In the winter months, temperatures on the island could be as low as 20 to 35 degrees below freezing. To protect themselves against the cold they would wear warm parka coats and mukluks on their feet. The parkas were made mostly from reindeer and squirrel skins. The mukluks were made out of reindeer legs or seal skins. The summer months were much warmer at about 60 to 75 degrees. The picture to the right is my grandmother and her brother Louis.

Father Lafortune

Because the residents of Little Diomede were animists, missionaries of different faiths  were attracted to it as a place to spread their beliefs and save the souls of the natives. The first church was built by the Lutherans, then Father Lafortune laid the plans for the first Catholic church in 1935. Father Lafortune was the first Catholic missionary to arrive in 1913.  My grandmother knew Father Lafortune and always spoke well of him. He once helped her with an infection on her foot, which may sound like a minor favor but on the island at the time, there was no hospital, or doctor.

Little Diomede Island is a tiny little chunk of land in the Bering Straight between Alaska and the coast of Russia which is only 2.4 miles away. 
The entire island is only 2.8 square miles and mostly consists of steep cliffs. The natives are called Ingalikmiut Eskimos. 

The people live a subsistence lifestyle. This means that they live on what they can grow, hunt, and make. They only take what they need and they do not waste anything. For food they forage for berries, edible plants and hunt seal, crabs, walrus, and whales. After eating the meat of the animals, they use their pelts and furs to make clothing and kayaks. They are mostly animists, and believe that everything has a spirit - the rocks, the trees, animals and humans alike. Because of this belief, they have tremendous respect for nature. 

Grandma used to tell me stories about her childhood when I was little. Here are two of the most memorable:

The Peek-A-Boo Polar Bear: "One day when I was out gathering berries, I turned to see right through the parting branches a big old Polar Bear! I screamed and the bear was just as startled as I was! I dropped my basket and then I had to run run run run run all the way home!"

The Aurora Borealis Monster: "Sometimes when I was outside at night, there would suddenly be bright green and blue lights in the sky, and it looked like they were chasing me. I would see that and then run run run run run all the way home!"

Once upon a Little Diomede Island, a baby Eskimo was born with the name Dukazak Anayak. The date was April 15th 1937. This little Eskimo was my grandmother.