Nursing job prospects in Barrow?

[Wynternight]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Geez, I had some natives verbally and physically attack me but I was a police officer there so it was expected. When they got into the racial stuff sometimes I just asked them things like "Your last name is Brower, what kind of Eskimo name is that??" With those guys that seemed to shut them up for a while. For the most part I never had that problem and I was in their homes trying to help them deal with their problems.

Some of the natives feel that outsiders come just to work, make money, and leave and that is, for some people, true. But for people like me, who lived and worked there for years and did things in and for the community, they came to respect and care for me. I was always getting hugs and greetings from people in town and the ones who were the saddest to hear that I was leaving were natives. If the natives hate you it's because they feel as if you don't care for them or respect them. I had to have a few "come to Jesus" talks with some of my bigoted coworkers in the break room and flat out told a few to leave Barrow if they didn't like the Inupiat because they had no business being there.

Want to know how to earn the respect of the natives? Respect them first. Learn about their culture. Learn to say their names properly, learn some words in their language, go to dances, go to blanket toss, try local foods. Treat them with respect and care for them and you will get the same in return.

[stiffnecked]

Yep that's how you do it. We tried to go to all the community activites and stuff like that that we could. Most of my work interactions were with people when they were drunk. Sometimes when they sobered up they'd apologize. My best memories are of Sadie Neakok. She'd call and ask us to come by just to visit. What a wealth of information and history she was. If you want to be a part of the community you have to get out there.