Suspicions focus on steam bathing, a centuries-old custom that's as important for cultural reasons as it is for hygiene. Telling natives to stop it, or not to eat unconventional foods that may cause botulism, isn't an option. Deeply rooted cultural practices will not change, so the task is to make them safer. Alaska's atmosphere Alaska is bigger than California, Texas and Montana combined, and much of it is more like the Third World than a part of the United States. A lucky few have bikes to ride.
Dogs are everywhere, tethered on short chains and always barking.
Laundry shares space on clotheslines with strips of moose meat drying into jerky. Many have Russian names - Ivan, Wassilie, Anna, Nicolai. A scant 30 miles or so separate Alaska and Russia, easily covered by mushing a team of sled dogs across the ice in winter. The natives have or know how to get whatever food they need. There are no golden arches, only silvery salmon plucked from the cool waters when times are good, which was not the case last year.