Madeline Bifelt talks with Wendy Arundale about...

1) ...her background and the subsistence cycle in time past born--Allakaket, August 27, 1926\ father--trapping, hunting, fishing\ school--little time for; 4th grade\ snaring--rabbits, ptarmigan\ wood cutting\ hauling--ice\ family--six girls, four boys\ mother--died at forty\ summer--fish camp\ Allakaket\ Old Man Creek--whitefish\ grandfather--Bergman, Billy\ fish traps\ moose--lack of\ skins\ fall--moving\ Twelve Mile\ winter--trapping, hunting, visiting town for Christmas\ game--marten, lynx, wolf, mink, fox\ fur--scarcity|

2) ...winter survival skills and occasional access to school snaring--fence for rabbits\ rabbits\ spring poles\ winter--move out thirty miles toward Tanana\ dogteam--seven dogs\ snowshoes\ beaver--till March\ Old Man Creek--beginning of April\ town--school\ teacher\ Kay, Miss Bessie\ Hill, Miss|

3) ...hunting for muskrats and other subsistence activities at spring camp spring camp\ Tsaalaatna\ dog sled--hauled boat over\ Yukon Sled\ hunting--by canoe\ muskrat--walking, with dogs\ animals--changed, used to stay away from villages\ trapping--open top of house, cover with moss\ spring--leave May 25th\ Old Man Creek--beautiful river, fun going down river|

4) ...summer camp at Old Man Creek boat--sixteen foot wooden\ whipsawing lumber\ boat--caulking\ hauling--dogs, dried meat, family, tent, Yukon stove\ camps--other families\ Tsaalaa Kkaakk'at--translation "mouth"\ mouth--tsaalaa kkaakk'at\ Tsaalaatna\ Bergman, Billy and Ceza--grandparents\ David, Eva\ mother--David David's\ Koyukuk, Annie and Jimmy\ Koyukuk, Grafton and Agnes\ Chief Henry and Grandma Bessie\ Moses--Henry and Lucy\ parents--Tony Moses\ Tsaalaatna|

5) ...sickness and the death of her sister flu--age fourteen\ Isabel--sister\ Todaalltonh Dinh\ infection--ear\ meningitis--sister died, eleven years old\ William, Uncle Joe\ funeral--preparation; coffin, clothes|

6) ...working on the boats in summer Evans, Wilfred--dad worked for\ sawmill\ Koyukuk River\ Allakaket\ Evans, Wilfred--married Clara Tobuk\ Tobuk, Clara\ children--still live upriver\ Evans, Nelson\ Stevens, Jeannie\ Evans, Wilfred Jr.\ Evans, Gerald--Fairbanks\ Mary--Kenai\ Josephine--California\ boat--IMP|

7) ...her father working up around Bettles Bettles--store\ Dubin, Sam\ Allakaket\ Alatna\ store--burned\ Bergman, Uncle Steven\ fire--uncle dies, Sam Dubin badly injured\ fall--woodcutting near Bettles\ James, Les--Hughes\ Koyukuk--hauling freight\ sawmill\ construction\ father--he stayed in Hughes every summer, we stayed in camp|

8) ...growing up and the devastation of tuberculosis along the River mother--died when Madeline was eighteen\ Sam, Harding--husband\ husband--died of TB while she was carrying daughter Isabel\ Cue--Madeline's husband, met him\ tuberculosis--people didn't know what it was\ sisters--died of tuberculosis\ Hill, Miss--good nurse\ Tanana\ treatment--scarce until 1950's\ tuberculosis--Cue had it, spent 14 months outside\ Seattle\ Anchorage\ children--seven\ Williams, Susie--adopted one of her children\ welfare--$210 per month\ Mark, Laura\ Bifelt, Cue--husband\ treatment--many went outside for\ John, Grandma Molly--Sitka\ Angeline--Sitka\ Vent, Mary--Tanana|

9) ...learning crafts such as sewing, beadwork, tanning sewing\ beadwork--mustn't waste\ Henry, Alda--beadwork; changed name to Alda Frank\ Twelve Mile--camp below\ thread--unraveling towels for\ mother--skin sewing; moose and caribou\ hides\ tanning--process of, taking up to one month|

10) ...changes in technology and lifeway clothing--today traditional little used, mostly sold\ trapper's hats\ change--most apparent since 1960's\ sewing machines\ sinew--replaced\ twine\ dental floss\ Yukon stove--replaced\ propane stove\ hot plates\ microwaves\ children--today bored, life is too easy\ advice--lots of work to do if you want to|