology, our brains can't differentiate a stressful  text message from a bear chasing us  across a prairie. So that brings us to rest and digest-the other part of our nervous system which we ideally want to spend the bulk of time in. This is called the parasympathetic nervous system. 

Somewhere along the line, we've forgotten how to really breathe.  

Guiding my clients with cues for how to do  abdominal breathing, we often chuckle about re-learning how to breath.  Not the survival breathing-the short breaths which arise from our shoulders. That is the fight or flight breathing.  But rather the abdominal breaths which send a message to our brain that it is ok to rest and digest. If you've ever watched a young child breathing as they sleep, their stomachs rising and falling with each breath-this is the model breath cycle. 

 Each healthy breath triggers  hormones and chemical responses made for rest and digestion.  Muscle spasms quiet, heart rate slows.  The nervous system is brought toward  homeostasis. 

Kodiak resident Zoya Saltonstall is a mother of two and a physical therapist. She loves black labs and chocolate.

Stuey's Animal Drawing Book

Last week Stuey attended 'Salmon Camp' here in town at the local USFWS Refuge Center.  At camp he kept a daily notebook and learned all sorts of stuff about salmon, plants and general outdoor 'science stuff'.  He'd come home and use words like 'predator', 'camoflage', and even 'ecosystem'.  Clearly he was learning a lot and having a good time doing it.

One evening we noticed him drawing and writing about different animals in a homemade notebook and assumed it was something brought home from 'Salmon Camp'.  The next day when Zoya was dropping  Stuey off at camp and she commented to the instructors about how much she liked Stuey's animals book.  They did not know anything about it - Stuey, inspired by Salmon Camp, had come up with the illustrated notebook all on his own!

Patrick

Sunday Morning Photo Safari

This morning Stuey, Nora and I took the dogs and our cameras for a walk in the park - a photo safari!  Initially, the kids were way into close ups of flowers, slugs and raindrops, but in the park they started to take pictures of trees, rocks and the landscape.  Down on the beach we even took underwater photos in the tidepools.  Stuey got a great one of a baby sculpin, but it did not make the final cut because it was not in focus.

Back home we edited all the photos together and picked out the best 4 photos from each of us.  Patrick

Nora taking a close up of bark fungus

Stuey's 4 Photo

Close up of Mr slug - he reminds me of the snail in 'Spongebob'

Raindrops on spruce bough

Budding foxglove (digitalis) near the park entrance

'watercolor' filter of the spruce trees in the park

Nora's 4 Photos

raindrops on Fireweed leef

Angelica

Pushki and bugs

The beach at the park

Daddy's 4 photos

Raindrop on fireweed

Poppy

Tasty!

Wild iris (blue flag) by the lake