ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – When the pistol in 48-year-old Fairbanks rookie Jody Potts-Joseph\u2019s hands refused to fire at the wild bison her dog team encountered on the Iditarod trail, she remembered the story her grandmother told her years ago.<\/p>\n
It was those words that helped drive away the large animal from the spot on the trail where the dog team ran up on it.<\/p>\n
Potts-Joseph, who is from Fairbanks but runs her kennel out of Eagle Village near the Canadian border, left the Rohn checkpoint at 3:35 p.m. Tuesday running near the back of the field.<\/p>\n
She told Iditarod Insider that her team was about three miles out when they came around a corner and saw the bison, which began to react aggressively to the dog team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got into a standoff and all I had is \u2014 my Glock wouldn\u2019t fire,\u201d she recounted in a cell phone video she took minutes after the encounter. \u201cIt was charging me … and it kept charging but it wouldn\u2019t actually touch my dogs, but it was head down, pawing, and it would charge and then would stop. It did that three or four times.<\/p>\n
With her pistol clicking but not firing, Potts-Joseph said she had to make a quick choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI quickly got my Glock out but it was jammed, it wouldn\u2019t fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Potts-Joseph said she hid behind some trees and started throwing sticks at the animal.<\/p>\n
It was then that she remembered a story her grandmother told years ago when they encountered a bear in the Alaska wilderness. Her grandmother began speaking her Native tongue, talking to the bear in the words from the H\u00e4n Gwich\u2019in people.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It] means, \u2018Go away, have mercy on us, leave us alone,\u2019\u201d Potts-Joseph explained. \u201cAnd that bear just calmed down and turned around and walked off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday afternoon on the trail, Potts-Joseph repeated those same words.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my last resort,\u201d she said. \u201cI said that, and the buffalo turned around and ran up that hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what they say, that animals can understand our Native language, and we didn\u2019t get hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
In total, the encounter only slowed Potts-Joseph for less than an hour, according to GPS tracking data, which shows her team stopping on the trail around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, Potts-Joseph was running 33rd and last place while resting her team in McGrath, but no dogs were hurt in the experience.<\/p>\n
Potts-Joseph is also the mother of Quannah Chasinghorse, an Alaska Native model and influencer who has over half a million followers on her Instagram page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chasinghorse posted a video on her Instagram on Wednesday celebrating her mother\u2019s entry in the race, saying Potts-Joseph is the first musher of H\u00e4n Gwich\u2019in heritage to start the race.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n