OLAC Record oai:ahtnaheritagefoundation.com:OTHB01-0042-01

Metadata
Title:		Ruth Johns
Access Rights:		standard
Date:		1988-11-15
Description:		Ruth Johns, no Indian name, clan is Udzisyu. Where were you born? Copper Center, right next to village right by Tony and Mary Jackson's cabin. Between Lincoln's and Jackson's place. Near the old Church, two houses from Church. Born October 23, 1921. Who is your Father? Estaco Ewan, died at 42 years old. Where did you get his name? Indian name. His father was Old Ewan's brothers boy. Who was Old Ewan? He was Naltsiine. Do you know your Grandfathers name on your Dad's side? no Grandmother's name on your Dad's side? Was married to Tonsina Charley. Where was your Grandfather from? Upper Tonsina village. Where was your Grandmother from? Same area. What is your Mother's name? Maiden name was Jesse Charley. When was she born? April 1899 don't know exactly what day she was born. When did she die? December 14, 1946. Who was her father? Tonsina Charley. Some confusion on who was married to Tonsina Charley, it was her Grandma on her Mom's side. Who was your Grandfather from your Mother's side? Tonsina Charley. She had sister, Nelly Charley Underwood. Lena Horton is last surviving sister of that family. can you tell me what it was like as far back as you can remember where you hunted, trapped, and fished. Fished at C'ecengha. Seems like it mean like important place. Moved to C'ecengha when I was little girl. We used to go there summer time. Markle Pete's Dad and Mom lived there too. Mentasta Pete and Taha. Each family had their own fish wheel. 200 fish in one night. Fish instructions. Story about fish camp and shooting sheep. Mentasta Pete shoot the sheep. then they went to get the sheep. Brought it back over by raft. Had to slant their journey across and back across. Put up fish from July to August. No rest. Bale it up as they go. They tie it up with willow. they split the willow. 40 fish to a bale. They used to go hunting for birds by where Luebkes live right now in Copperville. Woodcamp family had about 4 or 5 families. Across the river was Chief Andrew's family. Did the fish camp sites get passed down to younger generations? I think so. Sharing was important when it came to food supply. Stayed in fish camp until late August. September they would go to hunting grounds for wild meat. Where did your family go to hunt? close to Klutina area. Tsesii bene'? Wherever we get moose by a lake we stay there and dry the meat. They used to bone the meat. dogs and people pack the meat. They cook the bone for soup and eat the marrow right at the camp. They stay there until the meat is all dry. Moose head they bone it. Where would they put the food? They have to pack it home. Never waste any meat or anything. How to make fish oil and how to use. After fall hunting season, it was time to get ready to move to trapping ground. Trap at Klutina rapids. Camp over across the river - In March we come back down and sell fur or trade it for grocery. What were the women's role? My Mother used to trap by the creek. Mother's were at home watching the kids. Raise the children. the men's role in hunting? Level of prestige. How people think of these men who hunt and trap. Were they thought of as high people? Some people were naturally bad luck, not very good at trapping. Some people just naturally get lots of furs. Tazlina Joe was known as a good trapper. Them days kids and everybody work. Cut wood and pile it up, run to the river and get water. Now the water is polluted. Summer used to boil the water. there was hardly any fat people, maybe just a couple because of health problems but everybody was skinny and tough. What kind of events might have helped speed up the change? I think the way I look at it is that during World War II, it brought a lot of money and a lot of people didn't go out trapping because they had jobs. People used to drink after that. Liquor really ruined our people. When did potlatch stop and then start up again? Early 1940's it stopped, younger boys got sent out to war. they had to learn different culture. they were different when they came back. How did you feel during World War II? Did you know that it was going to change? Yes. It was change just like overnight. We had to put up with the change. World War II there was no traffic, there was military vehicles with loads of stuff on it. We had to live with the change. It was a bad time for people when military was around. They abused little girls and women. We were scared to go on the road. Men went to bars after work, never came home. We were like prisoners of war. We couldn't even walk to the store without two or three people were with you. Soldiers would come to an isolated cabin with family in it and knock the door down. Were you able to talk to the people in charge of the army? Harry talked to some captain about what was happening in the villages. Do you think that is when people stopped the subsistence life? Because of the war, money, contracts, people were getting all kinds of money. Few years later a few people went back to trapping. Quite a big impact having the army here. How did people get back to Indian ways after the army camps left the area? It sort of left people pretty bad. there was hardly any jobs after the army left. It was hard for people to go back to normal life because they were alcoholics and all kinds of stuff. What is left our subsistence lifestyle today? Is it important for young people to learn? yes, there are some families that still live the subsistence lifestyle and they are teaching their kids. Brothers and sisters? Andy, Hector, Roy, Wilbur Joe, Evelyn Monroe, Joyce Kallander. Story of how she made a living for family while Harry was sick. Is the subsistence lifestyle important to you? Yes, if I could do it, I live it again. Is it important for community? yes it is. for the older people they want subsistence foods. the wild meat really helps people. . Language as given: aht
Format:		Digitised: 0; Media: compact cassette; Media description: Maxwell UR90
Identifier:		OTHB01-0042-01
Language:		Ahtena
		English
Language (ISO639):		aht
		eng
Subject:		Ahtena language
		English language
Subject (ISO639):		aht
		eng
OLAC Info
Archive:		C'ek'aedi Hwnax Ahtna Regional Linguistic and Ethnographic Archive
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/ahtnaheritagefoundation.com
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:ahtnaheritagefoundation.com:OTHB01-0042-01
DateStamp:		1988-11-15
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		n.a. 1988-11-15. C'ek'aedi Hwnax Ahtna Regional Linguistic and Ethnographic Archive.
Terms:		area_Americas area_Europe country_GB country_US iso639_aht iso639_eng
Inferred Metadata
Country:		United KingdomUnited States
Area:		AmericasEurope