UGNARAT NEQAIT-MOUSE FOOD

Fall is the season I start picking mouse foods. Most mouse food is found under the soft ground of the tundra. We have to step on the ground to try and find it. Three types of mouse food are: "UTNGUNGSAAT", "MARALLAT", AND "IITAT":

UUTNGUNGSAAT

We boil "UTNGNUNGSAAT" for awhile until they're soft. We eat them with seal oil. Eating them with seal oil will satisfy your stomach. Besides eating "UTNGUNGSAAT" with seal oil, we also can add tomcod eggs or liver to them. It is very tasty this way.

MARALLAT-YUPIK POTATOES

"MARALLAT" are Yupik potatoes that are also mouse food. We boil "MARALLAT" until they are soft just like we boil "UTNGUNGSAAT". After boiling them, we pour out the broth of the soup and eat the cooked "MARALLAT" in our bowls. We can eat them with dry fish or other Yupik food too. It tastes very good that way.

"IITAT" is another type of mouse food. They are long and dark in color. "IITAT" are eaten by mice but we also eat them because they are very nutritious. The Yupik people have eaten mouse food since long ago. First, we have to clean "IITAT" very good before cooking them, then we boil them. Then we cut them up and add them to salmon berries for akutaq. We also cook "IITAT" with tomcod livers and with other types of mouse food. We can also add them to seal meat. We start picking mouse food in the tundra in late September. And also in early October. Girls and women pick "IITAT". They dig them from the tundra and put them in their grass baskets. Only the women work with "IITAT". They boil them and other types of mouse food for lunch and supper. They make a delicious soup.

By Dick Bunyan

Alvin Owletuck Jr's summer vacation was about the same as every other summer.

He went logging below Vernon Evan's fish camp for two days in a row so he could get plenty of firewood.

After that he went spring camping at Owl Slough with Victor Shorty, Chris Fitka, Moses Duny, Willie Duny Jr. and his brother Robert. He also went subsistence fishing with Matthew, his nephew, so his mom and sisters could smoke dry fish for the winter.

When commercial fishing started on the 11th of June he fished with his nephew and helper, Matt. Alvin said, "I thought fishing was boring because the price of Kings and chums was low."

In mid-July he brought Pal, Grace, Annie, me and his sisters berry picking at Willow. He also went rod and reeling with his friends on Wilson and Willow creeks as well as at Kuik Lake and back on the Kuyukutuk River.

He also went bear hunting at Nooksook, which is in Owl Slough, with his brother George, Wes Pitka and Jerry Boliver.

Told by: Alvin Owletuck Jr.

Interviewed by: Olga Moxie

One day on a beautiful summer morning when I woke up everything was great for me. It was nice and quite and warm in the house, breakfast was on the table and still warm, and the sun was just coming out from behind the hills. I opened the curtains to get some light into the house and it felt so good to get up early and see the sun reflecting off the ponds of water and to see the swallows swoop through the air. As I sat down to eat my breakfast and watch the birds my mom woke up and said, "Good morning, boy!" She decided to have breakfast with me and told me about her dream. I found her dream pretty funny. As I enjoyed having a conversation with my mom, I decided to turn on some good slow country music. It made the whole morning even more relaxing. After I relaxed for a while I realized that I needed to do some cleaning outside the house. I went out to pick up a couple of pop cans and get some logs from the pile of wood.

When I went back into the house my mom was pretty upset. I asked her what was wrong, and she said that she just got a call, and dad was in jail! I didn't know what to say. I wanted to ask her if she could bail him out but then I knew she wouldn't because she was mad. But he was my dad and I didn't want him to stay in jail. He was shopping in Nome and I guess he just wandered off to a friend's place and decided to drink.

Not only did he get arrested for drinking, though. He also got arrested for criminal trespass and assault in the 4th degree. And this time my mom didn't want to put up with my dad's nonsense. She was tired of telling him not to do this and that, so she decided to divorce him. It really hurt me and my sisters because all our teen years they were the only family we had.

After my dad got out of jail, he came back home but never stayed with us again. My mom hated him for what he did. And she didn't want to go back to him again. Half a year later my dad moved somewhere else and we don't know where he is now. He still calls us to see how we're doing, though. And we still love him as our father, although in a way we hate both our parents for how they made us feel like we were no longer a family. Everything wasn't normal anymore the way it used to be. We just wished that we could reunite and go back to being a family again. It also made us so uncomfortable because everyone knew what had happened. It was hard to live without a father.

By: Jackie Paul George

In August of 1994, Bill and Nick Fitka, my mom, Carlie, Morgan and I traveled down to St. Mary's by boat. The weather was cloudy and the river was fairly calm on the way down. It was also sort of cold and we had to dress warmly. While we were there my mom and Nick planned to go shopping for things we can't normally get here in Marshall.

When we reached St. Mary's we went straight to John and Ruth Elia's where we warmed up a bit and had a bite to eat. After we ate we went to check both the AC store and Yukon Trader's. When we got all we needed, John Elia Jr. brought our boxes down to the boat which was parked by the barge landing.

Just as we were leaving St. Mary's the weather began to change and it got windy and rough on the river. The waves got bigger and the air felt a little warmer. It got even worse out on the Yukon River. There the waves were really huge. My mom put life jackets on Carlie and Morgan, and I also put mine on. I was very worried and scared for my mom, though, because she didn't have a life preserver.

Another boat passed us but it too was going very slowly. Even though we were only going about 10 mph, I told my mom to tell Bill to slow down because I was really scared. Every time we hit a wave the water splashed so high over the edges of the boat we couldn't see through it.

When we reached the point by Pilot Station the river got calmer and the waves were a lot smaller, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the way home it was much better, and even though it was cloudy and it rained a little, I was happy to make it home without any more problems.

Patrick Coffee was born on November 19, 1967, here in Marshall, Alaska. He grew up in Marshall and graduated from high school. He has been working for United Utilities since April 1, 1991, and plans to work as long as possible. He likes his job because it is part-time and he can go anywhere whenever he wants to. He didn't get any training before he got his job. After he got his job he learned basic first-aid, phone line installation, and how to climb telephone poles. The best thing he likes about his job is when he has no service orders. The worst is when he has to climb up and down the poles.

Jonathan Boots

As I watch the sea
It brings great joy to me.
It makes me feel so free,
and full of glee.

Well, I guess thats it for me!

No, I'm kidding, or
Is it that I'm dreaming?

The sea has such great meaning
to me --

It makes me feel proud
like yelling out loud
thank you Lord
for the great sea!

Matilda Kasayuli

"One summer day, I drove my uppa Alexander up to his fish camp, which is located above Ohogamiut just below Charlie Boot's camp. Before we took off I called Maurice and Jonathan Nick to ask them to come with us because we would need help doing some things that would take a long time to do with only two people there. After we got ready we went down to the boat and took off.

On our way upriver, I wanted to pick up some driftwood, but each time I slowed down to check some out, my uppa would tell me to keep on going. Before we got to Ohogamiut the river started to get rough, and I stopped for a while so everyone could put on their warmer clothes and rain coats. When we started to go upriver again I noticed that the waves were getting bigger and bigger. So my uppa told me to go closer to the bank and to slow the engine down.

As we neared his fish camp, we stopped to look for a good place to set a fish net. When we found the right spot, we then looked for a big float for the end of the net.

After setting the net, we continued on to the fish camp where we unloaded the boat. While Jonathan, Maurice and I were unloading, my uppa started cooking something to eat. After unloading the boat, I took a walk down the beach to where the net was to tie the rope a little tighter. By the time I returned to fish camp I was ready to eat. After eating we all headed home."

By: Dennis Isaac

Uqvataaraq
Spirea
Spirea beauvardiana

Found They are found up on the hills.

Edible No.

Preparation and Use The smoke is used for killing insects and to keep them away at camp

Credit: Alice Amukon

Interviewed by: Barbara Hunter

Uqvvikaq
Willow
Salix pulchra

Found They are found on the arctic tundra and along the mountains.

Edible Yes.

Preparation & Use In the early spring they are picked and put in seal oil for any length of time till they want to eat them. They are eaten with dried meat.

Credit Dorothy Kasayuli

Interviewed by Bruno K.