"This summer it was too dry. Whenever we went by boat to pick berries the tundra was very crunchy. The only berries we found were along the river or in the trees. On July 5th we went camping to pick salmon berries. Paul brought me, Ruth, Daisy, Vivian and Bub to our favorite spot. It was hot the next day and Ruth and I didn't go very far. Paul and Daisy came back with lots of berries. The rest of us were waiting for them in the boat. Ruth kept on killing hornets there. I think she killed over 30. The hornets and mosquitoes were very bugging.

A couple of weeks after that, Barbie asked me to go with her on her 4-wheeler, and we took off up the new road they are building for the dump. Lena and Augusta were ahead of us. Near the second creek there were some salmon berries, but across the creek there were more. Good thing the others didn't have rubbers because they couldn't follow me across. As soon as I got across my bucket filled fast. I picked more berries than when I went camping, and only in three hours.

The day the firefighters left, Barbie asked me to go picking on her 4-wheeler again. We went almost to Pilcher's Knee. Guess who our leader was?--Camille and Agnes on a sno-go. They went really fast and they looked like they didn't bounce as much as we did. After a couple of hours we had coffee, roasted meat, dry fish and spam on crackers. It was good. Then we went up even further. The spring time snogo trail was where we found lots of big salmon berries and really big blue berries. Next year I would like to go up there again.

Next year I plan to be even busier because now I have a pressure cooker and more freezer space."

By: Olga Soolook
Interview by: Rose Fitka