Photos related to Ann Edwards and Elma Sam
Ann Edwards
Ann Edwards is an Inupiaq elder from Alatna, Alaska. Ann was born in Alatna to Oscar and Cora Tobuk Nictune. Her sisters include Elma Sam, Kitty David, and Bertha Moses. Ann grew up living a subsistence lifestyle moving from camp to camp with the seasons and speaking her Native language. Her father was a particularly well-known and widely-liked elder on the Koyukuk River. She and her five sisters and two brothers grew up (another brother and sister died as young children) spending a lot of time camping away from the village. Her father and both sets of her grandparents had camps up the Alatna River. As long as her mother was living, they did not spend a lot of time in town. When her mother died in 1942, her father took a job with the Public Health Service, and traveled widely throughout the state, encouraging people in Native communities to adopt more sanitary ways of living, so she and her siblings worked together to keep the family going. She learned many skills like cooking, sewing, hunting, fishing, and berry picking. Ann married Jimmy Edwards and they had eleven children. At the time of her 1992 interview, Jimmy Edwards was no longer living, but Ann lived quietly in her tidy cabin in Alatna.
Elma Sam
Elma Sam is an Inupiaq elder from Alatna, Alaska. She is the eldest daughter of Oscar and Cora Tobuk Nictune. Her sisters include Ann Edwards, Kitty David, and Bertha Moses. Elma grew up living a subsistence lifestyle moving from camp to camp with the seasons and speaking her Native language. Her father and both sets of her grandparents had camps up the Alatna River. When her mother died in 1942, she and her siblings worked together to keep the family going while her father took a job with the Public Health Service and traveled widely throughout the state. In this way, Elma learned many skills such as cooking, sewing, hunting, fishing, berry picking, and caring for her younger siblings. Elma married Frank Sam and they had nine children. Her husband also had two children with his previous wife, Blanche Henry, who died.