Barrow's Christmas Games Festival.

• Author: PILKINGTON, STEVE
• Position: Brief Article

Around the world, as crazed party-goers find special ways to note the passing of the 1900s, people of Alaska's Far North will bring in the year 2000 under a cold Arctic sky with a cultural celebration rooted in times unremembered.

Matilda Adams, who has lived in Barrow since 1972, said she expects the celebration will be an incredible time.

When the annual Christmas Games Festival opens Dec. 25 in Barrow with the traditional Eskimo Dance, young and old will be thinking of the past as much the future.

"We're trying to make it a spectacular event because it's the last games of the 1900s," said Adams, president of the Anaktaqtitchirit Committee, the non-profit group organizing the annual Barrow games.

"The games have been passed on since time immemorial," Adams said. "It's a cultural tradition. It's going to be a beautiful event."

This year, the festival and games begin Dec. 26, the day after the opening dance, and continue through Jan. 1 of the new year. Although the games take place every year and have done so since long before she can remember, this year's festival promises to be special and unlike any other.

Adams said WGBH-TV in Boston already has contacted the committee asking to broadcast the event and celebration in Barrow at midnight on New Year's Eve. The committee has approached numerous businesses for prize donations and has received more...