Kavlakuaraq Also known as crowberries or black berries is missing from the tundra which surrounds Chevak as well as Hooper Bay. Many people believe that salty flood waters caused by Typhoon Merbok’s storm surge as well as an extremely cold, wet summer have stopped the plants from putting forth the fruit, which is usually abundant. (Emily Schwing/KYUK)



The tundras of Hooper Bay and Chevak, kavlakuaraq also referred to Crowberries or blackberries, are not present in the tundra.

“Uh There’s close insignificant,” said Victoria Hill who works for Hooper Bay Tribal Council. Hooper Bay Tribal Council. “My dad said that he was out there toward the in the back of town, and there was probably a lot of them scattered around. It wasn’t like the carpet it was used to be. it was just scattered. You needed to travel far.”

A huge event in the year 2022 caused floods across this area of Alaska as well as the tundra covered with salt water for a few days. Combine that with the cold and wet summer then Roy Bell said that it’s the ideal recipe for a blackberry crash.

“I noticed that in the areas that were flood, some of the plants, as well as the berries and medicines have all gone through a bad patch,” Bell said. He also said there’s more than just the Crowberries. Lowbush cranberries also aren’t there as are many of the herbal plants he is using appear healthy.

“It’s likely to be the salt water,” Bell said.

Hooper Bay, in Hooper Bay, Bell’s family and friends from Hooper Bay call him “the botanist.”

As a youngster his parents and older siblings discovered Bell’s talent for identifying plants. Bell had a talent for knowing and identifying plants.

“I’m part of one the very few generations to pass the test for talent with Elders and my talent was in the plants,” Bell said.

At the age of 50, Bell has spent his entire life studying the landscape and plants that cover the tundra of the Bering Sea coastline.

“No mechanics and no boats, anything. Plants and land,” Bell said.

This region has been inundated previously, but Bell stated that the previous floods haven’t had the effect on local food. It’s not just the crops which haven’t been able to return this year.

“It’s either foxes or the owls or Hawks,” Bell said.

Many residents are not seeing a lot of predators and birds of prey in the area. It could be that the animals aren’t successful in finding their own food source: mice.

The majority of the low-lying terrain that extends for nearly 20 miles, from Hooper Bay inland to Chevak was submerged, a terrifying situation for the mouse. Mice are small rodents that store plant roots to last through the winter months. In the local language, it’s known as mice food, and it’s an absolute delight in the country of Cup’ik. Mark Ulroan in Chevak said that it’s his favourite.

Chevak’s Mark Ulroan has been adding mice’s food into his seal soup for the entirety of his life. The man who taught him by his father to discover winter caches left by mice in the tundra as young. In the past, he has said that he’s not been able to find any food for mice even. (Emily Schwing/KYUK)

“They’re known as teardrops. We refer to them as utngungssaq and the lengthy roots we refer to it as marallaq. They are two most important ones we receive each year as ingredients, such as when we make seal soup. When we finish it we mix them in.”

Ulroan stated that they are sweet and nutty. He also said that they have a nice crunch. However, this year he was not found any.

“No, nothing. Zero.” Ulroan said. ” I’m not sure whether there’s any mouse in the world because all the Merboks do is push them up to the top of the hill I think or kill them.”

A few haven’t managed to take a dip in the waters since the hurricane.

Stella Lake lives in a home that faces the Ninglikfak River in Chevak. In the summer, and even into fall she’s watched her the neighbors and friends go out to seals and fish, as well as hunt. The motor of her boat was submerged by water floods during three consecutive days following the storm last year and repairs to it have not been successful.

Stella Lake and her son, Kade, who is 12 years old, are wailing this summer. Lake’s boat’s motor broke when it got submerged in flood waters after Typhoon Merbok. The motor hasn’t been fixed and her family hasn’t been in a position to hunt, fish, seals or moose, or make plans to their camp for the warm season along the Ninglikfak River this year. (Emily Schwing/KYUK)

“Here’s an time of year when boats are cruising and everyone is looking forward to it, like the berry picking season, or the hunting season for moose. The boats are always on my radar. The river is visible here.” Lake said, she pointed to her kitchen’s window. “It is a trigger for me emotionally. We’re not able to travel. My son is awestruck by hunting. He makes me cry listening to him. What’s the reason we can’t go?”

Lake’s son, 12 years old Kade was sitting beside her on a comfy couch, staring out of the window. “We aren’t able access to fishing camp or go seal hunting or visit camps, or collect eggs or berries or go on a moose hunt. We’re unable to do any of it because our motor is not working,” he said.

Kade stated that being in the open is one of his top things to do.


This story was made possible by an award of the Center for Rural Strategies and from the non-profit media organization Grist.