Dog Sled Races

After school today, there was a dogsled race!  And, to occupy the waiting crowd, there were training runs.  To train upcoming sled dogs and future mushers, a snow machine led the way, leading a dogsled on a short run.  The dogs, harnessed to either a dogsled or a sled, ran with great enthusiasm, pursuing that driver.  I don't know if the snow machine drivers had meat in their pockets, or if the dogs just enjoyed the pursuit!

It was good to see the children learning to appreciate the traditional things of the village, even when modern inventions were woven in.

Here are some photos I snapped... the wide open space is the Kuskokwim River, frozen over.  It serves many purposes to the village, including a stage for dogsled training, as well as being a road to Bethel for those with snow machines.  Today, 2 pickup trucks travelled along the "ice road" from another village to deliver household goods for the soon-to-arrive new principal.