"Hope You Are the Same"

The hardy inhabitants* of isolated Aklavik at the mouth of the Mackenzie River own 220 radios. But for a long time they could tune in regularly on only one station, at Fairbanks, Alaska, and it broadcasts only in the winter. Now, thanks to a burly, good-natured Canadian soldier named R. A. ("Red") MacLeod, Aklavikans have a full-fledged station of their own.

"Red" MacLeod, a sergeant major in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals stationed at Aklavik, built the transmitter with odds & ends from a ham set, a few parts scrounged from Army discards and about $100 worth of equipment that he bought himself. He talked Sergeant Jack Willis into being the station's announcer because Willis, a Nova Scotian, could pronounce Eskimo names like "Plluluk" (pronounced Pell-oo-look) without a bobble. Last winter they set up their equipment in the second floor of Aklavik's Signals Station, and by December they were broadcasting with 30-watt power on 1,230 kilocycles. They did so well that last week they had a broadcasting license.

Aklavik's station CHAK, "The Friendly Voice of the Arctic," has no sponsored broadcasts, makes no money. Because Signals Corpsmen have the Army's work to do, too, this northernmost commercial station in the Western Hemisphere is on the air only three nights a week, gives its only day programs Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Programs consist chiefly of records, most of them old numbers donated by Aklavikans. Eskimos and Indians, says MacLeod, like cowboy songs best; whites prefer Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and boogie-woogie. Sundays the station airs one church service after another--some in Eskimo and varying Indian dialects.

Town Topics. CHAK's most important contribution to Arctic life is its free broadcast of personal messages. Every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Aklavikans can get in touch, via CHAK, with friends or relatives out trapping in the Mackenzie River delta country. Thus Nels Hvatum learned one night that his house in Aklavik had been destroyed by fire and two of his children killed. Last week, CHAK's listeners heard such messages as these:

P:"To Luck Rat, Rotten Eye Creek: Charlie will see the doctor today and I think he will be going back with me tonight. (Signed) John Vetnelsi."

P:"To Mrs. Bruno Wiederman, Middle Peel: Baby O.K. but not had X ray. Expects to have it soon. (Signed) Anne."

P:"To Mr. and Mrs. John Joseph Stewart, Rat Camp: My sisters are all well in here, so do not worry about them. I am fine too, and hope you are the same. So good luck.. May God bless you. Good night from your loving daughter, Jane Stewart."

167 whites, 213 Indians, 377 Eskimos, plus another 1,800 white and native trappers who live and work in the wilds near by.

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