Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming. Jennie brings you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and Life in Alaska. Guests include Alaska travel experts and Alaska business owners, guides and interesting Alaskans. Jennie is a born and raised Seattleite, a former Alaskan and spends several weeks in Alaska each year. She’s an experienced guide and the Founder of the Alaska and Washington travel website, Top Left Adventures. Jennie is joined by occasional co-host, Jay Flaming, her husband for 25 years. Jennie and Jay met working in tourism in Alaska and have lived in Skagway, Juneau and Fairbanks together. Jay lived in Fairbanks for 8 years before meeting Jennie in Skagway and grew up in Yellowstone National Park.
Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Unique Experiences in Kake with Martha Thomas
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Martha Thomas sits down with Jennie to share about the unique experiences available to visitors in the small community of Kake in Southeast Alaska.
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📍 Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska. before we get into today's episode, you wanna be getting my email newsletter. It is timely topics related to Alaska travel, and it is different content from what is in the podcast episodes. I share trip reports, destination guides, all different things like that. So if you're not already on there, go to the link in the show notes and get on there, and you get a free packing list when you sign up, which is pretty cool as well. Everyone wants to know what to pack. All right. Enjoy the show My guest today is Martha Thomas, and Martha is the manager of Kake Tribal Tourism in Kake, which is in Southeast Alaska. Martha, welcome to Alaska Uncovered. Thank you for being here. Gunalchéesh, gunalchéesh. Uh, Tlingit In Klinkit you can call me Kandeäts'ka. Um, but in English it's easier to remember Martha. Cool. So generally everybody calls me Martha. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you , Martha. I'd love to start, like I do with everybody who comes on the podcast, by asking how did you get to Alaska? So Um, I was born in Anchorage,- Right ... and raised in Anchorage. Mm-hmm. Met my husband in Anchorage, and then we moved to Kake. And then I fell in love with Kake and I have lived there since 2011. That's amazing. So how did you end up moving from Anchorage to Kake, from, , the biggest city in Alaska- to a pretty small village? So e- everybody that I know r- from when I was younger, they would never guess that I would ever, ever want to move from Anchorage. I was a city girl through and through. Mm-hmm. , But then once I got to Kake, it was a transition for sure, a hard transition at first, and then you get to meet the people, and the people are amazing. And my husband, he was, at the time he wasn't my husband, but we were living in Anchorage and he was like, "You know, I miss home," and I was like, "Well, let's just move back." So a month later we just moved to Kake and we stuck it out, and , I wouldn't change it for the world. That's amazing. Kake's the most amazing place to live. That's so wonderful. , So he's from Kake and then was living in Anchorage where you met? Yeah. Okay. Oh, love that. So did that help smooth the transition for you to be married to someone who's from there, or not necessarily? Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. His parents are amazing. His- Siblings are amazing., And on top of that, his mother's a wonderful cook. Oh. So- How convenient. Yeah. Well, actually, their whole family is pretty... They're all pretty great cooks, I, I do have to say. Nice. Yeah. Good call, marrying into a family of great cooks. That's always, always a winning strategy. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. It's great. I love it. Okay, so let's talk about Kake a little bit, because I'm going to guess that for most of our li- listeners, this is not a place that they're familiar with in Alaska. So tell us a little bit, first of all, where, where is Kake? Um, and then what's kind of special and unique about it? So Kake or Keex’. Keex’ is the Tlingit name for Kake. Okay. Um, and Keex’ is... There's a loose translation of, um, where the sun meets. Mm. So Kake is actually used to... Kake actually used to be the winter village, um, the Tlingit winter village. Okay. And it's located on Kupreanof Island. Mm-hmm. And Kupreanof Island is approximately,, 278 square miles, and it is the 13th largest island in the United States. Oh, wow. Yeah, and it is about 100 miles or so, , south of Juneau- Okay ... so the capital. Yep. Great. , So the only way to get to Kake is by ferry or plane. Yes. And do you get regular service through the Alaska Marine Highway, or is it iffy? It's... It can be iffy. You know- Yeah ... it's always weather dependent. Everything is- Yeah ... you know, everything- Everything is weather dependent ... is, yes, weather dependent. , We get the ferry maybe twice a month. Sometimes it's once a month. Sometimes- Mm ... it's not at all. Um- Yeah. ... And then we get Alaska Seaplanes. Yep. So Alaska Seaplanes, we do have a small runway. Yep. And Alaska Seaplanes comes three times a day in the summer and twice in the winter. Awesome. That's great. Yeah. And then we do have a barge. So, , we're lucky. Yep. We're one of the lucky villages that, that does have a barge that comes in once a week. Mm-hmm. And we have freight days, where the store will open up at 2:00 PM, and everybody goes and gets their fresh produce and milk and eggs. Yeah. Can, Martha, can you talk about that just a little bit more? , I am familiar with barge, uh, day from living in Skagway. , But for people who aren't familiar with that, can you talk a little bit about, like, what that is and what that means for the community? So we have one store And one fuel station. And the fuel station gets a little bit of, , Costco items. Mm-hmm. But the store is where we get most of our fresh produce and frozen items. Mm-hmm. , Ice cream. Ice cream's important. Ice cream's so important. Um, but we get our groceries, uh, delivered once a week. Okay. And typically it's, the barge comes on Tuesdays, so Wednesday is freight day, and our store is generally open Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 6:00, but on freight day, which is Wednesday, they open at 2:00 PM- Mm-hmm um, after they have restocked all the shelves, and then everybody walks to the store, and you try to get your bananas- Yes ... and grapes and, um, lettuce, fresh, whatever fresh produce we can get- Yeah. Yep ... is what, what we're happy with. Yes. And then also milk and eggs. And sometimes if the weather is actually horrible, we will, our barge will have to bypass us and- Yeah Then we don't get eggs that week. Yeah, yeah.- You have to improvise. Yeah. Yeah. So on Tuesday afternoon, is the store pretty bare? I remember that's how it was in Skagway. Like, the day that the barge actually arrived, so the day before, uh- Yeah ... freight day was- Yeah ... like, not a good day to go grocery shopping. Yes. Unless you wanted to buy, , Oreos or something. Yeah, so, prepackaged foods, you know, it's generally there, but it, it d- it does get pretty bare. Um- Yeah ... sometimes you run out of things like an, on- onions, and you post on Facebook, "Hey, does anybody have an onion I can bum for a day?" Yeah. Or, , "Does anybody have a few eggs? I need to make this cake." In our community, we look out for each other. That's cool. And generally people will step up, and, , if you need something, you know, and they have it in their kitchen, then they're w- we'll share with each other. So. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And, and how many people live in Kake? So there are roughly, , 500, , year-round residents, and, , it can... It's probably maybe 550 year-round residents. Okay. And there are, of those 500, there are about 100, students attending grades K through 12. Mm. So, and then we do have a, a Head Start too, so. Nice. , We have a big student population. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that is really big. So I, I have not been to Kake yet. , Listeners, I haven't been everywhere. There's lots and lots of places I haven't been,, even though I've been lucky to go to lots. So does ... I know that you can only come in by boat or plane, but do you, do you have any roads that go out of the village at all,, on the island? Or no, you, you can just- ... sort of walk everywhere? We do have about three miles of paved roads- in town, and then we actually have about 150 miles of old logging roads on the island- Oh, cool ... that we can use. So- Okay ... you can actually get lost out there. So- You could ... I would recommend that if you go out there, make sure you bring a map, and tell someone Yes. So anytime you leave anywhere, you always let somebody know, know where you're going and when you'll be back. Yes. Really important safety thing. An important rule for all of Alaska. Yeah, yeah. - Lots of other places ... Alaska is very vast. Yes, yes. You are a small person in a vast landscape. Yeah. Yeah. So are those roads ones that you can drive on, like, with a car? Or do you need to be, like, on a four-wheeler? Nope. You can drive on, most of the roads, you can drive, , your car. , And of course there's gonna be potholes, just like any other- Yes ... dirt road. Yep. , And then while you are driving out there, you can run into animals like moose, deer, porcupine- Amazing grouse, and black bears. Oh. , Oh, and wolves too. We do have wolves on the island. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wolves. I've never seen a wolf in Alaska., But I know there are lots of wolves in a lot of places. I just haven't ... Wow. . So Martha, let's talk a little bit about visitors who want to come to Kake. Because, most of our listeners are planning a trip to Alaska, or dreaming of a trip to Alaska, or took a trip to Alaska and just wanna keep listening, and maybe wanna go back. So what, what kind of traveler is someone who should come to Kake? Let's start with that. Like, what kind of traveler is like, "You should definitely come and visit Kake," and then we'll talk about how to do it. We actually get a lot of, a lot of adventurous travelers. Yeah., And if you wanted to, you could take, , a jet from ... Typically our, our jets come mostly from Seattle, and then they stop in Juneau or Anchorage. Mm-hmm. Yep. You can do the milk runs, and they'll stop in Ketchikan too on your way. Mm-hmm. And then from the jet you can take Alaska Seaplanes from Juneau or Sitka to Kake. Okay. Or if you want to, if you wanna travel on your own, you can also take the ferry. Yep. And then when you get to Kake, we do have, , Kwan Construction, and Kwan Construction is a car rental company- Oh, cool ..., That's owned by Kake Tribal Corporation. And then we have Kake Tribal Tourism. You can call me up and ask me all the questions- Yes ... um, or you can send me an email. And then we have, , tiny homes, a bunkhouse, and then our organized village of Kake,, our federally recognized tribe, they own a, a lodge, Keex' Kwaan Lodge. Mm. And they're actually conveniently located right across from the airport. So it's- How easy. Yeah. You can just walk across the street and- Well, it'd be a little bit of a walk, but it's all paved. Yeah. So. Awesome. So- Cool ... um- So Martha, are you, is what you're saying that if somebody wants to visit Kake, they can just, like, call you and talk to a real person and get- like, human-to-human advice? Yeah, yes. Yes, you can. No- Um- ... like, anonymous Viator, like- ... Expedia. It's like, no, people to people. Yes. I love that. Yes.- Yeah ... you can call, you can call our,, Kake Tribal Corporation. You can call Kake Tribal Tourism. Awesome., Or you can call the Keex' Kwaan Lodge. All right. And also we have, um, Lawrence Jackson. He also owns, , Alaska Coastal & Mountain Adventures. Mm. And he just opened up his own business. He's a shareholder for Kake Tribal Corporation, and he owns a side-by-side,, business, and he can give you tours- Oh, fun ... on his side-by-side. And, , I believe he rents them out too. Oh. And side-by-sides, I'll have to tell you, are a lot of fun. They're really fun. Yes. They are really fun. Listeners, if you don't know what a side-by-side is, it's... I mean, it's like a four-wheeler with, like, a... Maybe you can describe it better than I can. So it's like a four-person four-wheeler. Yeah. It's like a go-kart, like a buggy. A bu- It is like a buggy. Yes. That's exactly what it's like. So we talked a little bit about, having fun, adventures, going somewhere really unique and authentic in Alaska, which is pretty cool. You've got some great places to stay, and you can get either a side-by-side or a car to drive around. Very cool. For someone coming to Kake, what are some things that you feel like they really should do or experience, or what kinds of things are there to do and experience for visitors? Besides the side-by-sides,, we have a tons of creeks, we have tons of, , road that you can drive on, and then we have our totem pole. So we have the, the... Alaska has... We have the Al- Alaska's largest or tallest single tree totem pole. Wow. Um, yeah. And, , it was carved in 1970. Mm-hmm. 1970. And it was brought to the World's Fair in Japan before- Wow it actually came to Kake. So- Wow ... you can come learn about that. We can give you a cultural tour. You just call me up and say, "Hey, I wanna have a cultural tour," and I can teach you all the fun things about our culture. Oh, I can't wait to do that personally. Yeah. And, , we do have cruise ships that come through and stop in Kake too. In my opinion, we have the absolute best 3rd and 4th of July- ... , especially for families. Oh, fun. So- Tell me about that ... it- it's a two-day, 3rd and 4th of July. We don't just celebrate just the 4th of July, but we also- Yeah ... do the 3rd of July. And we do a lot of family fun activities, and races, and games. And, , all the locals come out and , everybody has, , vendor tables, and we sell all the food. And you just eat all the food, play all of the games, and everybody just kind of mingles throughout the entire town. Oh, so fun. And we have,... And then in, like, in the evening-ish time, they have a softball game and the whole community's out there, and it's usually, like, um, older guys versus younger guys. And, it's always a lot of fun to watch, and you just stuff your face all day. And then the 4th of July, we do the same thing. It's races and mingle with everybody. And then we have the longest 4th of July fireworks. So we have- Cool ... a local vendor who sells fireworks, and you can come and, um, join the town. That's what one , the cruise, , ship captains was telling me. He's like, "When you guys do fireworks, you guys have the absolute longest firework display." Oh, that is really fun. Um- And the captain would probably know because they go to lots of different Southeast Alaska places. Yes, yes. So do you do your fireworks on the 3rd or on the 4th? We do it on the 4th. Okay. We do it on the 4th., And- And he, he was like, there's ... I mean, nobody gets any sleep, of course. That's so fun. It's 'cause it's loud and it's a lot of, you know, everybody ... It's just, it's pretty wild. It's fun, though. Yeah., And then we also have, um, the last Saturday in July, we have the Dog Salmon Festival. Mm. And it's ... We have a lot of, um, traditional, like, we'll have traditional games, uh, being played there, and, , like fish filet contests and- Nice ... other kind of games that we play with the community. And again, we have more vendors, and it's just a big community event. It's like a big picnic. Sounds so fun. Yeah. And you just go out, buy all the food again, and play. Like, we have a big corn hole competition and- Yes. It's a lot of fun. That's really fun. I love it., So when ... I just, I'm just gonna break in for a moment, listeners, to let you know a couple things about 4th of July in Alaska. So, like, Anchorage, South Central, the interior of Alaska, they don't do a ton of things for 4th of July like Southeast Alaska does, and there are many communities in Southeast Alaska that have these incredible 4th of July celebrations. So that's something that's really different in different parts of Alaska., And a lot of places do their fireworks on the 3rd, so that's cool that you do them on the 4th. Yeah. Yeah. I, I was, I was surprised to hear that ours is the longest show, so. Yeah, I'm kind of surprised too. But it's, I think it's every It's all of the different families that do ... that buy the fireworks, and it's has to be tens of thousands of dollars worth of fireworks- I know, they're so expensive ... that are being blown. Yeah. So when people do, is it organized? Is it, like, this family is doing it at this time? And they're ... Or is it, a free-for-all? It- Like, d- does everybody just kind of light them off the same time, or is it, like, spread out intentionally? So it's kind of a free-for-all. But a free-for-all at the same time. So different parts of town will every ... All the families will be in different parts of their, different parts of town. Okay. Yeah. A majority of them will be located downtown Kake, um, by the city dock. And then the city does their own firework display. Okay. So they have, like, the big display, but everybody- Okay ... else does their own the kids join in on it, and it's a lot of fun. That sounds really, really amazing. Yeah, I love that. Cool. So if you wanna blow fireworks yourself, you can come to Kake and- Yeah ... watch the fireworks There's not many, that many places where you can just light off fireworks Yeah ... as many as you want. That's awesome. I love it. . Before we get to, independent travelers and cruising and all that stuff, I wanted to go back to what you were saying about, the cultural tours that you do. And I realize that we need to come to Kake to, like, get the full experience, but what are some of the things that you really hope people will learn about Tlingit culture while they're visiting? So... my favorite tour is where we come to you, and then we formally introduce ourselves, and then we tell you the basic facts about Kake, , and then we get into our subsistence year because subsistence- Mm ... it's our way of life. All the harvesting that we do from the early spring to the winter, , that's vital for us. Yeah. You know, we live off the land. Yeah. And we respect the land, and then, and we respect each other, and we look out for each other. Mm-hmm. Being from Anchorage, there is, it, there's a big difference- Mm ... in the sense of community- Mm-hmm ... when you live in a small town. Yeah. So, in Kake, I have a huge community, and,, people, that we can, call on if we need help for something. Mm-hmm. It can be, everybody knows everybody, and so if you need help, say, getting your tire fixed, you know- Yeah, yeah You can call on somebody, and they're willing to help. Mm-hmm. Or I can say if I'm trying to learn how to, um, grow zucchini, I can call somebody else, or if I need help,, learning the right,, we call it Hudson Bay tea, Labrador tea- Mm ... which ones are the right petals to pick, you know. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I can call on somebody else. Or if I found a berry that I've never seen before,, I can call on another person and be like, "Hey, what, what is this?" And, you know. Sense of community- Yeah ... , is a huge, huge thing in, in Kake. Yeah. And a sense of community in, in the Tlingit culture- Yeah ... is a huge thing. Mm-hmm. So it's important to be there for each other- Yeah ... and look out for each other. And so after we, after I, we tell you a little bit about our community, we can walk to the, , memorial totems. Mm-hmm. And then I'll tell you some, a little bit about how, we, what we believe when our loved one- loved ones pass on. Mm-hmm. And then we will walk across our Gunak Creek, and the Gunak Creek is where the hatchery fish go up. Mm. And we have a hatchery. Mm-hmm., And that's where we get all of our dog salmon eggs, or chum eggs. Mm-hmm. And we harvest those every, every year. Mm-hmm. And that's generally where the bears are, so, you know- Yeah we live one with the bears. And then we will go to the community hall where I'll have a few vendors, and then we have a demonstration. And sometimes it's a demonstrator that talks about the old pictures that we have or, , a weaving demonstration or a Native Youth Olympics demonstration. Um- Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Everything is walking distance, if you hadn't noticed by now. I love that., But if you need to, you know, you can always, we can c- take the bus too, 'cause we do have a bus. Yeah., And then we go up to the totem pole and we tell you how the totem pole came to be and one of the stories or one of the legends that are on the pole. And then we can share a song with you, and then walk you back to either your cruise ship, or if you leaving on a plane- Mm-hmm ... you can bring you back where you need to go. That sounds incredible. I can't wait to do it. That's a very, very condensed version of- Yes, yes ... what can happen. I realize that is only just scratching the surface. Yeah. Yeah. So Martha, another thing I wanted to ask you about is food, right? So you've talked about that a little bit, about living a subsistence lifestyle, and we talked about the barge, how, it brings stuff, but it's not every- that's not, nobody is just living off the barge most likely. So I'd love to know for visitors,, what are their food options, number one, and then what are some things that people should be sure to try while they're in Kake that are extra amazing? So- Food options. So if you were to come to Kake, of course, you'd have to visit the store- Yes ... , to get your, your basics,? Yeah. Or if you needed microwave food or some snacks to go, , we call it... We have a SOS, that's our big store. Yeah. , And then we have the fuel station, and then we also have, um, the fuel station has, , a lot of snacks. It's like a, you know, just like a gas station- Yep ... in the city. Yep. , But we call it a fuel station. Yeah. And then we have Kake Tribal Grounds, which is our coffee shop. And- Yum ... we do, you know, we... It's a full co- full coffee shop. We can give you all the espresso drinks that you can think of, and then teas, frappes, and microwave food. Okay. So, like, pretzels with cheese or nachos or- Yep ... um breakfast sandwiches. And then sometimes Facebook is a big thing. Mm-hmm. So sometimes if you hit town on the weekend, you can hit up a, a food sale. And it- Oh ... food sales are- That sounds amazing ... homemade, homemade food. So, like, tomorrow I'm missing out. There's somebody selling, deep-fried halibut and- ... um, Joe-Joe's, and it's all- Oh homemade. Amazing. And so- Yeah. Oh. 'Cause,, my husband and I, when we do food sales, we have, like, barbecue pork ribs and- Mm-hmm ... pasta salad for our- Yeah ... food sales. Uh- So that's usually on weekends? Typically on the weekend. Okay. Sometimes during the weekdays you can get breakfast sales. Like, people will sell things like biscuits and gravies or omelets or- Oh McSta- Mc- McSta- McDonald's-style breakfast sandwiches and- Uh-huh. Yep ... , those are one of my favorites, so that way I don't have to worry about what I'm gonna have for breakfast. Yes. That's, that is, that is really great. Most places that people would be staying, would they have things like fridges or microwaves or to heat up stuff that you bought from the store? So the, the lodge, they have a microwave, I believe. I'm not 100% sure on that one. Okay., And then the mini houses, they have, I believe they have refrigerators and a stove top. Okay. So- So there's some, some kind of basic, simple ways to prepare your food- Yeah ... that you get. Yep. Yeah. Love that., And Facebook. So if you come to Kake, look up Kake Classifieds or Kake Buy Sell Trade and- Mm-hmm ... um, see if you can find a food sale, if there happens to be- Yeah ... a food sale. So that's- Yeah ... always, like, a big thing. Yes, definitely. Love that. Okay. So we- Have talked a lot about a lot of great things. I wanted to, before we start wrapping up, I wanted to ask a little bit about some logistics, and we talked about that a bit already. So, , for independent travelers, they're gonna be taking a flight with Alaska Seaplanes, so smaller planes, or maybe the ferry if you get lucky and that works in your schedule. And then there's, the tiny homes and the lodge where people can stay, and you can get a car or a side-by-side, and then do cool adventures. So that sounds amazing. What about people who are visiting or who want to visit on cruise ships? I know that Kake is a small port, and you don't have a lot of ships compared to,, Juneau or Ketchikan. Can you talk a little bit about,, which cruise lines are cur- and understanding that this, we're recording this in 2026, and this might be different- in the future. This stuff changes all the time. But at the moment, what does that scene look like, for people who wanna come on a cruise? So as of right now, , there is Hanseatic, and Hanseatic is a bigger cruise. I mean- Yeah ... for our town, it's a, it's- Yes ... a big s- cruise ship. Yeah. They're, they have approximately 220 passengers. Yep. And they visit twice a year. And then we have, National Geographic, Nat Geo. Yep. They're coming over. - Yep ... Lindblad. Mm-hmm. They, they are coming over five times this year. Nice. And then if you can find, , a charter boats. Yeah. So if you wanna charter a boat- Mm-hmm ... , i know they can come. We've done a couple of, , private yacht tours and then a flotilla. And last year was my first time ever giving a flotilla a tour, and it was a group of four different, four boats. They were different boats that were together. Okay. And they just... They had, like, six people on each boat. Mm-hmm. And they just kinda docked at the city. And, and- Yeah ... we do have,, three different places where you can dock. Okay. We have a city dock, the OBK dock- Mm-hmm ... and then the, portage dock. Cool. So- So had, where had they char- for the flotilla, where did they charter , the boats? Was it in Juneau, or was it, or Sitka or somewhere else? I wanna say they were traveling out of Seattle, actually. Oh, wow. Um- Oh, cool. Yeah. But, you know- That'd be such a great trip there, there were even times, so when I worked up at the... I w- I've worked many jobs. There was ti- another time where there were three small planes that were flying, and they were just stopping at all the villages. And they came and they c- they flew in and, um- They parked their planes for a while, and then,, did their own thing, and then they left. So there are, if you can- That sounds really fun also. If you can fly a small plane and hop- Come on over ... city to, or village to village, come over. Yeah. Give me a call. That's so cool. Or email me, whatever you w- however you'd like- Yes ... to get a hold of me. Yes. Okay, so I have a last question to wrap things up, but before that, is there anything else that I haven't asked or anything else that you would like for people to know about Kake or about you? About Kake, , so Kake, from, from what I hear of other locals,, I just... I, I was just in Juneau, and one of the cab drivers said Kake has one of the most jolliest people- Mm ... um, in all of Southeast. And he was like, "They, everybody's always smiling. If you go to Kake, everybody smiles and everybody waves." So if you come to Kake, you wave at everybody. Um- That's really cool. Yes. So even if- That sounds wonderful ... even if you're not from Kake and , you wave at them. Sometimes people will stop you and talk to you and ask you, , what you're in town for, what's going on or, do you know how to fix a, a propane tank or... And- Yeah you never know what can happen. You can- Yeah ... get put to work, or you can get invited for dinner. Yeah. Both of those sound pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. And if somebody offers you something, it would be rude if you didn't accept. It would also be a super missed opportunity too. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's good to know that, like, culturally that's important, but I'm just gonna say, fellow travelers, if someone invites you to their home, you don't wanna miss out on that. Yes, yes. I mean, that's gonna be,, the highlight of your trip. Definitely., There would be a lot, probably a lot of good stories to hear- Absolutely ... and good food, and probably food you've never had before. Yeah. Um, like, one of my favorite dishes is seaweed and eggs, and when I say seaweed and eggs, they think, you know, nori seaweed and chicken eggs, but that's not what I'm talking about. Yeah. What are you talking about since you brought it up? So our black seaweed, we go out and harvest, in May we go out and harvest, , black seaweed, and it's just like nori seaweed. Mm-hmm. And we dry it out in the sun on our hot sunny days,, it's 70 degrees out. Mm-hmm. We have the dog salmon eggs, or chum, chum salmon. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. We harvest those. We, take them off the skein, and you kind of boil them just a little bit- And then you put 'em in a jar and you seal them up. Mm-hmm. And when you're ready to eat 'em, you just crack open that jar, put it in a pot, put a handful of seaweed in there, and eat it over rice with- Nice seal grease and soy sauce. Yeah, that is not something you're gonna get in a restaurant, for sure. Yes. So you preserve it, and then, so you wouldn't necessarily eat it in the spring when you harvest it. Oh, yeah. No, we're- You could eat it any time of year. We're gonna eat it in the spring, for sure. Oh, okay. Okay. But yeah, we, we do preserve a lot of our food and save it- Yeah ... , for, you know, we s- we ... Jars are important to our lifestyle. Yes. Mason jars and Ball jars. Yes., They're very important to us, and , every household has h- many, many jars. And every household has multiple freezers. Yes. So just in my household- Really important ... we have three. Three freezers. Yeah, yeah. But important to when you come to Kake, wave, smile and wave, and, be accepting. Yeah. I love that. That is great advice. Okay, so speaking of advice, Martha, I love ask- I usually ask people about their favorite restaurant, but we've already talked about food in Kake. So I feel like, we're good with that one. , You've lived all over Alaska, and I'm sure you've traveled to even more places, from the biggest city to one of the smallest villages, and I'd love to know what is your biggest piece of advice for travelers who are coming to Alaska for the first time? Tell somebody where you're going and when you're expected to be back. Yes. Really good advice. In the smaller villages, sometimes the only cell service that you'll have is AT&T. So, , if you don't have Wi-Fi, sorry, you're probably- Yeah ... not gonna be able to text or call anybody. Yeah. So you need-- ... to make a plan in advance- Yes like it's 1997. Yes. , Martha, thank you so much for coming on and sharing with everybody about Kake. Thank you for being here. Guḍan ciwð. Thank you.
