When Angeline Said Her Prayers

In August, two years ago, Angeline, Fran and Garrett took off from Marshall in pretty windy weather to go berry picking over at Cugataluq, a berry picking spot across from Pilot Station. It was pretty scary traveling in an empty boat because the boat would rock and splash a lot harder than usual. Outside of Marshall it was fairly choppy but as they progressed down the Yukon the waves started getting bigger and bigger.

When they got down around half-way cabin the waves were really big and they thought about waiting out the wind for awhile in a little slough. But Angeline was more scared of a bear than the waves, so they took their chance crossing the Yukon to get to the short cut slough that leads to Pilot Station. In the open water the boat rolled with the waves, and this made Angeline and Fran really scared. Every time the boat was pulled up by a wave she would say a prayer, but she was too scared to finish the prayer. Slowly but surely, though, they crossed the Yukon, and after what seemed to be an eternity, they finally reached the slough on the other side.

When they got to Pilot Station it was still kind of rough on the Yukon. Since they had to stop there to pick up Unis Nick and some of her kids, they decided to wait at Pilot Station for about two hours before continuing on down to Cugataluq. By then the river had calmed down and they could relax for a change.

By: Angeline Coffee

Interviewed by: Fred Alstrom