The Long Journey to Rural Alaska

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.

Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Arctic Alaska this week when he travels there to talk about climate change. I don’t envy him the journey. He’s going to appear on an episode of “Running Wild With Bear Grylls” and learn about wilderness survival, but he might have to ‘rough it’ most if he visits some of Alaska’s small villages.

Earlier this month I traveled to Newtok, Alaska, one of the four villages he mentioned in his Saturday radio address as being in “imminent danger” and needing to relocate because of climate change. Newtok, like many Native Alaskan villages, is not accessible by roads, has no running water or sewage pipes, and has no hotels.

To get to Newtok from Anchorage, I flew to the regional hub of Bethel on a small airline called Ravn Air. The airline is so small that at no