Chris and Robbin's Alaska
Elim
(2000-present)
Elim Elim is located in one of the most beautiful spots in Alaska.  The waters of Norton Bay crash into the sheer cliffs all around the village.  On three sides of the village, large rounded mountains shelter wooded valleys.  Rock spires jut out from the mountainsides, like forgotten sculptures.  If you travel back into the mountains and valleys, you could find yourself in a sulfur hot spring or on top of a glorious bald mountain, overlooking a vast expanse of wild land.

The village itself is a scattering of homes nestled between two rounded mountains on the edge of Norton Bay.  Most of the people in the village are Yup'ik Eskimos, whose families can be traced back to the community's founding in 1911.  Since its founding the community has tripled its population to 320.  Today Elim boasts two stores, a Covenant Church, a community center, a clinic, a post office, a public library, and a K-12 school.  The governance of the community and surrounding lands is divided between the city office, the IRA council and the Elim Village Corporation.

Jobs are limited to the three village governmental offices, the school and the stores.  There is also seasonal work in commercial fishing.  Many of the individuals in the community rely on subsistence hunting and fishing as their main source of food.  Caribou, moose, and seal make up most of the winter diet, along with berries and greens stored over from the summer.  Spring brings in the herring and beluga for a change of diet.  The summer harvest includes geese and duck eggs as well as many different types of salmon.  In the fall there are geese, ducks and other small game fowl.


We came to Elim in the Summer of 2000.  During the summer we spent most of our time at fish camp, where we caught a winter's worth of salmon.  We also learned a lot about the area by travelling around in our new foldable kayak.  Next summer we'll spend less time fishing and more time exploring. 
Fish Camp

 
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site designed February 1999 by Robbin Garber-Slaght