In June, my mom went up to her fish camp with her family and a few of her nephews to clean up her fish camp and put in a stove. While she was cleaning up her fish camp it started hailing, then it snowed--a very wet snow. After her fish camp was all cleaned up my dad went out drifting so she would have some fish to cut.

She also had to help my dad and Everett commercial fish. The first fishing opening was twelve hours long, from six o'clock p.m. to six o'clock a.m. Everett got cold and hungry so they had to quit at four o'clock. After fishing was over for the summer she went back to fish camp and made dry fish and half-dried fish. When they were done she'd put away eighteen one gallon zip lock bags.

Then in the middle of July she had to go back to work at the City Office where she worked as a bingo clerk or subbed for Ann Fitka. Then on July 31, she was very excited about me being in labor. After she found out I had a baby boy, she couldn't wait until we came home. Now that we are back she is very attached to her grandson.

After my son and I came back, about a week later Florence and her family went to Black River to pick salmon berries. The people who went were her husband Joe, her son Tyrone, her mom Anna Polty, her nephew Paul Meyers, and Nastasia Edwards from Pilot Station. It took them about eight hours to reach Alakanuk and two hours to reach Black River. While they were there all they did was pick berries for four days.

On their way up from Alakanuk it took them longer to get home because they kept on hitting sand bars.

By: Florence Peter

Interview by: Tanya Peter