Growing up in a village we had to use our imagination a lot or find things to do for fun. When I was a very young girl, everyone had access to gugeelee Lake, which is by the airport landing strip next to the bridge that is now in Unalakleet. I would use an old coffee can and catch gugeelees and watch them, then let them go into the river. I thought they were being set free but I was actually disrupting their natural cycle. A fish will always return to where they were born, to lay eggs and start the cycle of life again. It is amazing. If I had known better I would not have captured them. There is a lake near the village that is by the first hill going up the river. This lake is at a higher level than the river and each year the fish that return to where they were spawned have to make a jump from the slough to the lake via a small water fall. It is awesome to watch fish! I get captivated by so many intricate details of so many things found in nature and it really makes life more enjoyable to truly appreciate the beauty in everything.
Sewskimo Gertz 