The Koyukuk River runs 425 miles from the Brooks Range to the Yukon. Seven communities, including Coldfoot, Bettles and Evansville, Allakaket and Alatna, Hughes, and Huslia are located along the banks of the river. Photo by John Stember.
Thirty-five miles north of the Arctic Circle along the Koyukuk River lie two little side-by-side towns called Bettles and Evansville. Only accessible by a two-hour flight, these isolated Alaskan villages are 240 miles from the nearest city. There are no grocery stores, no gas stations, no roads leaving. The total year-round population hovers at around 20.
Growing up in such a remote place is hardly imaginable for most people, but for 11-year-old Ava Burrows, it’s her life. “A lot of kids live in bigger towns. Here, everything is one bike ride away. We don’t go to [Fairbanks] very often,” said Ava, who doesn’t mind the distance.
Compared to other 6th graders, her remote lifestyle is a mixture of worlds. Her food arrives as freight off a small airplane—usually through Costco or Amazon Prime—or comes from the land. A portion of Ava’s greens are grown under the perpetual light of the arctic sun between June and late August. With her mother Melia’s help, they grow a variety of vegetables in plastic bins including kale, lettuce, zucchini, spinach, basil, and potatoes. In the fall, Ava’s dad shoots a moose or caribou, which is cut into roasts, smoked into pastrami, or ground into breakfast sausage to fill the freezer.
Despite limited social opportunities, Ava’s childhood is flecked with the ordinary trappings of many American kids. At home, stacks of Disney flicks decorate the television stand, and two faithful dogs named Fritz and Bella patrol the green lawn. Like other older siblings, Ava changes diapers daily, shares bunk beds with three sisters, and dashes beneath the unicorn sprinkler on hot summer days.
As is the case with many parts of remote Alaska, homeschooling is the only option for Ava. Most families live seasonally dictated lifestyles that require flexibility and time off. During the summer, Ava can pack in curriculum and complete classes quickly, whereas in winter, she uses the long hours of darkness to read or study. Learning from home also draws on real life experiences—like growing veggies that end up on a dinner plate or traveling six hours downriver to learn about salmon at fish camp—and creates a sense of connection. In Ava’s case, the decision to homeschool was an easy one. Bettles shut down its only school in 2002.
During the winter months above the Arctic Circle, temps of 50 below are not uncommon. And, for about a two-month period, from late November until January, the sun sleeps entirely below the horizon. Although Ava might spend half a day in February pulling on layers or shucking off wool socks just to travel outside, life in the Arctic is eclipsed by rare beauty.
In deep cold, the piercing clarity of the night sky is like tempered glass. Breaking the silence and stillness, the northern lights regularly ripple over the sleeping land. The aurora borealis is “like a shimmering light, a really colorful ribbon in the sky. It can be pink, purple, blue, rainbow, whatever. Daddy carries me out, and I’m like, ‘It’s too dark, I just want to go back to bed,’ and then once I see them, I am glad they woke me up,” said Ava.
Once snow falls, Ava’s dad heads out into the country to put in trail and maintain his trapline. Marten, a cat-size weasel, are the primary target due to their soft chocolate fur. Lynx, fox, wolverine, and wolf also travel in winter but are less common.
Ava caught her first marten a year or two ago with her dad’s help. “It’s fun out on the trapline. I really like driving my own snowmobile. It’s very exciting coming up to a trap to see if you have caught anything. It’s a lot of hard work too but it’s rewarding, and I really love furs. It was a very exciting and proud moment when I caught my first marten. It made me feel warm and satisfied. My dad helped me skin the marten—it’s not my favorite because of the smell,” wrote Ava.
Some part of why Ava’s parents, Melia and Eric, sunk their boots into Bettles comes down to simplicity. “I think it helps us to recognize, especially for kids and their emotional health, slowing down and not overbooking yourself,” said Ava’s mom.
At 11 years old, Ava has spent a large chunk of her childhood at 15 below, frozen marten hanging in the entryway, or choking on mosquitoes during the hordes of summer. And yet, Ava celebrated a recent birthday with a musical and mermaid birthday cake.
“It feels like I live in an old world while still trying to be a part of the modern world,” wrote Ava. “We get to do so many cool things and live a life that most people will never experience.”
During the fall, Ava relishes picking blueberries and cranberries with her mom and sisters. They turn the berries into ice cream and add them to sourdough pancakes. She also helped her dad this year on her first moose hunt.
“I enjoyed sitting quietly and listening to all the sounds of nature, but I did not like sitting in the cold and rain all day,” Ava wrote. “It’s very hard work packing a moose, and I was so sore from it. My favorite part is butchering the meat. I’m really good at that! I like having moose to eat all year, and my mom is a really good cook, so we eat the best moose dishes all year long.”
Despite her love for the Arctic, Ava is looking forward to her upcoming two-month trip to the Lower 48. It will be one of the first times she will see extended family since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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