Parka

I talked to my neighbor down the hall yesterday because I mentioned how nice her parka was. It had real beaver fur and looked cozy and warm. She told me the story of how she got it. She was in Shishmaref and mentioned to a woman that she wanted one someday. A couple of months later, a handmade parka arrived. Apparently, that is a kind of bargaining here. Just mentioning that you covet something is an open call to have somebody get it for you--and then you give adequate compensation. Thing here is that these parkas run about $800-$1000. My neighbor said she managed to talk her down a bit but she still paid for it.

I took this picture from the Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau. It is a photo of a Native woman ice fishing by Jim Adams.