OUR FIELD
Southwest Alaska is primarily composed of tundra, lakes and rivers. It is also referred to as "the bush" because of it's remote location and lack of road system. It is also interesting to note that in the summer months the Southwest experiences long days of nearly 20 hours of daylight, and conversely in the winter 20 hours of darkness.
Bethel and Dillingham are the "hub villages" for the approximately 60 Yup'ik villages in the Southwest. Because these hub villages have larger airports with capabilities of handling large freight planes, most things are flown in and then either flown to the smaller villages, or barged if the items are larger.
Because everything must be flown into the village, the cost of living is extremely high, with food items generally running 2-3 times the "city price". One gallon of milk is about $13.50 US Dollars! Recent increases in postage has had a devestating impact on the villages because of their reliance upon catalogs to get such basic necessities as clothing and household items.
SOUTHWEST LINKS
