Between Two Worlds: How the Minor Family Built a Latino Life in Rural Alaska
by gabriela olmos rosas
Teresa Minor
In Haines, where Latinos make up just 4 percent of the population, the Minor family found a new home after moving from California because of an unexpected opportunity on Gold Rush: White Water. Today, Teresa connects Spanish-speaking visitors with Alaska while keeping her Mexican roots alive.
The Haines Borough in Southeast Alaska has just over 2,100 residents. Four percent of them identify as Latino, meaning there are roughly 84 people in Haines whose roots trace back to Latin America. They could all fit inside a relatively large room. The Minor family is part of that group.
Their story in Alaska began nine years ago. Teresa and Carlos Minor lived in Salinas, California. Teresa worked at Costco, while Carlos, a former member of the United States Navy, worked as a commercial diver welding underwater oil pipelines in different parts of the world. After years in a profession that was as demanding as it was dangerous, he wanted to try something different.
One day, Carlos came across an opportunity: a British production company was looking for divers for a television project. Neither Teresa nor Carlos knew exactly what the job involved. “They were going to interview him on Zoom,” Teresa recalled. At the time, the family did not have internet access at home, so they parked outside a Starbucks and used the store’s Wi-Fi for the interview. At first, the opportunity seemed uncertain, almost unreal. The company was connected to a Discovery Channel series, and the possibility of being selected seemed remote. But after a lengthy process, Carlos received the call they had been hoping for: the producers wanted him in Haines, Alaska.
“Alaska? What are you going to do in Alaska?” Teresa remembers asking him. Carlos explained that he would be part of a reality show in which participants dove for gold in remote rivers. Shortly afterward, he moved to Haines to join the first season of Gold Rush: White Water. Neither of them imagined the changes that decision would bring. Carlos was amazed by the landscape. From Alaska, he called home with growing excitement. “You have to come,” he would tell Teresa. “This is like a dream.” Eventually, Teresa traveled north with one of their children. During that two-week visit, she was able to see the town through the same lens Carlos had. But what left the deepest impression on her was not the scenery—it was the way of life.
“People here are very down-to-earth,” she said. “They don’t care about fashion; it’s not so much about appearances. It’s more about what’s natural—how you live and how people treat one another.” When she returned, Carlos asked her, “Do you want to come live here?” Her answer was a simple yes.
Moving to Haines required many adjustments. Like other newcomers to Alaska, the Minors learned how to live with home heating, drive in the snow, and endure long winters. But they also encountered a challenge they had never imagined: food.
“You have to be very careful not to waste food because everything is so expensive,” Teresa explained. “I had to learn how to cook differently and freeze food. In California, we were blessed with fruits and vegetables. Here, you enjoy every strawberry because a small container can cost eight or nine dollars.”
Over time, the Minors have found ways to share their culture in Haines. For a Fourth of July fundraiser, for example, Teresa prepared aguas frescas—horchata and jamaica—which sold quickly. Who would have imagined that a Fourth of July celebration in a small Alaska town could be funded, at least in part, by Mexican aguas frescas?
Spanish is rarely heard in Haines, but Teresa has made sure her children speak it. Her bilingual skills recently helped her land a job at the town’s Visitor Center. Every summer, more than 100,000 cruise ship passengers arrive in Haines aboard lines such as Holland America and Royal Caribbean. Visitors typically disembark at Port Chilkoot, just minutes from downtown. At the Visitor Center, Teresa helps travelers discover Haines. “There’s a growing curiosity about Alaska among Spanish-speaking visitors,” she said. “We have visitors from Spain, Mexico, Argentina—it’s wonderful.”
This summer, Teresa’s job is to serve as a bridge between two worlds: the small Alaska town she now calls home and the Spanish-speaking travelers who pass through it.
This article was made possible through a 2025 ACEJ: Alaska Arts Reporting Initiative fellowship, supported by the Alaska Community Foundation.
