Volume 15 - Number 3 - December 2008
Pages: 107 - 177
Brown, C., & Brown, G. (2008). A risk-taking, death-defying mentality in Alaska [Letter to the editor]. Clio’s Psyche, 15(3), 176-177.
A Risk-Taking, Death-Defying Mentality in Alaska
Abstract
This letter to the editor, written by two Alaska physicians who specialize in the health care of women and children, takes up the issue’s theme of confronting death and dying by describing a culture of risk-taking in Alaska. The authors refer to the documentary The Deadliest Catch, first aired in 2005, on the dangers of Alaskan crab fishing. They recount the survival of two young commercial fishermen who left Sitka harbor and lost their uninsured boat. They report that the fishermen were left with only a commercial fishing license, and they note the tourist trade in tales of danger at sea. They describe the conduct of Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd, including his 2008 snowmobile race injury, as adding to the risk-taking image. They cite a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health figure putting Alaska’s workplace fatality rate for 1990–2007 at thirty-two times the national average. They attribute this to a persisting last-frontier value of striking it rich or dying trying. They point to domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and fetal alcohol syndrome. They contend that oil wealth has displaced native Alaskan traditions of responsible subsistence and has not been invested in health care, early education, or family stability. They maintain that the 2008 campaign encouraged a national belief that this frontier image is Alaska’s everyday reality. They dispute that belief and criticize its use for political gain by those promoting a storybook Alaska.
Alaskan culture, Clio’s Psyche, The Deadliest Catch, letter to the editor, domestic violence, frontier mentality, individualism, psychohistory, psychology of death
Dear Editor,
Since Alaska is in the news and Clio Psyche’s theme for the December issue is the psychology of facing death and dying, we thought readers might find some thoughts on subjects relevant to these issues to be of interest.
The Deadliest Catch is a documentary about Alaskan fishing, first aired in 2005 and reportedly viewed in 150 countries, depicting the extreme dangers of the crab fishermen. The roaring seas and perilous situation of courageous men in small, overloaded boats in high, freezing waters fits in with the outsider’s image of the life in America’s largest state as being somehow dangerously untamed. Many in Alaska pride themselves on their risk-taking inclinations and accept a much higher rate of accidents and death than their fellow citizens in the Lower Forty-eight states.
These dangers are reflected in a high death rate and a recent, narrowly averted disaster. Two youthful Alaskan commercial fishermen experienced both narrow escapes from death and dreadful monetary loss in the cold Alaskan waters. A motley fleet of vessels departed the Sitka (the second Russian capital before the 1867 purchase by the U.S.), Alaska harbor. Fortunately, these adventuresome young men were in the midst of these other fishermen while on their way to disaster. One survived on a small surfboard and the other on a flimsy swimming pool float. Although their lives were saved, their investment was lost and left them with no way to pay off the loan for their used, uninsured boat. In the end, all they had left was their commercial fishing license (valued at over $40,000). But this did make a good story, of the type to attract tourists who come to Alaska to go out in a nice safe, warm boat with a former crab-fishing captain and crew entertaining them with tales of daring and death on the high seas.
Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd, who asked to be called the “First Dude” rather than “First Gentleman,” contribute to the risk-taking image by their manner and sometimes their deeds. Sarah reports having her fingers crushed on her husband’s commercial fishing boat and having to keep on working. Todd, a four-time Alaskan snowmobile champion, in the 2008 race hit a snow-covered oil drum and was thrown seventy feet, breaking his arm, but stayed in the competition for the remaining 400 miles, finishing fourth. His wife’s response to the dangers and mishaps of the “iron dog” racing was to declare, “These are big boys; they make their own decisions, they’re hard-core Alaskans doing hardcore adventures. I totally support him, and I totally support the race. I love it.” Governor Palin’s just plain folks, can-do-anything mentality (including being president even if she doesn’t yet know much about foreign policy), has considerable appeal in certain Republican and western U.S. circles, as well as among individuals elsewhere.
The dangerous frontier mentality in Alaska resulted in a work-place fatality rate from 1990-2007 thirty-two times the national average, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. The dangerous risks of boating and fishing in Alaskan waters reflect social and psychological forces at work. The last frontier value of “strike it rich or die trying” persists. Yet, while fish, gold, and now oil tempt many Alaskans to risk dying for quick riches, our state in some ways is like a third-world oil country, rather than the socially responsible society envisioned by the statehood conferred in 1958. As physicians devoted to health care for women and children, we are so aware of Alaska’s continuing high rates of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and fetal alcohol syndrome, which dazzle and puzzle many observers. The lessons of native Alaskan responsible hunting, fishing, and community survival ways of living have been swamped by new Alaskan oil wealth. Most of this wealth is not invested in health care, early child education, or family and community stability.
As recent 2008 campaign events and polls suggest, there is a national psychological tendency to believe that our dangerous Alaskan frontier mentality represents our everyday reality. In reality, we are not the rugged, moose-skinning individualists that citizens of the lower forty-nine states want to think we are. This mythic belief is obviously used for national political gain by those representing a storybook Alaska, rather than the real Alaska we love because of its natural beauty, our children being born here, and our having many dear Alaskan friends.
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Sincerely yours,
George and carolyn Brown
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How to cite this article
Brown, C., & Brown, G. (2008). A risk-taking, death-defying mentality in Alaska [Letter to the editor]. Clio’s Psyche, 15(3), 176-177.
