KNBA - Anchorage

A group of North Slope residents is trying to recall the borough mayor, Josiah Aullaqsruaq Patkotak, alleging that he misused public funds. 

That group’s application for a recall petition says the mayor – whose salary is over $280,000 – should be recalled for, among other things, receiving compensation from the borough for “lavish travel expenses” for his family.

The assembly adjusted borough code in December to allow compensation for family travel, but that change came after Patkotak had already received tens of thousands of dollars for at least 15 domestic and international trips with his family.

“Everybody, even the mayor, has to follow rules and regs and procedures,” said Marietta Aiken, one of the residents involved in recall efforts. “He thinks that those standards do not apply to him.”

Angela Cox, the borough’s director of government and external affairs, told KNBA in an email on Monday that some borough mayors traveled with their families even before the borough code change.

“It has long been the practice of the borough to support the mayor and their spouse for travel as they fulfill their public duties and obligations,” Cox said in an email.

The residents submitted their first recall application in February. But the clerk’s office denied it, saying that it failed to meet grounds for recall. In Alaska, officials can be recalled for misconduct in office, incompetence or failure to perform prescribed duties.

The authors filed a new application on March 4, which the borough has not responded to yet. On Friday, one of the residents, Beverly Aqak Hugo, filed a court complaint asking the court to direct the borough to issue a recall petition.

Cox said Tuesday that the group’s petition is being reviewed by outside counsel.

Family travel on the borough’s dime

Travel records show trips costing tens of thousands of dollars where Patkotak took his family — often flying first class — to North Slope villages, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Seattle, New York and Peru.

Hugo, an Utqiaġvik elder and retired Iñupiaq language teacher, said that was one of the main motivations for the recall effort.

“The mayor’s family is not the borough’s responsibility,” Hugo said. “He and his father make enough money if they want to bring their family, they can pay for them themselves.”

At a December borough assembly meeting, the assembly voted to make it clear in borough code that assembly members and the mayor could use borough funds to pay for family members’ travel during business trips. At the meeting, Patkotak – who is also a former Alaska House representative for District 40 – acknowledged that he was already doing that and defended the practice.

He said that bringing his family along – which sometimes included his wife, his infant daughter or all three children – helped him to be more efficient. He added that in his eyes, “when you elect a mayor, you’re electing the family unit that he or she represents.”

Cox said that because Patkotak is the youngest North Slope Borough Mayor ever elected, traveling with family is more necessary for him.

“Mayor Patkotak has young children, all minors between the ages of 2 and 11,” she said.

In response to a public records request about the travel history of previous mayors, the acting borough attorney Roxanne Rohweder said those records were lost in a fire in January. She said the finance director has not provided digital versions to her.

But Cox did share several travel claims showing that the borough paid for the spouse of former mayor Harry Brower Jr. to accompany him on business trips.

No other borough code in Alaska mentions compensating officials for family members’ travel expenses. Clerks from eight Alaska boroughs said their policies explicitly prohibit the practice.

“We do not pay for any family members to accompany any elected officials or employees on business trips,” Kodiak Island Borough clerk Nova Javier said. “If they decide to bring any family members, we will only pay for the employee, not for the family member.”

Last fall, Point Hope City Council removed city mayor Tariek Oviok from office after he faced allegations for misusing public funds to take his family on personal trips. And former North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower was recalled in 2016 on grounds that included spending borough funds on family trips, such as sending her grandchildren to basketball camp.

Limousines and first class tickets

North Slope Borough code directs employees to choose the lowest refundable tourist class airfare unless the mayor has authorized an upgrade as being in the best interest of the borough. The policy says that when employees travel to locations where the borough doesn’t have contract hotels, air carriers and car rental agencies, they can choose businesses with reasonable rates.

“To fly first class on the borough is not acceptable,” Hugo said.

In at least 12 other Alaska boroughs, officials are asked to use the most economical fare when they travel.

“The borough pays for the main refundable ticket,” said Aleutians East Borough Clerk Beverly Ann Rosete. “If they decide to upgrade to first class, it will be at their own expense.”

According to travel records provided by the borough attorney, Patkotak took his wife and infant child on an 11-day trip to Lima, Peru last September, where he attended the International Whaling Commission meeting. The trip cost nearly $16,000 and included first class and premium airfare tickets as well as eight nights in a deluxe suite with a jacuzzi and sauna.

In October, Patkotak planned a trip to Iceland for the Arctic Circle Assembly and then to New York for a syndicated bond sale. He canceled the Iceland portion of the trip, but at least $3,000 worth of hotel reservations were nonrefundable. Patkotak’s New York expenses included first class plane tickets and cost the borough at least $15,230.

In New York City, Patkotak was joined by a group of 17 others. That number included borough employees and officials, assembly members, the borough clerk and some of their spouses, according to the documents provided by the authors of the recall petition application. All 17 flew first class, and their travel expenses totaled nearly $115,000, according to travel claims.  

Cox said that the bond sale trip was an opportunity for leadership to better understand how the borough funds large-scale projects such as village schools and power plant rebuilds.

“Capital projects are our largest investment and bond financing is an important tool to finance our infrastructure,” she said. “This bond research trip was fully approved and funded, and backed a key initiative of the North Slope Borough to fund major infrastructure projects.”

Cox said flying first class to New York made sense because the trip involved at least 12 hours of travel and a four hour time change.

Patkotak also expensed a meal for the group that cost $1,938 — though the travelers also received per diem payments meant to cover food. Cox said the dinner was for a large group, in an expensive city.

Patkotak also flew first class to Anchorage, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia and other locations during his solo trips. He rented a limousine during a trip to California to meet with Angeles Investments and attend a helicopter expo. And during a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with Alaska representatives, he used a luxury chauffeur service Blacklane as his airport shuttle. His total costs for the six-day D.C. trip were over $9,000.

Other grounds for recall

The residents behind the recall effort also allege that Patkotak misused the borough medevac plane for non-medical errands, approved too many nepotism waivers and misused public funds to open an office in Anchorage.

The residents have also submitted an application to recall Crawford Patkotak, who is the president of the North Slope Borough Assembly and the mayor’s father, “for misconduct in office, incompetence and failure to perform prescribed duties.” The application stated that when Crawford Patkotak voted to allow the mayor to bring his family on business trips, he failed to disclose his personal interest in supporting his son.

“The conflict of interest of the father and son – that is not acceptable. It should never be tolerated,” Hugo said.

Crawford Patkotak did not respond to a request for comment.

If the borough administration establishes that the petition charges are recallable, the authors will need to gather signatures equal to at least 25% of the total number of voters in the last regular election, according to borough code. The borough clerk would then submit it to the assembly, and an election would be scheduled within 90 days.

Alaska experts on energy, housing and infrastructure said billions of dollars are in limbo from President Donald Trump’s funding freezes – and that uncertainty is affecting local communities.

The Trump administration paused funding for several major federal programs back in January. Since then, the freeze has interrupted Alaska initiatives ranging from heat pump programs to major infrastructure projects that would protect communities from storm surges and tsunamis. Eight representatives from Alaska-based organizations discussed the disruptions during a joint virtual press conference on Tuesday.

“Alaskans are losing from uncertainty. Homeowners are potentially losing. Workers are losing, contractors are losing,” said Andy Romanoff, executive director of Alaska Heat Smart, a southeast Alaska-based organization whose projects are affected by the freeze.

In total, more than $5,000,000 was at risk from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and over $720,000,000 from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to data shared by one advocacy group. United Today, Stronger Tomorrow said they obtained the data from the Biden administration’s project overview. The numbers are an estimate and a moving target, they said, because some of the programs have been frozen and unfrozen irregularly.

For Alaska Heat Smart, the freeze disrupted a project that aims to lower energy costs by installing heat pumps in 48 communities for over 6,000 households, Romanoff said. Around $40 million of federal funding for that initiative has been frozen and reopened several times.

“We hope that recent thawing of funds will somehow survive more than a couple months over the 90-day review period and there will be a long lasting warmer period for all,” he said.

Making homes in rural Alaska more energy efficient can help residents and agencies offset fuel costs, said Griffin Hagle-Forster, executive director of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities.

“The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use in the first place. Home efficiency upgrades are a highly sensible investment in remote Native villages that rely on costly imported diesel fuel,” Hagle-Forster said.

Other frozen grants would fund projects for preventing shore erosion and stabilizing villages against permafrost melt, flooding and extreme weather, said Tashina Duttle, chief operating officer at DeerStone Consulting, which works on tribal energy infrastructure projects across the state.

One example is a Bureau of Indian Affairs initiative called the Tribal Climate Resilience Program, which supports tribally led climate adaptation. The program, which has allocated $72 million in funding for nearly 40 Alaskan tribal projects, is now on pause.

“Without this funding,” Duttle said, “villages will be lost to erosion, infrastructure will collapse under worsening climate conditions, communities will have to relocate without a plan, without resources and without dignity.”

Duttle added that the projects in question also create crucial economic opportunities in rural communities, including construction jobs. She said that agencies now aren’t sure what projects will be able to move forward, and what spending will be reimbursed.

“It’s very unlikely that we’ll see a meaningful construction season from the grants that are frozen right now for this summer,” she said.

Correction: A previous version of the story included a photo caption with incorrect information about a FEMA grant to Noatak. The original story also incorrectly stated the amount of funding allocated to Alaska through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

Catching salmon in the North Slope village of Kaktovik was unheard of not too long ago. But resident Robert Thompson says some fishermen now see salmon more regularly. About five years ago, he caught a dozen salmon – a small but noticeable number.

“Before it was unusual, and people would talk about it, that somebody got a salmon,” Thompson said. “Now it’s fairly common.”

Fishermen, hunters and researchers gathered at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage in January to discuss how several fish species and marine animals are changing their migration patterns in the warming climate. That includes humpbacks gaining new ground up north, bowheads expanding their diet and salmon observed in the Arctic.

Salmon are spawning in the Arctic

Elizabeth Mik’aq Lindley is a graduate student from Bethel who grew up fishing for salmon. Now she studies Pacific salmon in the Arctic.

In 2023, she and other researchers installed temperature loggers at the depth of salmon nests in several rivers – including the Anaktuvuk River, which runs through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

“If it gets too cold, the stream can freeze straight through to the bottom, into these nests, and embryos will freeze and die,” Lindley said.

Temperature also influences incubation and when embryos will hatch and start making their way to the ocean.

But in a year of tracking the water temperature, the researchers never saw it get below freezing. They also estimated that salmon emerged around August. That’s later than in other parts of the state, but it’s the optimal time for the Arctic. While more data is needed to see if salmon populations are growing in Arctic rivers, the conditions seem survivable.

“Salmon are spawning in the Arctic,” Lindley said, “and it does seem like it’s thermally survivable, thermally possible and plausible that they can incubate and emerge at the right time, given these temperatures.”

Bowheads are expanding their foraging grounds

The warming environment has also been affecting bowhead whales.

Traditionally, bowheads travel south to spend their winters feeding on krill in the Bering Sea. But with ice conditions reshaping the zooplankton community, the animals have been delaying that migration — or even staying in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas all winter.

Marine ecologist Clarissa Ribeiro Teixeira looked at the whales’ baleen plates to better understand the change. Elements that make up baleen plates – stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon – can offer a window into an animal’s diet and movements. Each plate grows continuously and has information from about 20 years of the whale’s life, she said.

Teixeira and her colleagues sampled baleen sections from 11 whales harvested on the North Slope over two decades. They also looked at the ice conditions during those years. What they discovered was that after 2016, when there was very little ice, bowheads shifted their behavior.

“The reduction in the sea ice cover may have influenced the prey availability distribution for these animals, motivating bowhead whales to explore new foraging habitats or include a wider composition of their prey sources into their diet,” she said. “That’s amazing, because it shows how resilient these individuals are, right?”

Humpbacks are frequenting the Arctic

Less ice might also mean new territory for humpback whales.

Kate Stafford, who is an oceanographer and a professor at the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, studies bowheads in the Arctic. But in 2021, she and her late colleague Craig George saw a whale that, to their surprise, turned out to be a humpback – a species that was once rare in the Utqiaġvik area.

“You just never know what you’re going to find,” she said. “We all need to take our eyes off of our phones and watch the water.”

Stafford says data from local whalers and aerial surveys points to more humpbacks visiting the area.

In Utqiagvik, humpbacks were sighted only twice before 2021 and two or three times in years after that. Then, last fall, researchers saw more than 25 whales feeding close together for two days in a row.

“We came across what I would call Humpback Palooza,” Stafford said. “Just dozens of humpback whales, which was crazy.”

Researchers took photos of whales and uploaded them to Happywhale, a citizen science project that helps identify whales using a technology similar to face recognition. Several of the whales seen near Utqiaġvik matched whales seen in Hawaii breeding grounds.

Young humpbacks usually follow the migration patterns they learn from their mothers, Stafford said. Because researchers observed multiple mother-calf pairs, the whales might return to the area.

“This does suggest, at least to me, that humpbacks are here to stay near Utqiaġvik, at least so long as there’s something to eat,” she said.

Utqiaġvik whaler Michael Donovan said he did not witness Humpback Palooza, but he has seen a few humpbacks during his fall hunts. He said that he and other whalers are worried the humpback whales might be competing with bowheads — a staple subsistence resource for his community — for krill and copepods.

“They’re an invasive species, you know. They come in and eat the same food that our bowheads eat,” Donovan said.

Donovan and other hunters say they support scientists studying species that are growing their presence in the Arctic’s warming waters. Meanwhile, Stafford said scientists rely on people like Donovan for their research.

“The hunters and whalers, they’re really good naturalists, they’re really good observers and biologists,” she said. “They need to understand the seasonality of animals, the behavior of animals, how the environment impacts animals.”

Stafford says that local hunters contribute so much to her research, she’s grateful when her work can help them, too.

A Bering Air plane descended into Golovin on Feb. 8, two days after the fatal crash near Nome. Ten hearts were spray-painted next to the village airstrip. Residents painted them, one for each victim.

As officials were starting to look into the crash and examine the state’s long-standing aviation safety challenges, people in Northwest Alaska were standing by each other. Golovin was one of at least 19 villages where residents honored the victims and expressed their support for the pilots and staff of the regional airline.

In Shungnak, people held hands and circled the plane after it landed. In Brevig Mission, residents made signs and posters. In many places, people prayed, and in others they sang in Alaska Native languages.

“That’s what our people do, you know?” Shungnak resident Leona Commack said. “We are there for one another in times like this.”

The idea came from a health aide in Savoonga, Lara Wongittilin.

“I wanted something uplifting after the heartbreak, for the families, friends, Bering Air staff, search and rescue, and everyone else involved,” Wongittilin said. “I wanted to show our appreciation, respect, prayers and to let them know, we are standing with you all during this difficult time.”

People in Savoonga greeted a plane with a song that late Nathan Noongwook translated into St. Lawrence Island Yupik in the early ‘70s after his son died, his granddaughter Justina Noongwook said.

Since then, the community has been singing it during funerals. This time, they sang it to wish the victims of the crash an everlasting life, Justina Noongwook said.

 

Four people on board flight 445 lived in Northwest Alaska. Others had close local ties, said Velma Jones from Noatak, a community of about 500 where 50 people showed up to the airstrip.

“We feel it, and we feel for their families,” Jones said.

Investigators have emphasized that the cause of the Bering Air crash, which killed all 10 on board, is still unclear. But documented gaps in the state’s weather reporting system have already been drawing attention, including by national transportation officials and Alaska’s congressional delegation. The group held a press conference earlier this week, where they brought up infrastructure issues in the state, which also has the highest rate of crashes in the nation.

Specifically, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan pointed to known issues with Alaska’s Automated Weather Observing System, which helps pilots decide if it’s safe to fly.

Many of the system’s stations are located off-the-road and use outdated technology, said University of Alaska Fairbanks Climate Specialist Rick Thoman. On any given day, 10% to 20% of the stations are down, and repairs are hard, he said. Thoman added that efforts and funding for weather station improvements have been limited.

“From my perspective, OK, that’s a start, but the amount of money that’s been allocated is nowhere near sufficient to systematically address the problem,” Thoman said.

Bering Air is the predominant air carrier in Northwest Alaska and is often the only way for residents to get to medical appointments, basketball games and other communities, as well as to receive mail, groceries and medical supplies. More than 80% of Alaskan communities are off the road system, making similar, small regional air carriers an important lifeline.

Jones said that pilots who commute people back and forth become a big part of their community.

“You get to know them personally, like you would know your neighbor,” Jones said.

Kaylee Fagerstrom was one of dozens Golovin residents who welcomed the Bering Air plane, holding signs made by a local 7-year-old boy. Golovin said she wanted to express her support to victims’ families and pilots after the crash.

“We’re just showing our love to Bering Air so they don’t give up on us and don’t lose hope,” Fagerstrom said.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the cause of flight 445 crash. The preliminary report can take up to 30 days after the incident, and the final report can take up to several years.

The 10 Alaskans killed in the plane crash near Nome Thursday include a mentor to new teachers, a school counselor and two employees with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium who were traveling to service a local water plant.

The plane was on its way from Unalakleet when it quickly lost elevation over the sea ice. As the investigation into the cause of the crash continues, family, friends and colleagues of the victims are sharing stories of the lives lost.

Here’s what we know so far about the Alaskans on board Bering Air flight 445.

If you would like to share memories of any of those on board the flight for this story, please reach reporter Alena Naiden at anaiden@alaskapublic.org.

Rhone Baumgartner, 46, Anchorage

Rhone Baumgartner was one of two Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium employees on the flight who had traveled to Unalakleet to service the water plant.

Originally from McGrath, Baumgartner was also a bush pilot with enormous love and pride for Alaska, his friend Fiona Horne said.

Baumgartner was comfortable and happy living in extreme environments and dedicated his time to helping others, Horne said. In 2017, he and Horne met on the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean while helping with recovery and rebuilding efforts after the catastrophic hurricanes.

“With his expertise in diesel generators Rhone was absolutely invaluable after the storms for many and he was so generous and kind with his time helping others,” Horne said. “He is one of the kindest and most pure hearted souls I’ve ever met.”

David Beveridge, a vice president of ANTHC’s Division of Environmental Health and Engineering, said that both Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, the other ANTHC employee, were motivated by a commitment to the health organization’s mission.

“They had the skills to help people across Alaska and the devotion to do so under any conditions. These two members of our team lost their lives serving others,” Beveridge said. “The loss of these two incredible individuals and everyone else on board the plane will be felt all over Alaska.”

Natasha Singh, ANTHC interim president and CEO, also said that Baumgartner and Hartvigson were passionate about the work they did and the communities they served.

“They were the best at what they did and had just flown into Unalakleet to help address heating and mechanical issues in the depths of winter,” Singh said. “They gave the ultimate sacrifice for the people we serve in the work we do. Everyone at ANTHC feels a sense of shock and loss because they were so crucial to our Rural Energy and Tribal Support teams.”

Baumgartner’s family asked for privacy during their grieving time.

Donnell Erickson, 58, Nome

Donnell Erickson was a Bering Strait School District mechanic who serviced school and city vehicles in Unalakleet, said Warren Katchatag, a Unalakleet resident and janitor at the local school who used to work with him.

Nome resident Michael Nichols also worked with Erickson.

“I was a fuel truck driver, and he was a mechanic,” Nichols said during a vigil in Nome on Friday. “He took care of the whole fleet and, not just here in Nome, but he actually traveled around the village taking care of a lot of stuff. Really good guy.”

Kameron Hartvigson, 41, Anchorage

Kameron Hartvigson, the ANTHC employee, was also a father of two boys, said his friend Michelle Russo.

“His boys were his entire world, and every decision he made was rooted in his love for them,” she said.

Russo said Hartvigson was known for being kind, generous and open.

“Kameron lived with an openness and sincerity that made everyone around him feel valued and loved,” she said. “Those who knew him will forever remember his ability to make people feel seen, his unwavering support for those he cared about, and the warmth he brought into every space he entered.”

Talaluk Driscoll LaRoi Katchatag, 34, Unalakleet

Talaluk Driscoll LaRoi Katchatag, known as TK by many, was a soft-spoken, wise and strong man who loved his family, his sister AyyuSue Katchatag said.

“Not only strong in stature, but in mind, and spirit. His soul was genuine, and he lived life so matter-of-factly,” AyyuSue Katchatag said.

His ex-wife Rachel Frankson described him as a strong-willed, hardworking and loving person, dedicated to his children.

“He worked hard. He loved hard,” she said. “My kids loved him with their whole heart and the news of this has been devastating for them.”

Carol Mooers, 48, Unalakleet

Carol Mooers was from San Antonio, Texas, but was a member of the Unalakleet community, her brother Adrian Mendiola said.

As a Unalakleet school counselor, she worked in every classroom and supported student activities even during weekends, school officials shared on social media.

Mooers was generous, dedicated and kind, Kelsi Ivanoff, Unalakleet’s city administrator, said.

“She was a pillar in our school, advocating for healthy minds and bodies for our youth,” Ivanoff said. “If there was a school event, you can guarantee she was there.”

Mooers supported students in all the ways she could — creating activities for them, fundraising and making sure every child had food to eat, Teri Paniptchuk said.

“She always made sure that our kids here were taken care of,” Paniptchuk said. “If needed she would be there right away to comfort our kids if they were having a hard day. Carol is one that we will never be able to forget.”

School secretary Myrtle Ivanoff Smith said Mooers was like a sister to her. She said she has recently found herself almost waiting for Mooers her to come into her office, so they can talk and share a laugh. School staff and students have filled the walls and windows of Mooers’ classroom with paper hearts and messages addressed to her.

Liane Ryan, 52, Wasilla

Liane Ryan was a retired teacher who mentored young educators in rural Alaska.

“She had such a cheerful and bubbly personality, and dedicated her post-retirement life to growing new teachers and encouraging them through those first incredibly tough years,” said Jamie Burgess, superintendent for Nome Public Schools.

Before retirement, Ryan worked as a science teacher and a volleyball coach at several schools in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. She shared her enthusiasm with her students and helped them find their confidence, said her colleague Lisa Vrvilo.

After retiring, Ryan joined the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project and visited rural schools to support new educators.

In Unalakleet, she was mentoring the fifth-grade teacher, said Warren Katchatag, the school janitor.

“She was always so friendly and always smiling and down-to-earth,” he said. “She will be greatly missed at the school.”

Ryan was also a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and daughter, said Vrvilo who also worked closely with Ryan’s family.

“She poured love into every moment with her family, and my heart aches for them,” Vrvilo said. “Her legacy of faith, kindness and unwavering support for others will live on in the hearts of those who knew her. My hope is that we honor Liane by continuing the work she loved so much — lifting up educators, empowering students and making a difference, one classroom at a time.”

Chad Antill, 34, Nome

Chad Antill was the Bering Air pilot of flight 445. He grew up in Idaho and first came to Dutch Harbor in Alaska when he was 14.

“He fell in love with fishing,” his father William Antill said.

Chad Antill split his time between Nome and Southcentral Alaska and often volunteered to support Nome’s basketball team, his father said.

He was close to his three young children and family, his great uncle Jim Antill said.

“Chad had a very adventuresome heart and he loved to help people,” he said.

The other Alaskans who died in the plane crash are 30-year-old Andrew Gonzalez of Wasilla, 45-year-old Ian Hofmann of Anchorage and 52-year-old Jadee Moncur of Eagle River. Attempts to reach their relatives and friends were unsuccessful as of Saturday.

This story has been updated.

Tears, prayers and words of support filled Old St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Nome Friday, where people gathered for a vigil to honor the people who died in the crash of Bering Air flight 445 and to support their families.

The plane, carrying nine passengers and a pilot, crashed on its way from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday afternoon. Following a search by several agencies and volunteers, the U.S. Coast Guard found the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan 34 miles southeast of Nome on Friday. Responders were working to recover the victims, who are all presumed dead, on Saturday.

Nome resident Terry Komonaseak came to the vigil to support friends whose families have ties to the passengers.

“My grandpa always said, Iñupiaq will help Iñupiaq, which makes a lot of sense. Human beings should help human beings,” Komonaseak said. “You never know basically when you’re going to go – this incident has proven that. Hopefully, it’s gotten people closer together.”

 

Nine religious leaders from local churches spoke to around 60 people in the pews. Each of them shared a prayer and encouraged residents to rely on their community and local counseling services to help process their grief. Around the region, people were gathering and organizing fundraisers as they began processing the tragedy and searched for ways to heal.

Nome City Clerk Dan Grimmer said that the response to the crash was reverberating across the Nome community, so they wanted to encourage people, regardless of their religious beliefs, to gather.

“It is very difficult to live in this great state without brushing shoulders with your neighbor, without getting to know people from other communities, without becoming friends with them, without becoming family with them. So how do we find comfort when we need comfort?” Grimmer said from the stage. “As we see that others are hurting or they have been traumatized, it is important for us to lend them our strength, to show them love, kindness, patience – all the virtue that we can so that they can lean upon us until they become strong again.”

The crash was not the only tragedy affecting people in the room and in the region. Religious leaders spoke about other recent deaths that residents might be still processing.

“Nome has had its amount of trauma, and this is just something piled up upon trauma which has been here before,” said one of the residents, Stan Burgess.

But a tragedy of this magnitude has not happened in the region in years, said Unalakleet resident and Norton Sound Health Corporation representative Tony Haugen.

“And even to have lost one is one too many,” he said.

Haugen was in Nome because his flight home was canceled. Bering Air suspended its operations after the crash but resumed flights Saturday.

Haugen, who is also a board member of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, was learning about victims he might have known.

“Two of our employees were among those who perished,” he said.

Haugen said that people have been coming together in communities across Western Alaska.

“When the region has something that occurs like this here, it doesn’t only affect one community,” Haugen said. “We feel the pain region wide.”

Residents in several communities have started fundraisers for the families, like a cake walk in Unalakleet and an auction in Kotzebue. The owners of Kotzebue coffee shop Vibrant Brews said they would direct all Saturday proceeds to the families.

As Bering Air planes began landing again across the region, local residents showed their appreciation for the air carrier. In Savoonga, a group of people gathered at the airport Saturday to greet the incoming flight with Qagughmii’s song in St. Lawrence Island Yupik.

Grimmer said that Bering Air’s crew is an integral part of Western Alaska communities, with personal ties to residents.

“This is a small region. That pilot was a member of their family,” Grimmer said. “Our heart goes out to them, because I can only imagine what they’re going through.”

Inside the church in Nome, the vigil ended with the crowd rising from their chairs to sing “Amazing Grace”. Then, Nome resident Nellie Weyiouanna spontaneously began the gospel song, “What A Day That Will Be,” as many among the audience joined in.