By SEAN KIMMONS Army News Service: Native Soldiers bring skills to military, home villages
KIPNUK, Alaska — If Sgt. Burt Paul fails to hook in salmon or track big game, his family could struggle through the harsh Alaska winter.
Isolated in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region, where soggy tundra makes it impossible to build connecting roads to other communities, his village of Kipnuk is home to around 900 Alaska Natives.
The far-flung village, which is about 500 miles west of Anchorage, is only accessible by plane or boat. In the winter, slow and bumpy land routes give way to travel over frozen waterways.
