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Ben Nungasak, Interview 1, Part 1
Ben Nungasak

Ben Nungasak (Nuŋŋasauraq) was interviewed on March 15, 1982 by Bill Schneider and Wendy Arundale at his home in Barrow, Alaska (now known as Utqiaġvik) for the Chipp-Ikpikpuk and Meade Rivers Oral History Project. Alice Solomon was the Iñupiaq language translator during the interview. In this first part of a two part interview, Ben talks about growing up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle based upon hunting, trapping, fishing, and seasonal movements, his work history, and camps he remembers on the Meade River. He also talks about place names and describes their locations while looking at a map. (IHLC Tape #00052)

Ben Nungasak spoke in Iñupiaq during the interview. The transcript contains the spoken Iñupiaq written out and its corresponding English translation, both provided by Kathy Itta (now Ahgeak).

After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.

Sections

His early life with his mother and how his uncle taught him to hunt and to trap when Ben was young. 

The route he and his uncle traveled from Barrow to the Colville River.

His marriage and how he started trapping and trading to make a living when his uncle could no longer hunt.

Subsistence hunting and how people moved seasonally in order to make a better living.

How he worked for the Navy for 30 years and how being employed changed how he got food for his family. Once he had money, he bought meat and fish rather than hunting and fishing for them himself. 

Camps he remembers on the Meade River from when he was a boy.

Names of fishing camps from Atqasuk on up the river. 

More place names and more detailed descriptions of some of the locations mentioned before as they all look at a map. 

Click play, then use Sections or Transcript to navigate the interview.

After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.

Transcript

Bill: This is Bill Schneider with Wendy Arundale, March 15, 1982 and we're going to talk a little bit with Ben Nungasak about his experiences through the years, particularly with reference to the Meade River and Ikpikpak, maybe, and Alice Solomon is going to help us with the translating. So Ben, when you first could remember, where were you living at that time? Ben: I was born in Barrow. Bill: Ah. Ben: Check your tape. Bill: You were born here? Do you remember what year that was? Ben: 1913. Bill: 1913. Ben: 1913. I'm sixty-eight years old now. Bill: Gee, you don't look that old. (Chuckles.) Ben: What I'm going to say, my language? Bill: Right. Okay. Ben: Uvaŋauvva Nuŋŋasak ukuak tannak qaiñiqsuk tape-mun uvaŋa nipiga pituquvlugu, iñuuniaġnipkulli iñuguqsaġataqamaqaŋa. Uvva aññaġa piqatigivlugu Alice uvani kasumarugut. Aasiiñ iñuguġataġniqamali atchagalu Aalaak taapkualu iliḷgaaŋi aakagalu iñuuniaġuraġuumaruk atautchimi tainna tuvaaqtitiŋli piiġmata iñuuniaġniksraġli siġḷiġnaipayaaq aummatiksraq ivaġnaŋŋaan iñuuniuraġuuniqsuk. Taapkualu aññaatka aġnaqatiitkalu imma piqatigivlugich. Aasiiḷi iñuguqama piḷḷasiuraqama aŋaaluŋma aullatiaqsiñiġaaŋa. Aŋuniaġuuvluni iḷisautirraqsimmaŋa aasiiñ iñuguqama tavrali uvapkun piñiurallasiaqsikama isummatiqarraqsiŋaruŋali tainnali uvapkun aullatiksramnik makuniŋa iluaqutigisuuŋaraŋiññik qimmiñik kipiġniugaqsiŋaruŋa. Aasiiñ kiisaimmaa taima naniġiaqtuġniġli uvapkun aularraqsiŋavaġa. Tamarra iḷisausiapkun naniġiaqtuġniqsuli tainna atuġaluaġmiḷḷaan aŋuniaġnikulli sunik iluaqutiksrauruanik tuttutigullu makunuuna iḷisautisuugaaŋa iñuguqtiqama. Tamarralu upinġaksraġman tamaani April-May, aġviġich qaimmata paaniitkaluaqamiŋ ukiupak naniġiaqtuġniḷukhuni aŋaaluŋma pituġautisuugaatigut aġvaŋniaqtuanun niŋġniuraġiaqsaqhutiŋ tamarra maliqquutisuuruŋa. (I am Nuŋŋasak, and these two Caucasians have come, wanting me to attach my voice to the tape, on my way of life ever since I started growing up. We are meeting here together with my cousin Alice. When I was growing up, my aunt, Aalaak, along with her children and my mother used to make their living together after their husbands had passed away, looking for a way of life that was not as difficult, when fuel for warmth used to require searching. I grew up together with my cousins. And when I grew up and was able to do some things on my own, I found that my uncle was leading me. When he started teaching me, he was a hunter himself, and as I grew up and started to be able to do some things on my own, I began to have the determination that I would hunt in this way, that I would need my own dogs to travel with, and began to want my own dogs. (Section missing.) And then finally, I was able to handle trapping on my own. Although I trapped as I had been taught, he would also show me how to hunt for other necessities of life such as caribou as I was growing up. Also in the spring after trapping inland all winter, my uncle would take us cross country through the streams and rivers to the whaling camps to try and get a share.) Alice: The first part was: he was talking about his early childhood when...the time he can remember. See, he was talking about his mother and my mother were second cousins. And he was telling about how it was easier for his mother and my mother to live together, try to support the family, easier for them to live together because of energy, you know burning... We didn't have any gas or anything. They burned blubber and fuel, driftwood, so they get whatever they can get together and live that way for awhile. And then he said that later on, when he was able to go out with his uncle---but I don't know how old he was---then his uncle started teaching him how to trap for foxes during winter and also how to hunt for caribou. They would go up inland out of town to do that. And he said he started trying to get dogteam for himself so he could go out hunting with them. He went to the point where after staying up inland through the winter, then they returned to Barrow in April, time for whale hunting. That's when I stopped it. Wendy: Okay. Bill: What was your uncle's name? Ben: Amos Ekosik. (Iñupiaq spelling Ikusik.) Alice: E-K-O-S-I-K. (Ekosik) Wendy: Amos.... Ben: Ekosik. Wendy: Ekosik. Bill: Ekosik. Ben: Uh-huh. Bill: And where did he take you when you went trapping with him? Ben: Oh, up inland Isuqtuq, along side that Meade River. That's where he used to hunt to feed the dogs or us. Lot of hunting for fish, caribou. Bill: If you want to talk in Iñupiaq, that's fine. If it's easier. Ben: Okay. Bill: Where did he go on the Isuqtuq? Where did you go with him on the Isuqtuq? What were some of the places you went through up there, trapping, when you were a small boy? Alice: Suqpani Isuqtum piani uvvakii quliaqtuguvlugi nunaurat ullaktatin pigai. (Whereabouts by Isuqtuq, he wants you to name the places where you went.) Sumi aŋuniaqtilaavsiññi. (Where you went hunting.) Ben: Iḷitchuġiŋarugut ataataruatchiaq Kuutchiuraq piqatigisuugaa aŋaaluŋma tatpuŋa nunanmun aullaġumaatchiqami taamaani samma 1927. Aasiiñ iḷisagvigiqqaaġługu aullaqhuta tamattumuŋa Isuqtumun. (We realized that he would go with an old man, Kuutchiuraq, when he would decide to go inland, around 1927. And after learning from him, we left to Isuqtuq.) Alice: When his uncle Amos Ekosik first started going up inland he had an older man with him, Kuutchiuraq, with him and went up with them and later on he started going by himself, I mean his uncle and then Ben Nungasak started going with him around 1927 with his uncle to Isuqtuq. That's part of it. Bill: Where did Kuutchiuraq and your uncle go up there? Ben: That old man he used to live in here before, before I was born, I guess.

Bill: Yes. But when you went inland, to the Isuqtuq River? Ben: Yeah. Yeah. About twenty, twenty-five miles from Atqasuk. Wendy: Uh-huh Bill: Do you remember the names of the places up there? Ben: Anauliġiaq. Wendy: Anauliġiaq? Ben: Anauliġiaq. Alice: Anauliġiaq. a-n-a-u-l-i-ġ-i-a-k, I think. May be spelled different. Ben: Okay? Aasiñ iḷisaġvigiqqaaqługu taġraġutiaqsivḷuta. Tatpaaniasii ukiivḷuta naniġiiqsivik tikiḷġataqtillugu. Aasiiñ naniġiiqsianiŋmata pituġaqsaqhutik. Tavra. (Anauliġiaq. And after learning from him he began to take us upriver by boat. We would go all the way up to Anauliġiaq, going in through the Meade River and to the Isuqtuq. We would then winter up there until we had finished trapping. After they removed their traps, then we would travel back cross country through streams and rivers.) Alice: He said after going with that old man, then, him, and his uncle started going up the river during the fall and passed through Isuqtuq and by Meade River, and then spend the winter up there 'til springtime. Ben: Iñuuniaġaluaqapta tamaani, qavsiñi samma tagraaġaqtuq aŋaaluga tainna tiġiganniatigun iñuuniḷuutigaatigut, piññaŋniuraqhuni. Piŋasuiqsuaqhutaluuññii tagrautiraġaġaatigut tatpauŋa Isuqtumun Anauliġiamun. Tavra. (We lived here, my uncle traveled upriver by boat several times, trapping foxes, sustaining us as best he could in that manner trying to provide for us. He must have taken us upriver like that about three times, to Isuqtuq, to Anauliġiaq.) Alice: He said he must have gone up with them three times, he remembers going up with the skinboat, up the rivers to Anauliġiaq, and that's when he goes up to trap for foxes to make a living on it. Ben: Aasiiñ iḷaanni aqulliġñiisaaġmatkiaq tiġiganniaq akitchuqhuni. Tavra pisuqsipayaaŋaruq iñuuniaġniŋaniñ aŋaaluŋma siqpaksraġauranikami. Iñuuniaġniqput iluaqsipayaaġmatun piŋaruq. (And then sometime, I think when it was his last time he was able to go up, the price of the foxes went up. The quality of life improved since my uncle's life, when he was able to get a few things. Our way of life seemed to get better.) Alice: And then about the last time, about the last time they would be going up, the price of the fox pelts had gone up a little, and that made it easier for the family to make a living when the price of the pelts went up about the last time they made a trip up inland. Ben: Aasii iḷaanni upinġisimmigaatigut tatpaani Quaqqani. Colville. 1937. Sunali taimma isumagivlugu tatpaaniirrutiŋavatigut. Aasiiñ kaaksiuŋitchugut qimmivullu niqaiḷḷiuŋitchut taimani. (And then sometime we spent the summer up there at Quaqqat. On the Colville, in 1937. I don't know what he was thinking about or what his purpose was when he took us up there for the summer. We did not go hungry, and our dogs had plenty to eat in those days.) Alice: And at least he spent one summer with them up Colville River. And they had enough for the dogs and themselves when they spent the summer up there. Enough caribou, fish, enough of those. Bill: Enough of...? Alice: Enough caribou, fish, enough of those, caribou, fish. Bill: One other quick question. How did you get to the Colville River? Ben: By dog team. Bill: From...? Ben: In spring, from here. Bill: From Meade River? Ben: No. From here. Barrow. Bill: Yeah. You left here... Ben: From Barrow up to the Colville. Bill: To the mouth of the Colville? Ben: Yes. Bill: To Niġliq? Ben: We had crossed that Colville. They used to use lower mountains they call them Quaqqat. Quaqqat taisuunikkaŋit taapkua salliit iġġiaġruit. (They called these the front lower mountains or foothills Quaqqat.) Alice: There are some hills or not really mountains somewhere up Colville River and that's where they went. And they are called Quaqqat. Quaqqat? Ben: Hmm. Quaqqaniñ five, six miles-kiaq samma uŋasiksigiruq. Taapkua Quaqqat... (It is about five or six miles from Quaqqat. Those Quaqqat...) Alice: Sumiñ? Sumiñ uŋasiksigirut, Colville-miñ? (From where? Where are they that far from, from the Colville?) Ben: Colville. Alice: He said Quaqqat is about five or six miles from Colville. Those hills or something. Bill: I just need a clarification on...You left Barrow and did you go along the coast to the Colville, or did you leave Barrow and go up the river and up the river and over to the Colville? Alice: Qanuq uvva takpauŋa tikiñmaġaavsi iḷisimasuktuq. Mauna siñaaguaqqaaqhusi naakka kuuk tuvraqlugu. Qanupiaq tatpauŋa tikiñmagaavsi iḷisimasuktuq. (He wants to know how you got up there. Either through the coastline or by following the river. He wants to know exactly how you got up there.) Ben: In 1930. After we finish that living in that Isuqtuq. And then... Alice: Qanuqhusi tatpauŋaqpisi? (How did you go up there?) Ben: Uniaġaqłuta upinġaksrami. (With dogsled, in the springtime.) Alice: They went up with dogteam in the springtime. Ben: In May. Last part of May. Bill: From Isuqtuq? Ben: No. From here. We start from here. Utqiaġvik. By dogteam. And then we go on up there to Colville by dogteam. 1937. Bill: Tell me the places you passed on your way up there. I'm still trying to get at how they got to the Colville. Wendy: The route. Alice: Apqutiksigguuq inaurrallu suurat tikitchasi nalauttasi tatpiuŋallavsi quliaqtuqugaluaġai, nunaurat, atiŋich nalautchaaqtavsi. (He would like for you to tell the names of the places that you went by, your trail.) Ben: Aullaqikapta Atqasuŋmiñ. (We started from Atqasuk.) Atqasuk nalaułługu. (Going through Atqasuk.) Alice: He went to Atqasuk. Ben: Piqsaġniq nalaułługu. (Going through Piqsaġniq.) Alice: Piqsaġniq. Ben: Those place are locations, call it Piqsaġniq and Saaŋiaq. (Alice, Wendy, and Ben repeat the same place.) Ben: That's part of the Meade River. Bill: I'm making a list of these places to ask you to maybe try to locate on the map. Ben: Aasiuvva tatpikani Tuqsruŋmi Annaqaaŋulutkut, Annaqaaŋulutkuk iñuuŋŋaaŋnik. Tuqsruŋmi utaqqirugut, Annaqaaŋulutkuk utaqqigaluaqługik. Aasiiñ qaiŋiñmata augutiriuññaaqsimmatigut tatpauŋaqapta tamarra nalautchaaqługich Saġvaiḷaġlu Nappaaqtallaglu nalautchaaqługich tamanna Kaŋianiq tikiñŋagikput. (And then up there at Tuqsruk, we waited for Annaqaaŋuluk-and -one-other and when they didn't come, when it started melting on us, when we went up, we went by Saġvaiḷaq and Nappaaqtallak, and we reached Kaŋianiq.) Alice: Around..when they went up in the spring they stayed around Saaŋiaq, passed Saaŋiaq, and they waited for a family from Wainwright to come up there, Jack Annaqaq, and when they didn't show up they started going to their destination. The snow was melting and they passed through Saġvaiḷiq...(Alice, Wendy, and Ben repeat place name.) Ben: And Tuqsruuk..Tulugaq taiŋiññiġiga. (I didn't say Tulugaq.) Alice: He didn't mention Tulugaq. Wendy: Tulugaq. Ben: We go past through there too. Tavra. Okay. Quaqqani tavrani upinġirugut all summer. Upinġaaq naałługu. Alice: They stayed at Quaqqat all summer. Ben: Quaqqat attaat taamna tarvaqpaqaġniqsuaq. Alice: Just little ways from Quaqqat, there was a big lake. Ben: Kuuġuuraqaġniqsuq ataruamik Colville-mi. Aasii tavrani siku kilaaġman sulukpaukkat makua niksisugruŋagivut. Tavrani. (Section missing.) Alice: And that big lagoon had a little river, or something to the Colville River, that lagoon. And, when the ice started breaking up, they got lot of grayling from that lake. Bill: Was there a name to it, for that lake? Alice: Sunaimña atiŋa. Quaqqat? (What was its name, Quaqqat?) (Section missing.) Ben: Ii. Quaqqat. Alice: Quaqqat. Bill: Okay. Ben: Aasii ukiavġmagu utiqhuta tamauŋa. Utqiaġviŋñun. Alice: And the same fall they came to Barrow. Is that too short? Bill: That's fine.

Ben: Aasiiñ tatpaaŋŋaqapta tuvaaqatiniŋaruŋa. Aasiiñ iñuuniḷurraqsivḷuŋali uvapkun. Alice: After they came back from up inland, he got married and started living by himself with his wife. Ben: Naniġiaqtuġniq atuqługu, iñuuniḷuŋnik naniġiaqtuġnikun tamatkunuuna pisukkaatigun iñuuniḷurraqsiŋaruŋali aŋaaluga pisuġniiġman. (Using the method of trapping, through trapping and trading I began trying to make my own living after my uncle could no longer hunt.) Alice: He started trapping for foxes to support himself when his uncle could no longer hunt. Ben: Taimani tannavut aŋuyaŋmata, kattaqsruġmarruŋ 1941-mi Japaniurat Hawaiyaq. Tavra tamaani naniġiaqtuġniġili inŋaruq uvamniñ. (In those days when (our) Caucasians were at war, when the Japanese bombed Hawaii. Trapping was in me.) Alice: He remembered the time because that was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, around 1941. And himself he was trapping for foxes. Bill: Where were you trapping? Ben: Right between Wainwright and Barrow. Bill: On the coast, or inland? Ben: Yeah. I run back and forth to Wainwright. Ulġuniġmun utiġtaqłuŋa tamauŋalu taimani naniġiaqturraqsiŋaruŋa. (I went back and forth to Wainwright, when I started trapping in those days.) Alice: Akunġagni? (In between?) Ben: Ii. (Yes.) Alice: He trapped between Barrow and Wainwright, going back and forth from Barrow to Wainwright. Ben: Tavra iñuuniḷurraqsikamali tainna itqatigivlugik iḷaanni Patkutatkuk piqatigirraqsivḷugik iḷaanni tatpaaniḷu aullaaŋaqatigivlugik iñuuniḷurraqsiŋaruŋa. Aakagalu ullallaavlugu tamaaniittuaq Utqiaġviŋñi. (When I began trying to make my own living sometimes I stayed with Patkutaq (Patkotak and his wife) camping inland with them. Going once in a while to my mother who was living here in Utqiaġvik at that time.) Alice: During that time after he got married, he started staying with his in-laws, Paul Patkotak, and then they would go up inland and also he would come to Barrow to check on his mother that was still living. Bill: Where did they go, inland? Where did you go inland with Paul Patkotak? Ben: Isuqtuq. Bill: Oh, Paul went up Isuqtuq too? Ben: Yeah, I go with him. Bill: Had he been up there before? Ben: Who? Bill: Paul. Ben: No. I take him up there. That's my father-in-law. Bill: Yeah. Yeah. Alice: Maybe you got mixed up, he's been at Wainwright and he went up there? Bill: Well, I knew that Paul was familiar with the Utuqqaq River area so I wasn't sure that he knew about that area. About the Isuqtuq. Alice: Uvva Paul-li iḷitchuġiŋamammigaimma Uuliktumik iḷisimatilaaŋanik. Aasiigguuq uvva Isuqtumuguutilaaŋa ilitchuġivalluktiqhuni taamna piraŋa. (He had found out that Paul knew about the Uuliktuq area. And he just found out that he had also been up to Isuqtuq. He was referring to that.) Ben: Uvaŋali piqasiutigapkich, uvaŋa aullatirraqsiŋammigitka qavsiñiimma sivikisuuramikkii. (When I joined them I began to lead them or show them that area up there, I don't remember how many times but it wasn't for very long.) Alice: He was the one that took them up to Isuqtuq after he got married. Ben: Ulġuniġmi ittuat. Tatpaani upinġaqsiqłutalu pigallaarugut. Pi, suna piñilukłuta iqaluktigun makunuuna niqikaaptigun. (They had been in Wainwright. We spent (a) summer up there. Trying to get fish or whatever, for our food.) Alice: They spent summers up inland getting fish and other kinds of animals for their living. Subsistence. Bill: Then wintertime? Where were you in wintertime? Ben: Oh, sometimes we stay up in that Isuqtuq, make a sod house to live in winter. For trapping. Bill: And then in springtime? Ben: Go back to Barrow for whale hunting. Bill: Then, when would you go back inland? Would you stay till walrus hunting too or would you go right back after Nalukataq? Ben: No. Sometime...Tatpaani upinġaqsiġallaarugut. Tainna maani uqsraŋniuraqtuulagaluaqapta. (We would spend the summers up there. After trying to get uqsruq (blubber or oil.)) Alice: Upinġaatuaġman pilaitchusi? (You didn't stay up there every summer?) Ben: Upinġaatuaġman pilaitchugut. Iḷaanni skip-laavluta. (We did not do that every summer. Sometimes we would skip the summers.) Alice: Sometimes they would spend the summers here, go up inland in between. They don't go up there every year.

Ben: Aasiuvva innaiḷiḷġataqtuŋali tuvaaqatiga tammaiqqaaqługu pisuġniiḷiŋaruŋa. Tamarraptauq iñuit taimani iñuuniaġuraaqama tainnaptuaq iñuuniaġmiut. Iñuuniaġniq iḷuaġumiñaqtuaq iñuittauq iḷisimammigaat. Sunakkiññiḷuguurullu iḷaanni maani upinġaami taġiuġmiutanik. Alice: He's been hunting ever since for survival, and after he lost his wife, then he couldn't go hunting that much anymore, and he said there are other people that went hunting like him, that live on subsistence hunting up there, so there's other men besides him that does that. And sometimes they would spend summers here getting food stored away for winter, sea mammals. When they don't go up inland. Ben: Maani Ikpikpami iñuuniaġviuraŋitchuŋa sivisuruamik. Atautchimiimma Aviullaaviŋñi illaŋagaluaqtugut, aŋaaluŋma tatpikaniirrutilgiñmatigut atautchimi ukiumi. (I did not stay up there at Ikpikpak for any long period of time. Although one time we wintered up there at Aviullaavik when my uncle took us up there.) Alice: He hardly ever hunted around Ikpikpak, he hardly ever went there, but one winter they spent at Aviullaavik with his uncle. Spent winter at that place. Wendy: Do you remember about what year that would have been? Ben: 1934. Somewhere around there. Wendy: Around 1934. Ben: Before I got married. I got mixed up. Wendy: What did you do at Aviullaavik in the winter? Alice; Aviullaavigmigguuq tavrani ukiikavsi sugallaavisi? Ben: Qiruqaġniḷuguurugut anŋutisaaġaqłuta tatkiani iqaluŋavluni aŋaaluga iñuuniaqapta naniġiaqtuqhuniḷu, naniġiaqtuġniḷuutiraġigaatigut. Alice: Iqaluutiqasiaġlaan? (But you had fish?) Ben: Iqaluutiqaqłutaaglaan...iqalusugruŋaruq tavrani atautchimi. Alice: That's where they got lot of fish for the whole winter's use, almost. And then they would get fuel from Pitt Point around... Ben: Cape Simpson Alice: Cape Simpson for pitch and then they would haul pitch from there to Aviullaavik for heating, and he was trapping, his uncle was trapping up there. Bill: Okay. Ben: Tainna iñuuniaqapta, iñuuniaġaqtut iñuit iluaġniqsraq maliġuaqługu. Alice: In lifestyle, the people lived looking for better hunting places and for better survival, move around. Like they did... Ben: Tamaami iñuuniaġniḷuktuni Utqiaġviŋñi ikummatiksraq pakagnaqtuq. Uqsruġruakunlu aummatiksraq ivaaġinaqtuq. (Unintelligible) naagga qirupiatigun. (When one was trying to make a living in Barrow back then, you used to have to look for fuel for heating, either with oil or wood.) Alice: When living in Barrow in those days, it was hard to find fuel. So they had to go...

Ben: Tanŋich qaiŋarut mauŋa 1945-mi. Navy-t. Aasi iñuich savaakkisugrukhutik. Alice: Around 1945 the C.B.'s or the Navy came up and lot of Native people got jobs including him when that Navy came to Barrow. Ben: Niuqtuutitigun aasii tanŋit savaktut tamaani uqsrunik paqitchiñialavlutiŋ. Aasiiñ tamaani niuqtulgiññatiŋ uvani natural gas tatpikka paqinŋagaat, five miles uŋasiksigiruaq maaŋŋa. Alice: And when after they came up they started looking for oil drilling, around the land and finally struck oil in that first oil well up there five miles from here. Bill: You were working on that? Ben: Aasiuvva savaannaŋaruŋa 1948-mi. Tatkivani Navy-ñi. (And then I got a job at the Navy in 1948. Alice: You mean you wanted to ask him if he worked on that oil well? Bill: Worked for the Navy on that... You worked for the Navy when they were doing the exploring for the oil? Ben: Yes. I started 1948. Bill: Uh-huh. How did that interrupt your pattern of hunting and fishing and trapping? Alice: Qanuqługugguuq taaptuma inna uqsrunik ivaqłiqhutik pirraqsimmata qanuqługugguuq allaŋŋuqpauŋ naniġiaqtuġniġlu iqalliqiniġlu? Qanuq allaŋŋuqpagich? (How did the oil exploration make trapping and fishing different? Did it change them?) Ben: Iñuuniaġniq aglaan aqalliqinikkun allaŋŋuŋaitchuq paŋmamunaglaan. Iñuit piñiluguuruat iqalliqirutsuli, iñuuniḷuktut niqiññaŋniḷuktut paŋmapanun aglaan. Alice: He said about fishing, it hasn't changed, like fishing up the rivers. Bill: When he started work the Navy, when you started work for the Navy how did you feed your family, how did you hunt, fish and trap too? Ben: Well, I earn the money from them. Bill: So you couldn't go back inland or... Ben: Yes, I buy meat from people when I started working. That Native Store, Brower used to buy Eskimo food---fish, or caribou like that. Sometime he ordered that reindeer meat. Brower. And then we buy them. Bill: Was that work in the Navy year round? Or just in wintertime? Alice: Navy-ñi tainna iñiqługu savaŋavisi? Navy-ñi naaka sumi savaktuatin, Navy-ñi? (Conversation between Alice and Ben missing here.) The job was all year around, and the different contractors come in, and then they always hire almost the same people that were working for prior contractors. Bill: Did you miss not being able to go hunting, fishing, and trapping? Ben: No, I don't. I don't much hunting since I start working. I was working thirty years for them. Alice: Innakiuvva apiqsruġaatin aŋuniallatuniġiñ savakkaviñ qanuq isummatigimmagaan aŋuniaġniġiñ. Piitchiviuŋguuq aŋuniaġniġiñ? Miss-piuŋ, piitchiviuŋ? (He is asking you about you love for hunting, how you thought about your hunting when you were working. Did you miss it?) Ben: Miss-kaluabiga, aglaan qaunagimmigaanŋaptauq tamatkua contracttat coal(?)miglu aitchuugauraŋisa. Iñuuniaġutiksraġa qaitqatauraġmarruŋ piitchigaluaŋŋaan aŋuniaġniq tainnali maniññaliŋaruŋa. (I missed it alright, but the contractors also took good care of me and gave me coal (?). When they gave me things that helped me in my livelihood, although I missed hunting, I continued to work for wages in this way.) Alice: He missed his hunting very much, but he was earning living, so he had to go without hunting to hold onto his job. Even though he missed hunting. Ben: Vacation-laavluŋa piraqtuŋa. Alice: He had vacations. Ben: Two weeks, if I want to. 1976-mi retire-ŋaruŋa, savaŋaiŋaruŋa tamattumani contract-tani qairaġaqtuani. Alice: He retired from his job in 1976 from those different kinds of contractors. Bill: Did you ever work for the coal-mine at Tigalook (Tikiġluk)? Ben: No. Bill: That was around '46, '47, you would have been back here maybe working. Ben: Yes, I know that. Savaŋaitchuŋa Ed Burnell-mi. I asked him one time. I want to work for Ed Burnell. He don't hire me.

Bill: When you were a boy, what were some of the camps that you remember up the Meade River? Alice: Nikatpiaġruuŋŋaqpik uvva mikiŋŋapik tatpaani Meade River-miittuat atiŋich iḷisimasukkaluaġai. Ben: Pulayaamiñ aullaqirugut. Paaŋata tatchim. Pulayaaq, (Bill, Alice, and Ben repeat the same name) Payugvik, Qaviarat, (Alice spells out name) Uqpiksuq, Aatut. Bill: Was that a big camp, Aatut? Ben: No, just for the...iqaluŋniaġvihiñaq. Alice: Just for fishing. Bill: Gee, we saw a lot of old houses there. Ben: No. There's some, but not too many around. Maybe some, I don't know where they are. In that Isuqtuq gate to the Meade River, I know there's lot of old houses. It's a little ways, just a little ways from Atqasuk. Bill: What do you call that? Ben: Isuqtuq. That Isuqtuq. Alice: He mentioned before. Ben: Two-three miles maybe two miles from Atqasuk, just little ways this way. Bill: Do you mean at the entrance? Wendy: At the mouth. Ben: Yeah, that Isuqtuq. Alice: About three miles from Atqasuk. Ben: Lots of old houses up there, I know it. Alice: Lots of old... Bill: What do they call that place? Ben: Isuqtuq. Isuqtuq. Bill: Is that the same as Isuqtuq Paaŋa? Ben: Yeah, Isuqtum Paaŋa. Alice: Isuqtum Paaŋanik, tainna atiqaġmiva? Isuqtumiglu? (The Mouth-of-Isuqtuq, does it also have that name? And also Isuqtuq?) Ben: Isuqtuq. Isuqtum Paaŋa. Aakaluŋmali taisuugaa. (Isuqtuum Paaŋa. My grandmother would call it that.) Wendy: Uh-huh. Ben: (Unintelligible.) That's the river gate. Alice: He went as far as Aatu, but he still have... Aatunuaglaaqtuatin. (You went as far as Autu.) Ben: Aatut, taikaniḷu Qagluġruami... Wendy: Qagluġruami? Ben: Qagluġruaq. My uncle used to...aŋaaluga taikani ukiisuuruq piḷguiḷikami, Qagluġruami. (My uncle would winter there when he became older and could not do as much.) Alice: That's where his uncle had a little cabin when he couldn't hunt too much more. Ben: Tamarra iñuit iñuuniaġviŋich taigullaagitka tamatkua. Iñuit manna, taipkua iñuich iñuuniagvigisuuniġaat Kuulugruaq, iqaluqaġuuvluni. (I have named each of the places where people subsist from. People, and those people back then have always used the Kuulugruaq for subsistance, since it always has fish.) Alice: He mentioned the names where people used to go fishing, and people usually went to Kuulugruaq because there was always fish on that river. Ben: Utqiaġviŋmiut taavaniḷu Niġisaqtuġviŋmi iñuuniaġuumaruat. Alice: Barrow people used to go hunting up Niġisaqtuġvik down towards Wainwright. Ulġuniġum amii tuŋaani. (Its towards Wainwright, right?) Ben: Ii. (Yes.) Alice: Towards Wainwright.

Ben: Tatpaga atiqaqtut tatpauŋa, Atqasuŋmi tatpauŋanmullu samma atiqaqtuat agliutiniaqpagit ikayuġumiñaġaluaġitka. (They all have names all the way up there, from Atqasuk on up, if they are going to write down the names of those places I can help them.) Alice: He said there's small fishing camps from Atqasuk up the streams, if you want the names of those he said he could point them out. Piyumiñaġupkiyguuq. (If you would.) Ben: Imnaaġuaġruk. Imnaaġuaġruk from Atqasuk. Alice: Imnaaġuaġruk. Bill: Okay. Ben: Then Aŋutiġruaq. Wendy: Aŋutiġruaq. Ben: Then Itqiuraq. That's coal mine. Wendy: Itqiuraq. Ben: Itqiuraq. I think you write that down already. Piqsaġniq. While ago. Bill: Yes. Ben: Piqsaġniq. And Saaŋiaq. (Pause.) Bill: I'm still listening, I'm just checking something else here. (Pause.) After Saaŋiaq, what, going upriver. Ben: Umiakuvik. (lit. Place-To-Leave-Ones-Boat) Umiakuvik. Those people, they go up through that Meade River by skinboat just to hunt for caribou, looking for making that fur, for clothing, parka. They used to leave in there, their skinboats in that name, Umiakuvik. And then they went out from that Umiakuvik by walk. Wendy: Uh-huh. Bill: Where would they go? Ben: Up further. What I'm talking about, Colville. Bill: Oh, oh. Ben: They start walking from that Umiakuvik. They use their dogs, load them up. With a pack. Load him up. You ever see, before that? Wendy: Seen pictures. Ben: Uh-huh. That's what they do. Eskimo people. Bill: Was that when you were small boy, were they doing that? Ben: No. I don't know myself. But, when I...I used one time too. I know how. I used my dogs, some of it. Load them up. Bill: In your father's time, did they do that? Ben: When I was four years old I don't much see my father. When I was four year old he died. Bill: But the generation before, did they use that route to go up to Colville to hunt? Ben: Before I was born. They do it like that all the time. Bill: That's an interesting piece of information. Ben: What did he say about them walking? Bill: I don't know if he said anything about that place. He mentioned some of these. Do you remember that place Siŋaluk? (Ben, Alice, and Bill repeat name) We'll look at a map in a minute. Ben: Yeah. Okay. Bill: Are there other places above Umiakuvik? (Alice asks question in Iñupiaq.) Ben: That big coal mine, we call it Tuqsruk. Alice: Tuqsruk? Ben: Tuqsruk. That's big coal mine there, like outside coal. High one too, up there, I know it. It's pretty. Bill: Is it? Ben: ....like a dark stone. Yeah...taimani iñuich tainna iñuuniaġuumarut, nanmausuumarut, annuġaaksraqtik ivaqługu. (Yes, those people back then lived like that, carrying packs, looking for what would be their clothing.) Alice: He said they used to go, the Native people always went backpacking looking for skins to use for clothing. They walk. Wendy: Uh-huh. When you were hunting with your uncle in that area, were there many caribou, or were caribou hard to find? Ben: Tuttuqapiaŋitchuq taimani pauŋaġautimmatigut. (There were not too many caribou in those days when he took us on repeated trips inland.) Alice: Not too many. Tuttupianik, piqapiaŋitchuq? (There weren't too many caribou?) Alice: There wasn't too many, at that time. Ben: Tatpaaniqpasiguusuŋnaqtut. Alice: He thinks they were futher up from where they were. Ben: Way up the Colville. Iñuich nanmaurut iḷaŋich tatpaani ukiisuumarut. Alice: People whe went up backpacking sometimes spent winter up there. Inland. Bill: Up above Tuqsruk? Alice: Tatpaanitchiani Tuqsruum? Ben: Ii. (Yes.) Alice: Above. Bill: Are there additional places he wants to mention up there? Alice: Taaptumagguuq Tuqsruum tatpaanitchiani init taisukpigich? Ben: Kuuk aglaan. Kuuk. Saġvaiḷaq. (There's the river, Saġvaiḷaq.) Alice: Saġvaiḷaq. Ii. Wendy: Saġvaiḷaq. Ben: Akku taiŋasuŋnaġmiraġaimma. Alice: He thinks he mentioned the river Saġvaiḷaq. That's what he wants to say. Tamanna kuuk tamarra Saġvaiḷaq atiŋa. (Translation omitted) Ben: Tamarra nalunaiŋutaġivlugich iglauruat taipkua iñuit taiguġuumaraŋich. Nappaaqtallak suli. Tatpaanitchiani Saġvaiḷam. (Those people back then, as they were traveling, they would call them by their name to use as markers. And also Nappaaqtallak. Up above Saġvaiḷaq.) Alice: Nappaaqtallak. (Alice and Wendy repeat name) He said those people long ago give names to these places to use them as markers in their minds. They don't have them written, so they give them these names. Wendy: Is it Saġvaiḷaq River important for any particular reason, or is it mainly a landmark? Alice: Taamnagguuq Saġvaiḷaq sumik ikayuumik iñuunaiġniġmun piqaqpakpa naakka nalunaiḷutausiññaġuuva. Ben: Nalunaiñŋutausiññaġnagugisuugiga. (I always thought that it was only a landmark.) Alice: Aŋuniaġviqisuitkaat? (They didn't use it for hunting?) Ben: Aŋuniaġvigimmarruŋ nalugiga. Nalugiññaqjugi taipkua, quliaqtualaioouni aŋaaluga tamaani aŋunailguniḷugich. (I don't know when they used it for hunting. Because I don't know about the people back then in that area, since my uncle never talked about any people doing a lot of hunting in that area.) Alice: He was never told that people hunted in that river unless, he said, they might have, but he never heard of anyone hunting there, but his uncle used to go through there. Bill: Why do they call it Saġvaiḷaq? Alice: Taaptumiŋakiaq summan atiqaqparruŋ, Saġvaiḷamik? Bill: What does it mean? Alice: It means theres no waves. (Conversation between Ben and Alice missing.) They just use it for... I don't know, just mark, you know, traveling. But Saġvaiḷaq means there's no waves, or, you know no current. I mean that's what Saġvaiḷaq... (Iñupiaq material missing). Well that's what Saġvaiḷaq is. Bill: Uh-huh. Wendy: Sure, that's helpful Ben: (Iñupiaq material missing) I don't know. Alice: I mean I said it myself. Wendy: That's okay. That's fine.

Bill: That's fine. Are there other places you want to mention up there? Alice: Sunik tairaksraqaqpiñguuq atiġniq? Ben: Tulugaq. Tulugaq maanitchiuraŋani. Saġvaiḷam pikanitchiani Tulugaq. Iiguni. (Section missing.) Alice: Yeah. He mentioned that already. He said... Bill: Tulugaq? Ben: Tulugaq. Alice: Yeah. Tulugaq. I think you've got it there. Ben: From Saġvaiḷaq you go toward the mountains. Bill: Okay. (Begin looking at maps) Let's see if we can work on some of these places that you talked about. Where's that place called Quaqqat (Bill mispronounces) where you stayed all summer. In 1937 when you spent one summer up on the Colville? (Alice, Ben, and Wendy repeat name with correct pronounciation) Alice: Quaqqat. Samma paqitchumiñaġmagaaġaa tavrani. Quaqqat. (He wants to know if you can locate it on here.) Quaqqat. Ben: What's this here, Meade River? Bill: Uh-huh. Ben: And Colville? Bill: Colville here. Wendy: We may not have enough of the Colville. Alice: Marra Meade River-kaluaq. (Here's Meade River, alright.) Mostly he talked about... Ben: What's this, Umiakuvik here? Wendy: Umiakuvik, there. Ben: Yeah. That's good. Bill: What do you call this here? Ben: Umiakuvik. Bill: Right here, at that stream? Ben: That little creek there. Bill: Okay. Ben: I know that. Bill: Okay. We'll call that there BN-1, and that's going to refer to that place that you call... Say it again, please. Ben: That's Sanniŋaruq here. Bill: Wait. Call this one again. Ben: Umaikuvik. Bill: Okay. Ben: People used to left their canoes, skinboats there, and then they start looking for caribou by their dogs, pack them up, walk. Bill: Okay. Good. Alice: When he say the names, I could. (Unclear) Wendy: Okay. Bill: How about Piksaanik? (Bill mispronounces) Piksaanik? Alice: (Unclear.) What was that? Bill: Piksaanik. Alice: Piqsaġniq. Ben: Somewhere around here some place. Atqasuk there? Bill: Yes, yes. Ben: They call that (Unclear). Alice: He knows the river. Wendy: Uh-huh. Ben: That creek here. That's another coal mine over here. Bill: What do you call that one? Ben: Itqiuraq. Itqiuraq Bill: Right. Okay. Ben: Then we go right through here, maybe right here. That Meade River go like this. From here, then... Bill: Over here? Ben: Pisaġniq right there someplace. Did that Walter look at this one too? Bill: Yeah. He called this Piqsiġniq right here. Ben: Yeah. That's the one. Bill: Okay good. Wendy: Which one? Bill: A-13. Okay. A-13 is Piqsaġniq. Itqiuraq is A-12. Wendy: We've got that one there. Bill: How about Aŋutiġruaq? Alice: Aŋutiġruaq. Ben: Right here someplace. Bill: Yeah. A-10. Okay. That's one he had mentioned too. How about Imnaaġuaġruk? Ben: Imnaaġuaġruk. Bill: Oh maybe, yeah. A-9, yeah. How about Tuqsruk? Ben: (Unclear) Aŋutiġruaq. It almost straighten that over here. Bill: Yeah. Wendy: Uh-huh. Ben: Then going up to Itqiuraq. Bill: Yeah, yeah. All right. Okay. Good. How about Tuqsuk? (mispronounced) Ben: Huh? Bill: Tuqsuk? Ben: After that Umiakuviich. Bill: Yeah. (Bill and Wendy repeat name) Ben: That's a little creek someplace, maybe that one. Alice: Suna atiŋa? Ben: Tuqsruak. (Alice and Wendy repeat name) That big coal mine there. Bill: Which one? Ben: Over here someplace. Bill: Okay. Is it down on the river, or up here? Ben: Yeah, up here. Bill: Okay, we'll call that...(Alice spells out the name) Ben: Tuqsruk. That big coal mine there. Bill: We're going to call that big coal mine BN-2. Ben: Yeah. It's crystal, like a crystal like... Wendy: Oh.