UNALAKLEET — The mayor splurged on a handmade qiviut hat and headband.
“We haven’t really had a Saturday Market, especially to this size, in quite some time,” Eckenweiler said.
The Saturday Market had been a near-weekly event prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Karen Nanouk, who said she helped launch it about seven years ago.
“It’s a way for people to get together, and for people to sell their crafts or whatever, and enjoy the hay out of it, I thought,” Nanouk said.
“We missed it, and we missed Iditarod,” said longtime sewer and village elder Lorena Paniptchuk, who stopped in to visit and grab a bite to eat.
Nanouk’s daughter, KariAnn Grimes, held her own infant daughter while she stitched a sea otter purse with a fabric trim.
One of the most anticipated items was Jolene Nanouk’s akutaq, a frozen whipped dessert made with berries, sugar and fat.
Though the recipe can vary by region and preferences, Nanouk’s akutaq uses locally picked blueberries and salmonberries.
If there’s a secret to making it great, it might be the milk, which makes it fluffy, Nanouk said.
Unalakleet is Jones’ hometown, she said, but at the start of the pandemic she relocated to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.