ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | Exhibit
List
| PDF Version
ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
HEARING
Nome, ALASKA
SEPTEMBER 21, 1992
Frieda Larsen
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Maybe what we'll
do is we'll take about a seven-minute break around -- oh, have
we got another?
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Frieda was here.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Frieda? Oh, great. Okay. Good. Let's hear from Frieda.
Frieda Larsen? (Pause.) Go ahead.
MS. LARSEN: I come to say my
piece, 'cause I was so unhappy last few years when we couldn't
do no fishing and we had to pay $7
for a dry fish. I had to pay some dry fish for $7 apiece. I'm
a widow, but I -- as long as I have $7, I bought some, until
I learned the dried fish in Teller are even cheaper than that
$7, so I had to take a trip to Teller to buy some bundle from
Teller. And this summer I was just talking to ladies at the senior
center over here a while ago, a lot of them -- the few that went
fishing this summer made their own dried fish. They felt so relaxed
they say, cause knowing that they won't buy that expensive dry
fish.
And so I would like to see that subsistence be
like before, not to stop us from fishing, 'cause us elder people
don’t
have no strength to go out to the sea to set a great big, long
net.
I know I couldn't do it. But when they give us this summer a
chance to fish in the river, I go on and go fishing and feel
good about it. And the ladies that was talking with me in the
center while ago said:
"I hope we still have subsistence given
to us - every summer, 'cause those rivers won't get empty."
They
don't get empty before we become a statehood. We fish every summer.
Lots of it. Lot of people don’t have no dogs now
to feed the dogs, and we just want to get it for -- enough for
ourselves. This summer we got enough -- I know I just made --
I just get -- filled my fish rack. That’s enough for me.
I just watch the river -- all black river go to the river. We
get that way. We don't waste the food.
And like Margaret was
telling, few days ago I had problem with one of nu -- one of
my relatives staying with me, and give me
kind of bad time about -- perfectly abusing me about the liquor.
I don't drink. I never play with alcohol all my life, and I have
problem with one of my nephew bringing in by hiding some liquor
into my house; bringing in some that other funny -- they smoke
-- what's the stuff they smoke? I can smell it, and yet he tried
to say he didn't. I could smell it. I told him I could smell
it. I find two bottles of beer in my house, too. I spilled them,
'cause I don't want that. We don’t do that. I know they
do that, 'cause I can notice sober man and drinking man, too.
I told them:
"The face of the person is bare. We don't
have fur on our face. It shows."
So I said:
"I wish you don’t do that anymore."
I have him in my house, because he didn't have
no home to go to; but I finally got
wise, and I court ordered him other day. Now I feel relaxed. And this
why we have to -- I wish they would do something about that,
you know, because it give us lots of heartache, lots of abuse;
and we can raise cain with them until they're sober. Then
I was really scold him the next day for what's he trying to do.
So
when I finally got it fixed where he can't come into my house
unless he made up his mind he's not going to drink anymore,
he hides it. Only thing I could help you now, you go to alcoholic
center, get yourself dried up, then I might welcome you home
again. Lots of -- it's not only me that's abused by alcohol
from their relatives. That's very bad in this Nome, Alaska. A lot
of us Natives are having lots of heartaches from our -- my
kids -- my three kids -- my two girls never do that, and my boy, he
used to do that before -- when he was young kid, but he get
kind of bad, but he don't do it all the time. I'm glad he's not doing
it anymore, and that relieves me from my worries. Lot of
us is worried about those things. About how some part of their
family
going to come home. And I wish they would do something about
that. That's one thing that abuse so many Native people up
here -- the oldsters from their kids.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Okay. So it sounds
like maybe this abuse of alcohol and then the-- side effects
of it is not being
taken care of adequately by state or federal agencies or maybe community,
local?
MS. LARSEN: Sometimes it look like that (laughing),
you know, yeah.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: And then do you -- can
you see some kind of a tribal -- within your own people how
we can
maybe resolve
it?
MS. LARSEN: I just don't have no idea how they
would resolve it, 'cause lots of parents --
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK:
It's --
MS. LARSEN: -- trying to help.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK:
-- it's -- to me, it sounds like it's a problem not --
MS. LARSEN: Yeah, it's very --
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: -- being solved
by society.
MS. LARSEN: Uh-huh (affirmative). I think if
they think of something to kind of try
and solve that,
to even
help, lots
more parents
would be helped.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK:
Yeah, yeah,
MS. LARSEN: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Okay.
MS. LARSEN: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Thanks.
COMMISSIONER ELLIOTT:
Do you have any Spirit Camps, such as Minto
has in the Interior,
which is for
the treatment
of those
who
are suffering from alcohol
--
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Civunelmic
(ph.) -- like Civunelmic
(ph.) --
COMMISSIONER ELLIOTT: --
or trying to combat it.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: -- or have you heard
of Civunelmic
(ph.)?
MS. LARSEN:
Yes, I think they have them
here.
I wish they
would have
a little
bit more,
you know.
(Laughing.)
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Yeah, okay. Thanks.
COMMISSIONER ELLIOTT:
Uh-huh (affirmative).
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Could
we take maybe
about an
eight-minute
break,
and I think
we, got
all of them
(indiscernible).
MR. FAGERSTROM: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK:
Thanks, Robert.
(Off record.)
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every
attempt to keep the online document the same as the original,
including the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
