Alaskan Bush People premiered last night (Wednesday, December 4) on the Discovery Channel for another season of the adventures of the Brown family.
According to Discovery, Alaskan Bush People Season 11 follows the family confronting the challenges of establishing a new Browntown on their new North Star Ranch in the mountains of Washington State.
The Brown family moved from Browntown, Alaska, to Washington State last year. Fans learned in the Season 8 premiere that the Browns were forced to leave the Alaskan bush after the family matriarch Ami Brown was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.
If you’ve been wondering why the family left Browntown in the Alaskan Bush and moved to Washington State, here is what you need to know.
Why did the Brown family leave Alaska?
Originally, Browntown was near Hoonah in Alaska. It consisted of a cluster of homes the “Wolfpack” built using materials they obtained from the Alaskan wilderness where they were living off the grid.
"Browntown is where the Browns are." ❤️#AlaskanBushPeople pic.twitter.com/1OuuLSuvwd
— Alaskan Bush People (@AlaskanBushPPL) August 18, 2018
However, they were forced to pack their belongings and move after Ami received her cancer diagnosis in April 2017.
Initially, they moved into a luxury mansion in Beverly Hills, California, near the UCLA Medical Center, where Ami was receiving treatment for cancer. She was later declared cancer-free after receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
In an interview with Monsters and Critics in August 2018, the family explained they could not return to the bush due to Ami’s health.
Ami’s doctors advised the family to not return to the Alaskan bush because it was too remote. They encouraged them to move to a place where she would have access to medical facilities and services she might need at short notice.
The doctors said she would need to live close to medical experts who can monitor her health and ensure her cancer does not relapse.
The family currently lives on their North Star Ranch property in Washington state.
“We didn’t really have much choice in how we decided. The doctors were quite emphatic that we couldn’t go back there [the Alaskan bush], it was just too hard to get her to… to set up something she would need if something happened,” Billy told Monsters and Critics.
Alaskan Bush People airs on Wednesdays at 8/7c on Discovery Channel.