Our "business" day was part of an ongoing effort to match our performance objectives and plans with the goals of our Borough Assembly, which had been drawn out at their retreat a few months back. It also gave us the opportunity to share ideas and concerns without the disruption of the many calls and visitors we have throughout our normal workday in Kotzebue.

Friday's Inupiaq Day activities provided us with the chance to meet and be involved with all the students, teachers and staff at Deering's fine school. We did so at the invitation of principal Ed Wray, who has done an excellent job of putting a great learning atmosphere in place during his four years in Deering.

Siikauraq "Martha" Whiting of our Economic Development Section and Noah Naylor, our Planning Director, conducted clinics on Native Youth Olympics in the gym throughout the day. Students from kindergarten through grade 12 all enjoyed learning the finer points of leg wrestling, the wrist carry and the other challenging sports that comprise NYO. Public Services Director Tom Bolen discussed Arctic survival principles and techniques. Valerie Romaine, my special assistant, and Deputy Clerk Geri Jones taught sewing skills. And Lee Stoops, our EDC Director, demonstrated and supervised a class on creating art from caribou antlers.

For my part, I presented a slide show on subsistence hunting and fishing activities. The slides came from my personal collection of photographs gathered over more than thirty years. I was proud to share and describe these pictures because subsistence activities have always been and continue to be labors of pure love for me. Subsistence is the foundation of Native Arctic life - our connection to the land - and we must do everything possible to keep that spirit alive through our young people.

I would like to thank the village of Deering for making us so welcome during our two-day stay. The kitchen staff at the school fed us two fine lunches and a breakfast. Calvin Moto invited our entire group to his home for a dinner of caribou soup on Thursday night and kept us laughing for more than an hour. Ed Ray, his teachers, and the rest of the school staff were so gracious and helpful. Thanks also to the staff at the city office, who allowed us to use their meeting room for an entire day.

As a final note, although we intended to serve as teachers during our visit to the school, we became students when we challenged a group of local young men to a basketball game on Thursday night. All I can say to the Deering victors is: "We'll be back!"