 The Northern Missions of
Juneau, AKFather Jim Blaney, OMI began his work in Alaska 12 years ago
when he went to Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, in September 1988.
He served there until July of 1999, when he was asked by Bishop Michael Warfel
to move north to serve the people on the Northern Mission circuit of the
Diocese of Juneau. Jim moved to Juneau with his 4wd vehicle, boat and trailer
and canoe. He moved into St. Paul's Parish in Juneau, taking up residence with
Fr. Tony Dummer, OMI who is pastor of St. Paul's.
 From his room
at St. Paul's Parish, Father Jim functions as Director of the Northern Missions
- coordinating the movements of two priests and three sisters who work in the
outlying mission stations in the northern part of the diocese.
Yakutat,
Alaska is a mission 199 air miles northwest of Juneau, reached by Alaska
Airlines. By big jet it is about 35 minutes northwest of Juneau. The closest
neighbor to Yakutat is the Malaspina Glacier which is larger than the state of
Rhode Island. Yakutat is a fishing village in the shadow of the Mt. Fairweather
and the Mt. St. Elias Mountain ranges. It has a very good airport due to the
fact that it was a military field during WWII.
 Like all
the missions in SE Alaska, weather determines the travel patterns. The slogan
we use is WPPW - Weather Permitting, Pilot Willing. A one-to-three day delay
due to weather is not uncommon. You always carry extra gear and an extra good
book to help pass the time. As black bears were very common on Prince of Wales
Island, brown bears are very common on the northern circuit meandering through
the towns and the villages and along the boardwalks built on stilts in some of
the places. The bears were here first and they have the right of way and they
make a person extremely careful when out in the field.
 Excursion Inlet, next to Gustavus is a cannery that operates in the
summer. The only way in is by float plane or boat. Mass is said in the summer
for the cannery workers. Gustavus is a small town built on the land exposed by
the receding glacier forming Glacier Bay. It is the entrance into Glacier Bay.
Ten miles from the airport is the Glacier Bay Lodge at Bartlett Cove which is
the Park Service headquarters for the Bay. It is a fishing village and service
area (Bed & Breakfasts, etc.,) for Glacier Bay. The Church is a small cabin
27'x271, rented from a local man. Mass is celebrated in the living room joined
to the kitchen. The missal stand is the front burner of the stove.
Entrance into Gustavus is by small wheel plane in the winter, Alaska
Arilines serves the tourists who come in the summer. Also, in summer, there is
a tour boat run by a native corporation. We keep a car at the Gustavus airport
for mission use, as the cabin is three miles from the airport and seven miles
to the Glacier Bay Ranger headquarters.
There are 31/2 miles of paved
road in the Gustavus area, the rest is all rutted sandy roads due to the.sand
and silt from the melting glacier. As the land recovers from being covered by
ice it continues to rise. The area was once called Strawberry Point due to the
proliferation of wild strawberries there. The roads can do a job on vehicle
suspension.
Hoonah is a Tlingit native village across Icy Straits from
Gustavus. Like all the villages in SE it is built along the shore at the base
of a cliff. The people live by fishing and subsistence hunting. There is a
small airfield for small planes. The Alaska Marine Highway System (aka- ferry)
reaches Hoonah from Juneau. Other private boats can get back and forth when the
weather is decent. Plane or boat are the only ways in. We have a small building
which is a combination Church, parish hall, kitchen and living quarters (one
room). The downstairs is one big open room which will be converted to living
quarters for a permanent Deacon and his wife, a sitting lounge and a small
office. As usual, the brown bears are our neighbors. The area around Hoonah is
quite wild and, being Alaskan, unforgiving.
Pelican is a neat little
community, a fishing village, built on a boardwalk at the base of a fiord. The
steep walls go right into the water so that the main street is a wood boardwalk
on stilts stretching for a mile along the coast line. The little homes are up
on the boardwalk as well as the fish canning/processing plant. Right now we use
a one room efficiency apartment on the boardwalk belonging to one of the
parishioners.
Entrance into Pelican is by float plane or ferry which comes
once a month in the winter. It is in Lisianski Inlet by the open ocean at the
head of the inlet. We get the ocean swells ("ocean motion") prior to going into
the Inlet. In the winter I take the float plane in on Thursday (weather
permitting) and return to Juneau on Sunday by way of the ferry. If the ferry is
the only way in and is on time we get an hour and a half there, enough time to
say Mass on the ferry; otherwise we say Mass in the City Hall on Sunday
morning.
At the head of the Inlet to Pelican Cove is a small cove
called Elfin Cove consisting of a lodge and cabins. This is a summer place with
a charter business and the Lodge. Only a handful of people stay there through
the winter. Float plane is the only way in and,out, weather permitting.
 Tenakee Springs is a little village along
the shore in Tenaker Inlet on Chichagof Island. The main street is the narrow
shoreline with tiny cabins built on stilts on either side of the street. People
coming here must bring their own water. In the summer of ‘99, a company
came to dig 22 wells for that many of the cabins finally have water. The church
and the cabins sit right on the beach at the tide line. The church has no water
yet. The bathroom is the community bathroom at the end of a nearby dock to
which we have a key. The area is host to a hot springs where the community
bathes - men and women have pre-determined times to use the springs.
The only way into Tenakee is by float plane or by ferry. The only vehicle is
the fire engine and a service truck.People use golf carts and 4-wheelers to get
around on the "Main street'! There is a nice boat harbor for the fishing fleet. #12;
The chapel at Tenakee Springs is 201x 17'. The chapel is on the
first floor with a monitor oil stove. There is a hole in the ceiling to let the
heat rise to the upper apartment. There is a small heater (electric) for the
apartment. The inside measurement of the place is 19 and a half by 15 and a
half ft. but it is cozy. We use a hot plate and a toaster oven and have a
coffee maker. It is just like "camping under roof". It is warm and dry and
really quite comfortable in its own way.
Tenakee Springs was the winter
place for the miners and crooks who stayed up in the mining areas of the
Kloddike and the like during the spring and summer months. At one time it was
known as "Robbers roost". After Soapy Smith got killed in Skagway the gang went
to Tenakee Springs to hide out for a time.
 Right now, Glacier Bay is being closed to fishing and crabbing.
Permits are being issued. Lifetime permits for certain areas are being issued
which means when the permit holder dies the permit dies and thus no more
fishing for that family in the area. Temporary permits are being given to the
people accustomed to fishing the area. The people who have been there for years
really feel as though they are suffering an injustice. There are compensation
programs for buying out permits and the like. But, the fishing may be over
shortly and these little places which have depended on fishing for a living
will be closed down.
The Tlingits of Hoonah are working with the
Government to maintain their right of harvest in Glacier Bay for seagull eggs
and seals and fishing. We are waiting to see.where this goes.
It is beautiful but wild country through Icy Straits, Cross
Sound, Glacier bay, Frederick Sound, Chatham Straits, Tenaker Inlet and the
like. Beautiful and unforgiving. A big mistake is usually fatal. What would be
little things down South are big things up here. Alaska underlines the small
things. You do not challenge Mother Nature up here. You will lose every time.
The people are great and unpretentious. They do not put on airs nor
tolerate people who do. Everyone is in the same boat and thus everyone helps
each other.It is God's country inhabited by a special breed of people who trust
in God and pray all- the time. I can live and die up here happily. You have to
really experience Alaska to understand and appreciate its greatness and
spirit.
- Fr. Jim Blaney, OMI |
