This is the link to the Koyukuk Spring Race where they are honoring George Attla.
Photo forwarded courtesy of Phillip Albert, Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS, Alaska Every spring, the villages of Hughes, Huslia and Allakaket/Alatna get together and hold a party. This year, more than most, there will be something big to celebrate.
It's been 50 years since Huslia's most famous resident, George Attla Jr., won his first Fur Rendezvous World Championship. The victory launched a career that eventually made the unknown musher the most successful sprint racer in history.
So when the Koyukuk River Championship Dog Race is held this year from April 3-6 in Huslia, it will have a dual purpose. Not only will the villages hold their annual celebration, they'll also be honoring one of their own.
"It should be pretty big," said Ginger Attla, who is George's niece and the party coodinator. "We're all getting excited about it."
The 1958 Fur Rondy victory was a huge moment for Attla, who became known as "The Huslia Hustler." He was basically anonymous when he arrived at the Anchorage race, but his win became a validation for the numerous mushers who lived in the villages along the Koyukuk. As many of them had suspected, their dogs were as fast as anybody's.
"I must have enjoyed it," George Attla said, "because it doesn't seem like it was that long ago."
Attla's accomplishment became a Hollywood movie starring Slim Pickens, 1979's "Spirit of the Wind." He went on to win nine more Fur Rondy titles and eight Open North American Championships, capturing the most victories of any sprint racer.
The Anchorage Daily News put him at No. 2 on the list of the top 100 Alaskan athletes of the 20th century, and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner selected him as the greatest musher of all time. He was inducted into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
A party at the Huslia Community Hall next Sunday will honor Attla, along with his contemporaries from the village's golden age of mushing.
"I think the younger generation wants to honor their mushers before we all go to the happy hunting grounds," the 74-year-old Attla said with a chuckle.
The party will be wrapped around the four-day Koyukuk River Championship Dog Race festivities. The KRC was launched in 1979, when the three First Chiefs of Hughes, Huslia and Allakaket/Alatna met to discuss the spring carnivals in their respective communities. Each of the Koyukuk River villages held its own spring carnival - with events like dog mushing, showshoe racing and ice picking contests - which made it tough for those who wanted to attend all three.
As a solution, they decided to combine the three carnivals into one event, which would rotate between the villages each year. Twenty-nine years later, the tradition is still going strong.
Ginger Attla said about 600 people usually participate, including several hundred who come from neighboring villages to be part of the action. Huslia, with a population of about 300 people, does it all without facilities like formal hotels or restaurants.
"Everyone stays with relatives and friends," she said. "Huslia's a pretty friendly community, so everyone just opens their doors."
The weekend includes dances, potlucks and contests, along with sled dog races for men, women and old-timers.
The races, particularly the 17-mile main run, should be seriously contested. The region still takes pride in its ability to produce speedy mushers.
"There's a lot of champions that come from here," said Al Yatlin, a Huslia resident who has handled dogs with Attla since the 1960s. "Some of them are still around."
One of the mushers this year could be a familiar face - seven time KRC champion George Attla. Although his 19-year-old son Frank is doing most of the work with his team now, George said he's tempted to give the race a shot. "I still enjoy doing it, but it's a little tough on the bones," he said.
Always the competitor, Attla is interested to see how his dogs stack up.
"I'm kind of curious about it. How much better are these guys?" he said. "I was talking about it with a friend, and the only way I'm going to get my answer is to go out and do it."
And after all these years, Attla said he still knows how to lead a winning team.
"The body may be shot, but I think my mind's pretty good," Attla said with a laugh.
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