The Here and Now

For a class I am taking I had to interview an elder.
Ask her what her youth was like.


I spoke to Maggie, an elder in Kasigluk. She spoke to me about the way life was in this village when she was younger and the way things have changed.

Maggie was raised in Kasigluk and went to the BIA school, which now is the teacher housing build that I live in.

Maggie:
- Is the second oldest of her siblings.
- Grew up in this village.
- Went to the BIA school (that building is currently teacher housing)
- Is the aunt and grandmother to several of my students.

When Maggie was younger:

- They used a dog sled to travel everywhere.
- They did not have T.V., lights, gas or oil heating.
- They used a wooden stove to heat the building. It was very cold in the morning and it was her job to stoke the stove to heat up the house.
- The curfew was at 9 o’clock. She was always afraid of getting caught by the police. Because they would come around, from house to house at curfew, checking to see that everyone is at home.
- People used to help each other. They would go from house to house cleaning, doing laundry, and helping. They would never ask for money. Now people don’t help each other. They always ask for money.
- The school was only one room and taught 30-40 students.
- She would go berry picking after school and would go on overnight trips to pick berries.
- She did not have homework. She would get all her work done before leaving the building.
- After school they would go skating on the pond behind our village.
- There was no clinic, only health aids.
- She was scared of the teachers and the elders. Even today she gets nervous when the principal calls or when she has to talk to teachers.
- You did not talk when an elder was talking. You respected them and listened to them.
- Her father would go hunting for days at a time. He would check the traps and bring home otter, beaver, and mink.