Getting Around Alaska

Picture hopping on a plane to get to a movie theater or basketball game. That’s what life is like in Pilot Station, a remote village in southwest Alaska. The tiny town has no paved roads, so people mostly travel by snowmobile or ATV (all-terrain vehicle). They also use snowshoes to walk from place to place. To get to another village or a city in Alaska, most people fly on a special airplane called a bush plane.

Donn Gallon, a fifth-grade teacher at Pilot Station School, wanted to help students connect with the world outside of their village. So in 2014, he started the Pilot Station School Radio Club. Kids gather after school and on weekends to use ham radio, a special radio service for people who want to chat with others across the globe without relying on the internet or phones. The kids have spoken with people in countries as far away as Japan, Italy, and Brazil. “We talk about what time it is there, what the weather is like, what they do for fun,” says Anastasia Tinker, a 14-year-old student at the school. 

The kids in Pilot Station also tell people in other places what   life is like in their tiny village, located on the Yukon River. Most people in the village, including Anastasia, are Yup’ik Eskimo. Those are Alaska Natives who have lived in the region for thousands of years. The Yup’ik fish, hunt, and gather food instead of relying on grocery stores. Communities share their food at traditional celebrations called potlatches. 

1. Study Pilot Station’s location on the map. Why do you think it’s a challenge for people there to visit other parts of Alaska?

2. Which major transportation systems can you find in Anchorage? Why do you think it has so many?

3. Based on the inset map, how is the state of Alaska different from most other U.S. states?