Gingolx, Nathan Barton Elementary

I am an TOC for the district, but 2 schools have priority of me. Alvin A. McKay (AAMES) which is next door and Nathan Barton in Ginglox, which is 30 km away on the mouth of the Nass. Most of my call outs have been for Nathan Barton, so I have gotten to know the road and Ginglox very well. The name Gingolx refers to as the place of skulls. In the past, the Nisga's people here placed skulls of their enemies on the edges of the village to warn enemies to stay away. Today, Ginglox is home to 450 people, who spend most of their time on the water. It is the seafood capital of the Nass Valley and I have had my share of oolichan, canned salmon, and fresh dungeness crab. It is also home to Crabfest, a music festival in July. This year it is on Canada Day and I am excited. The highway to Ginglox is interesting. It's super hilly and twisty and has has a history of road closures. Most of the 30km stretch is no-stop areas with high avalanche and rock slide risks. The hills are super steep, in between 9 % to 16% grade. For a large part of the drive, there are cliffs on one side of the road going straight up and 5 feet off the other side of the road is the Nass. There is no room for error, swing off the road and you plunge into the frozen Nass. Did I mention that there is no cell phone reception in the Nass Valley and that most people carry VHF radios. I have yet to receive mine.... hopefully no car crashes in my future.

A little about Laxgalts'ap

The Nisga'a name of the town we live in is called Laxalts'ap. The white name in Greenville, named after missionaries that came here. The name Laxalts'ap means village on a village, referring to the current village being built on an old settlement. The village of Laxgalts'ap is found on the Nass River, surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. There is approximately 500 ppl living in the village which is home to Alvin A. McKay Elementary, a daycare, carving log, government building, and a rec centre. The village is in a sunny location, but we have been told it's actually pretty marshy and has lots of mosquitoes in the spring. Laxalts'ap is 1hr and 45 from Terrace, 35 minutes from New Aiyansh (where the gas is and the capital of the Nass), and 30 minutes from Ginglox (where I mainly work)

Vic to Laxgalts'ap

We took our time traveling to Nisga'a and spent a night in Courtney at the beautiful Old House Inn and then headed up to Port Hardy where we caught the ferry to Prince Rupert. The drive up was beautiful and most of it was through forests that were still intact and others that were clear cut. We saw lots of eagles and elk along the way. The ferry ride was pretty boring, it was dark an hour into our journey and only 3 hours a light in the morning. We watched the Canucks game on the ferry and our cabin wasn't too bad. Top bunk is the way to go, thicker mattresses. We hit packed snow and ice on the Prince Rupert highway to Terrace. The sketchiest moment was going along a twisty part along a carved cliff face with oncoming traffic coming and train beside us shooting snow in our lane as it chugged down the tracks. After grocery shopping in Terrace, we took off to the Nass Valley. About an hour and 45 minutes later, we are arrived in Laxalts'ap at our new home. There are no signs up here and very few house numbers, but we knew we were beside the school and church, so we found it. Our home is a top floor of a fourplex, 2 bedrooms, and a spacious living room with fireplace. Now we have to warm it up!