010 CENSUS Count gets off to a cold start Bureau chief begins work in ALASKA VILLAGE after sharing meal of WHALE MEAT with elders

Rachel D'oro

January 26, 2010

NOORVIK, Alaska - One down, more than 309 million to go.

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves on Monday began the 2010 count of the nation's residents in a village in Alaska's arctic hinterlands.

The first person tallied in Noorvik, an Inupiat Eskimo community of 650, was Clifton Jackson, a World War II veteran and the town's oldest resident.

"It's all downhill from now," Groves said after exiting Jackson's house.

Jackson said he was honored to be the first person counted because he thought there were other elders in town who would have been just as worthy.

Groves and other officials were taken from the airport to the village school by sled, with dog teams driven by schoolchildren. He even took a turn on the reins.

After eating whale meat and gathering with village officials and elders, Groves was driven to Jackson's house in a 4-wheeler. Dressed in heavy arctic gear, he walked to the door, briefcase in hand.

"Hello. Thank you," he said when the door opened. He walked inside and began the confidential process of conducting the census.

A school will provide lodging for Groves and most of the 50 visitors, who will bunk down in empty classrooms before departing today.

Other census workers will spend the next week interviewing the remainder of Noorvik's residents using the same 10-question forms to be mailed to most U.S. residents on March 15. Census workers also will visit 217 other rural Alaska communities.

Now's the right time

Alaskans in rural communities such as Noorvik that are not linked by roads have been the first people counted since the 1990 census.

It's easier to get census counters to the villages before muddy conditions brought on by the spring thaw make access more difficult, said Ralph Lee, director of the bureau's Seattle region, which oversees Alaska.

Northwest Arctic Borough Mayor Martha Siitaurak Whiting appreciated the spotlight that Groves attracted to the borough, which is the size of Indiana. There are 11 communities