Jodi Bailey, a Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School graduate, lives in Alaska. She attended our high school for three years as part of the class of 1987, through her junior year, completing her senior year off-Island.
While acquiring her degree in anthropology at Emory University in Atlanta, she decided to study storytelling, and Alaska with its rich native cultures was a prime location. Bailey worked with native elders, speaking with them directly, and spending her summers there After graduation, she moved there full-time, working with the College of Indigenous Studies, which provides educational opportunities to Native Alaskans living in rural areas. Often Bailey would travel to native villages and offer classes in person. She reminds me, “I am still a Vineyarder all the way, but Alaska is where my heart now feels at home. I appreciate the freedom and space, and it is insanely beautiful and extreme.”
At first, while living in Fairbanks, Bailey had one dog, and used to skijor with that dog. (Skijoring is cross-country skiing, being pulled by, in her case, a dog in a harness.) Then she met her husband, Dan, who was also skijoring. It is a common activity in Alaska, where such winter sports, and dogs, are a major part of the lifestyle. Their skijoring turned into mushing (running a team of dogs with a sled). At first, Bailey says, their kennel was recreational, but it grew into competitive long-distance.
That brings us to the Iditarod! She and Dan have finished it multiple times. The Iditarod is 1,000 miles, and runs from Anchorage in south-central Alaska to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast. It has been called the “last great race on Earth,” and has won worldwide acclaim. Mushers (the people driving the dog sleds) come from all walks of life: fishermen, lawyers, doctors, natives, and people from many countries. As each mile is covered, it is a tribute to Alaska’s history, and the role sled dogs have played. The Iditarod is truly a tie to that traditional history. It has also saved the sled dog culture, and the Alaskan huskies that were being phased out due to the introduction of snowmobiles. Bailey has been running dogs for almost two decades, and has run many races in Alaska, including the Copper Basin 300, Kobuk 440, GinGin 200, and Denali Doubles. She is also a veteran of both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod 1,000-mile races. Jodi Bailey holds the distinction of being the first rookie to ever complete both races in the same year. You can find more info on Iditarod on YouTube, or under Bailey’s “Dew Claw Kennel.”
I knew very little about the Iditarod, and did not know we had a representative, an actual musher, from the Vineyard, making us so proud of another MVRHS graduate. When it comes to racing, Bailey says, “Training dogs for a race like the Iditarod takes an enormous amount of work and investment. However, you get the honor of running the race, and that is the reward.”
Kudos to you, Jodi, and thank you from your Island home. Keep on making us proud!
This series runs twice a month. Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. She lives in Oak Bluffs. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast.net.
