Russian Mission

My Room

Russian Mission Clinic

This past week I have been away on my second village trip.  Russian Mission is a village of just over 300 people, nestled in the mountains on the bank of the Yukon River.  It's about a 45 minute flight northeast of Bethel.  The first record of the village was in 1837 by fur traders.  Then, the village was known as "Ikogmiut" meaning "people of the point".  The whole town is less than 6 sq miles of land.

Main Street

Enough snow for sledding 

Moose quarters hanging in the cold

Russian Mission - mountain view

My trip started out a little rough.  I arrived early Monday morning only to find the health aide who was also supposed to be there was nowhere to be found!  I was on my own.  No nurse, no health aide, just me!  I didn't know where anything was located, and if there was an emergency I didn't know who I was supposed to call.  No 911 out there, just me.  The health aide who was supposed to be there that day had a full schedule of patients.  Most of those patients regretfully had to be cancelled, but I tried to squeeze some into my already booked schedule; I was frazzled to say the least.  That night I barely slept for fear that the on-call phone would start to ring.  

Trail up the mountain

The next morning however, things began to look up.  The health aide arrived on the morning flight and I was successfully getting my patients' blood on the first stick!  There were so many patients who needed to be seen.  I saw patients every day I was there from 8:00 in the morning till 8:00 or 9:00 at night.  

Airport

The Yukon River - frozen of course!

I managed to get out and around town for just a bit on my lunch break the last day I was there.  I went and had lunch at the school.  The kids were too cute.  Some of them I had seen earlier in the week as patients.  Many of the elders I saw as patients were there as well.  The school is the town's biggest employer, so I shouldn't be surprised I was seeing so many familiar faces.  One of my patients gave me a tour of the two story, two year old, K-12 school.  My favorite room by far was the Yup'ik room.  In this room, the elders pass on their knowledge of the culture.  They teach the kids how to make various arts and crafts, bead work, quilting, and sewing.  They also teach the kids how to trap fish and animals for fur.  The room was full of tradition.

I truly look forward to my next trip.  With any luck I'll be able to bring a nurse along with me and double the number of patients I see!

Painting of Russian Mission in the 1950s