“These are my dad’s old sleds. The runners are bent, so I am taking it apart to rebuild it. I have been building sleds for quite a while. My dad taught me; he would watch me and when I would make a mistake, he would straighten me out, which was good, you know. He would watch and tell me, “you’re not doing it right, right there” and either I would take it apart or just keep on building. I would try not to get mad. Then I had to do it right, which is good. The airfare is getting pretty high here and the gas. So, it’s better off to get some dogs I think, and a lot cheaper. We have seven of our own kids and we adopted five more girls. We have a big family.” —Oscar Griest Sr., is Inupiaq from Shungnak, Alaska. He is working on a handmade sled to pull behind his snow machine. Similar types of sleds are used for dog mushing.
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