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Tim's Journal:
Today was rainy and cold. Half the crew stayed in the lab to preserve
artifacts, while the rest of us went out to dig. We dug until lunch and
we accomplished quite a bit despite the conditions. After lunch our leader,
Rick Reanier sent Aaron and me on sanitation patrol. We commandeered the
construction crew's truck and drove to the lab to pick up the garbage
and the "Honey Bucket". The village of Deering has no real sanitary facilities
and although the sewer project "is in the works" they have been held up
by the burials that we are excavating. The "Honey Bucket" serves as a
self contained indoor toilet in a five-gallon bucket.  Although
some residents dispose of the contents of the "Honey Bucket" in the traditional
way (in the ocean), you are supposed to take it to the village sewage
lagoon. Our next stop was the old parsonage, which now serves as our female
dormitory, and is the place where we eat our meals. We picked up our garbage
there and the "Honey Bucket" and then got some of our cook's (Calvin Motto)
garbage and headed for the Tundra. On a dirt road west of town we disposed
of the garbage in the landfill and the "Honey Buckets" in the sewage lagoon.
Stephanie Barr, Aaron Stupple, Bonita Barr, and Susie Barr
excavating in the rain.
For the rest of the afternoon we did more excavations. I
uncovered an old hearth full of charred animal bones. We
enlisted Brian Weinard of VSW (Village Safe Water) to use
the backhoe to move our waste dirt, as we straightened
things up for the weekend.
When we need something in Deering, we go to the Deering Native Store
and charge it to UIC (Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation). It is a good thing
too, because everything has to be flown here so it is 3 times more expensive.
Our village co-workers love  Chinese
food and have it delivered. It costs them an extra $10 to have it taken
to the airport in Kotzebue, load it on the next flight, and have it flown
over the sound to arrive piping hot at the airport. Every night the lab
stays open so that village residents can view what we have found, ask
questions and watch the artifacts being conserved. We get a lot of families
and tons of kids so that the atmosphere ranges from friendly to very festive.
We stay open usually until after 11:00 P.M., which isn't late for Deering
because it is still light and everybody is up. The connections with the
village are a lot of what makes this project so much fun.
Brian Weinard removing our waste piles.
AARON'S ADDENDUM:
As Tim Conner said, the Honey Bucket initiation was certainly new.  The
whole atmosphere here feels a bit like Boy Scout Camp; how about archeology
camp? We wake up every morning to an archeologist's dream, artifacts galore.
And we are very rushed so the removal is quick. In archeological terms,
we are ripping them out of the ground. It is so much fun, and we are really
getting an intense intro into archeology. In the last week I have gone
from being a complete novice to having at least a tenuous grasp of the
subject.
The Deering Native store.
 Tiffany
Jones, Quincy Iyatunguk, and Melvin Jones visit the lab.
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