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Steve Ulvi
Born in Walnut Creek, California in 1951 and educated at the University of Oregon, Steve Ulvi came to Alaska in 1974 with his brother, Dana, and homesteaded on the Yukon River near Eagle. He married Lynette Roberts and they moved to Fairbanks when their children became of school age. Steve became a subsistence specialist for Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and Gates of the Arctic National Park. He was interviewed for the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Project Jukebox because of his experience living a subsistence lifestyle on the river, and participated in the Gates of the Arctic Project Jukebox as an interviewer. After Steve retired from the National Park Service, he and Lynette moved out of Alaska.
| Interview Title | Abstract | Archive #: Oral History | Project | Date of Interview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Ulvi, Part 1 |
Steve Ulvi was interviewed on April 9, 1991 by Dan O'Neill in the audio studio at Elmer E. Rasmuson Library on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska. At the time of the interview, Steve was an employee of the National Park Service at Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. He was the principle contact for the Yukon-Charley oral history project, and helped isolate themes which the interviews addressed. The strategy for this interview was to focus on Steve's life on the river prior to his joining the professional staff at the Preserve. In this first part of a two part interview, Steve talks about living a subsistence-based lifestyle in a remote cabin in the area that became Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. He discusses why he came to Alaska and chose this wilderness lifestyle, building and restoring cabins, the seasonal round of activities they did to survive that included hunting, trapping, and fishing. He also talks about how his attitude changed about things after living out on the river and learning about running a dog team. |
91-22-05 | Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve | Apr 9, 1991 |
| Steve Ulvi, Part 2 |
This is the continuation of an interview with Steve Ulvi on April 9, 1991 by Dan O'Neill in the audio studio at Elmer E. Rasmuson Library on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Steve continues to talk about living a subsistence-based lifestyle in a remote cabin in the area that was to become Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. He talks more about the way of life, using dog teams for winter transportation and canoes in the summer, the role of women in maintaining their lifestyle, the sense of commuity among other people on the river, and how conflicts were or were not resolved. He also discusses the effect of the Preserve's creation on the "river people" and the balance of local lifestyles with resource protection. |
91-22-07 | Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve | Apr 9, 1991 |
As Interviewer
| Interview Title | Archive #: Oral History | Project | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sean McGuire | 2002-27-03 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
Sean McGuire was interviewed on October 30, 2002 by Bill Schneider and Steve Ulvi at Bill Schneider's house in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sean talked about his experiences as a young boy spending his summers at Wild Lake with the Meader family. He also talks about his epic walk from the Yukon River to Florida in 1978 in support of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). |
| Dennis Schmitt, Part 1 | 93-15-08 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This interview with Dennis Schmitt took place on September 26, 1992 with Steve Ulvi in the clapboard Naval Arctic Research Lab building next to the airstrip in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, which has served for several years as a ranger station. There were steaming cups of tea and a brisk north wind under the building's eaves during the interview. Dennis had not visited Anaktuvuk Pass for a number of years. He was awed but not surprised by the tremendous development and pace of town life. His mastery of the Nunamiut language startled people as he renewed old acquaintances. As Dennis recalled his experiences living with the Nunamiut in the mid to late 1960s who were then on the brink of tumultuous change, snowmachines roared by outside, bearing hunters off to intercept the migrating caribou as they always have in this windswept mountain pass. |
| Dennis Schmitt, Part 2 | 93-15-09 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This is a continuation of an interview with Dennis Schmitt on September 26, 1992 in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska with Steve Ulvi. This is a continuation from tape number Oral History 93-15-08. In this part of the interview, Dennis talks about living with the Nunamiut in Anaktuvuk Pass in the mid to late 1960s, hunting of grizzly bears and dependence upon subsistence resources, the transportation used, and impact from establishment of Gates of the Arctic National Park. |
| Bill and Lill Fickus, Part 1 | 93-15-63 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi collaborated in interviewing Bill and Lill Fickus at their home on Crevice Creek, John Rivers, about 40 miles north of Bettles, Alaska on September 26, 1994. Dan was a research associate at the Oral History Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and conducted some of the interviews funded by the National Park Service in the Yukon-Charley Rivers Preserve areas. Steve was a subsistence specialist at Gates of the Arctic National Park. The interview with the Fickuses was funded by the National Park Service as part of a project documenting the lives of people living and working in or near Gates of the Arctic. Dan and Steve conducted the interview around the kitchen table with the Fickuses for several hours, ate dinner, spent the night, then resumed the interview after breakfast for a few more hours. The time of year had been selected as a time when there were few pressing chores, such as garden harvesting and hunting. In this first of five interviews, Bill and Lill talk about their backgrounds, meeting, marrying, and living at Crevice Creek year round. The interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66, 93-15-67. |
| Bill and Lill Fickus, Part 2 | 93-15-64 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This is the continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus' home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part two of the five part interview, they talk about their life at Crevice Creek. This is a continuation from tape number Oral History 93-15-63, and the interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-65, 93-15-66, 93-15-67. |
| Bill and Lill Fickus, Part 3 | 93-15-65 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This is the continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus' home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part three of the five part interview, they talk about raising their children at Crevice Creek, Bill's hunting stories, and their thoughts on the establishment of Gates of the Arctic National Park. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63 and 93-15-64, and the interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-66 and 93-15-67. |
| Bill and Lill Fickus, Part 4 | 93-15-66 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This is the continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus’ home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part four of the five part interview, they talk about guiding in, access to, and rescues in Gates of the Arctic National Park. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63, 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66, and the interview continues on tape number Oral History 93-15-67. |
| Bill and Lill Fickus, Part 5 | 93-15-67 | Gates of the Arctic National Park |
This is the continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus’ home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part five of the five part interview, they talk about rescues, people they have met through the years of living at Crevice Creek, use of dogs, hunting, and raising their family at Crevice Creek. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63, 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66. |
| Matthew Malcom | 91-22-18 | Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve |
Matthew Malcolm was interviewed on August 27, 1991 by Bill Schneider and Steve Ulvi at the Malcolm's home in Eagle Village, Alaska. Matthew's wife, Martha, was present for part of the time. Matthew is blind and his talking watch goes off several times during the interview. In this interview, Matthew talks about life in Eagle Village and mining at Coal Creek. He also discusses several old-timers living on the Yukon River including Phil Berail, Christopher "Phonograph" Nelson, Al Ames and George McGregor, and traces the history of people and places in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve |
| Al Stout | 91-22-13 | Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve |
Al Stout was interviewed on August 21, 1991 by William Schneider and Steve Ulvi at Al's home in Eagle, Alaska. Al was sick and under heavy medication, but he maintained a sense of humor and he was able to recall many details about individuals and events in the past. He seemed very pleased to have Steve Ulvi present at the interview. The focus was on tracing people and places down the Yukon River during the 1930's and 1940's and telling stories about how he remembered them. In this interview, Al talks about making a living along the river by trapping, mining, hunting, and working on the steamboats, and talks about many of the people he knew along the way, including Willard Grinnell. |