sonora2sonoma

A public display of a different sort was the Sign House. This was a house on a different back street that was liberally adorned with signage sourced from roadsides, residences, businesses, and the like.
Literally anything interesting, attractive or different was considered fair game.

The fact of the mere existence of the Sign House attested to the unique nature of the Alaskan mind-set, where eccentricity was not only accepted but celebrated. This spirit was portrayed authentically in the early 90s in the tv series ‘Northern Exposure.’ The residents of the Sign House were hailed in some circles for the boldness they evidenced in how they made their acquisitions and for their shamelessness in the manner in which they displayed the fruits of their re-appropriations.

It was almost expected of the residents of the Sign House that newly erected signs about town would sooner than later (often sooner) turn up as the latest addition to adorn the house’s exterior. A recently-erected dentist’s office sign, cleverly centered around the cheery image of a floating bicuspid, had just made its way to the Sign House a few weeks before my arrival where it sat, proudly displayed amongst the myriad other signs, for all the world to see.

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The absence of zoning meant it was common, as in Mexico, to see newer and more affluent homes sitting adjacent to older, more humble dwellings. The people, similarly, seemed to have no airs about them of the sort commonly found within communities “outside,” which was another term used by the locals to denote the contiguous United States. The homogenous character of Nome society I found to be refreshingly hopeful, for it attested to what people could accomplish when they pulled their heads out of their derrieres and treated each other with the respect and kindness due them.  

That sensibility seemed ingrained in the character of the people who lived there. The police, regarded with wariness in certain circles back home, answered to a different sense of purpose in Nome, one characterized more by a focus on helping people than arresting them.

Survival in a hostile environment called for a greater degree of cooperation from all involved parties than might be necessary in forgiving climes. The police were valued more as a helpful resource than a display of force. Patrols responded to calls for help as often as they did to reports of criminal activity. Such reports as were received frequently involved violations of fish and game regulations.

By way of illustration, I witnessed an incident one night at the town’s premiere watering hole, the infamous Board of Trade Saloon, owned by Nome’s equally infamous Jim West, who owned many of the town’s rentals. A group comprising members of the town police force, state troopers and fish and game officials had been assembled for  a dinner party celebrating the birthday of one of those present.

An inebriated middle-aged woman with fake blonde hair was sitting at the bar, twenty or so feet away from the table where the officers were gathered. Beside her sat an obviously inebriated Inupiaq man of similar age. They were said to be a couple by another bar patron who claimed knowledge of them.

Before long, an argument broke out between the two as the man, obviously incensed, began shouting epithets at his partner. His shouting soon grew loud enough to draw the attention of the officers seated nearby.  

Seeming initially reluctant to become involved, one of the officers, a town policeman, walked over to the couple and attempted to calm the fellow down. This gambit succeeded for a short time only, as the man soon resumed his tirade. As the man’s voice increased in both pitch and volume, the officer returned to where the couple was sitting and again attempted to abate the situation, this time taking the man aside and delivering him a warning to calm down.  

For a brief period, it seemed, the officer’s intervention was successful. The respite was short-lived, however, as the man soon began pursuing his grievance against the woman with increased intensity. This time the officer took more forceful action, ordering the man, having been forewarned, to leave the premises immediately.

A minute or two later, the man, re-entered the saloon, walked up to the woman, and struck her on the side of her head. Having clearly crossed a line this time, the man’s action occasioned an immediate response from not only the original respondent but several other of the officers as well, all of whom who sprung from their chairs and surrounded the man, escorting him, squirming and protesting, off the premises and, presumably, to somewhere where he could do no further damage.

While reluctance to disturb the dinner party may have been a motivating factor for the initially forgiving approach the officers took to the couples’ quarrel, it also spoke to the general tendency of the authorities in Nome to refrain from immediately resorting to arrest and incarceration as the solution to all matters in need of police involvement.

Tim Konrad

(To be continued . . )