“There are two forms of nature. One is the nature you see every day. The other aspect of nature is something very distant, very remote. You don’t see it, but you know it’s there. It’s spiritual. It has to do with imagination, with soul. Without this kind of nature our daily life may not change, but something—soul—is missing.”
~Michio Hashimo, caribou watcher

KEYWORDS: reindeer On Blitzen! North Pole animals in the news Christmas story Santa Claus House Alaska animal

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A reporter for the NBC television station KTUU in Anchorage, found her way into the national spotlight while taping a scene with a young reindeer named Blitzen at the Santa Claus House in North Pole.

Just as the Santa hat-clad Meghan Stapleton knelt down with the reindeer’s leash in hand, a spooked Blitzen leaped at the reporter, knocking her down in a manner one witness described as a “tackle.”

Author: Bert Gildart, Special to The Christian Science Monitor

ARCTIC VILLAGE, ALASKA – In this tiny Alaskan town of 120, north of Anchorage and the Arctic Circle, beyond the imaginary line where summer days and winter nights become endless, Sarah James, a Gwich'in Indian leader, is rolling in cash – $130,000 to be exact, a 2001 grant from the Ford Motor Co.

It is, at first glance, an unlikely pairing: Ford products devour oil and gas; the Gwich'in (pronounced guh-WHICH-in) depend on caribou for everything from their meals to the gloves that keep their hands warm.