A crack of a significant size runs through the middle of the James Berlin Sr.’s faded brick-red house. He was the mayor of Nunapitchuk for the past 16 years and has been a prominent figure in the community. The house he lives in requires a new front porch as well as the foundation needs to be rebuilt.
“The ideal option would be to build a brand new home,” Berlin Sr. told. “But at the moment, it’s in need to be fixed.”
A few homes in Nunapitchuk are situated on small hills while the soil begins to erode around them. The entire neighborhood has sunk since the sewage that seeps in mixes with melt of the tundra. A long bridge that runs to the southwest side of town is shut off with wooden planks. All the homes within the area it was once connected have been gone.
Just a few miles from close to the Johnson River, Natalia “Edna” Chase’s two-room plywood home is one the homes in urgent need. In the past 10 years, ground underneath the house has been loosing its ground.
The plywood floor is shattered and gaps appear between it. flooring, allowing in cold air and a whirling snow. When someone enters the room during snow, Chase goes behind them and tucks paper towels in the gaps using a butterknife. The floor moves constantly in a downward direction and she is slipping on her brother who suffered a stroke and shuffles, as well as her friend, who is struggling to keep her balance after having lost an arm.
“I’ve tried to get about furniture, as this area is sinking faster than it did before,” Chase said, in reference to the floor that is sagging underneath the kitchen counter. “We normally get rainwater in the fall before winter, but I don’t have a space to store it therefore we’re using buckets to get the water into the house. for drinking and all that.”
The water pours in as snow melts. If there is a sunny day at the beginning of spring Chase remains up until late cleaning the water that is gushing into the corners of her floorboards and placing the water in large buckets in a row. Chase estimates that around 500 gallons of water flow into their home during the spring.
“I generally try to keep furniture in place with two by fours to allow air circulation beneath,” said Chase. “We must maintain a temperature of around 80 degrees all day long so that the floor is dry. There are times when I have five fans running when it’s very wet outside to prevent the floor from becoming too spongy.”
Every week, despite ongoing back problems, she gets up and moves every appliance and item, and sits down to wash them. If she’s not keeping up with her regular cleaning routine her moldy patches that resemble flowers that grow up to size the size of a football.
“This mold sticks on clothes, it clings on the mattress, on the bed all of it. That smell of mold,” Chase said. “I must wash every garment. I’ll wash my clothes. If I don’t wash them they smell bad and I’m forced to wash them once more.”
Her partner has been diagnosed with an illness that is chronically respiratory and, recently, her 14-year-old daughter was required to purchase an inhaler.
“It can be extremely depressing. The majority of the time, I’m not able to let it go until think, I don’t know perhaps, get angry and it’ll come off. We’re working to manage the issue,” said Chase.
Other than the school day for her son They rarely leave the home. The majority of her time is spent taking care of her family and home. Chase is worried about whether her own health issues may cause her to be unable to cope with the demands.
“I would not want my children to go through the same thing I’ve gone through in this home. It’s extremely debilitating, particularly in the case of a disabled person. You’ll see your partner suffer from coughing. And the black mold. I need to start even while I’m aching so much.”
The land close to the home of Chase are empty, stuffed with empty chests of washers and drawers heavy objects that made the homes sink more quickly. Her neighbors razed their homes and moved in with their nearby relatives due to the rising flood waters and unstable ground.
Chase is looking to move as well, but there’s no place to move to. There’s not a single piece of land in Nunapitchuk that’s suitable enough to build on. This means a lot homes are crowded. James Berlin Jr. recently moved in with his father.
“Practically everyone here, almost all families you’ve met has several families living together in their homes right now,” Berlin Jr. declared. “Living in such conditions, coupled with our sewer system and water are causing health issues that we would not normally be experiencing.”
Berlin Jr. said that the house he lives in is sinking due to the sewage lagoon that is nearby is spilling out. Many residents are pointing out the harmful chemical compounds in the numerous sewers that are dotted around the central area of town, which are soaking deep into soil, speeding up melting of the melting of permafrost rapidly.
As we walked through the streets, Berlin Jr. pointed at the numerous snowmachines that were gathered at the properties of various household members. Overcrowding was a reason Nunapitchuk was among the first areas in Alaska to witness coronavirus sweeping across the state.
“I’m not saying everyone is sick, but as you can see it’s commonplace to see people go to the hospital for respiratory issues such as head colds, coughs, flus and sore throats,” said Berlin Jr.. “You know there are all sorts of common flus and other stuff are seen, but more common in Nunap[itchuk] since we have multiple families who live in tiny areas.”
The village has been through a few times before. that the village has faced widespread diseases however, in the past one of their safeguards was the sprawling character of their community and their life style of nomadic living. Nunapitchuk resident Morris Alexie explained.
“When the invaders arrived, they refer to”it The Black Death. If we were all in a small village as we are in now, I’m sure it would wipe out all the people in the village,” Alexie said. “But the fact that they were small tribes, tribally apart, that Black Death they named would be able to leave, say the only family from that tribe.”
