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Ross Schaeffer

Ross Schaeffer was born in 1947 in Kotzebue, Alaska. His father was an expert hunter and taught his seven sons how to hunt seals, beluga whales, polar bears, and caribou, trap and fish, survive on the sea ice, and provide for their family with a subsistence lifestyle. Ross attended Copper Valley School in Glennallen, Alaska for high school, and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and social work. He has worked as a magistrate in Kotzebue, as a school counselor, was president of the NANA Regional Corporation, and is a former mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough. He also has been a commercial fisherman, a full-time trapper, and always has maintained his subsistence lifestyle. In retirement, he continues to hunt, trap, and fish. He is one of the few who still actively hunts for seals in the winter out on the ice. He also sets crab pots with his brother, Bobby, and hunts for seals amongst the broken ice floes of late spring/early summer, for beluga whales, and for caribou. As an active hunter all his life, Ross has been a close observer of the environment and is an expert traveler and hunter.

Ross Schaeffer appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Sea Ice in Northern Alaska

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Ross Schaeffer, Part 1	Ross Schaeffer was interviewed on March 29, 2016 by Karen Brewster, Andy Mahoney, and Rebecca Rolph at his home in Kotzebue, Alaska. In this first part of a two part interview, Ross talks about growing up as a hunter in Kotzebue and learning about ice conditions. Ross discusses the changing ice conditions around Kotzebue and the effect it has seal and beluga whale hunting and his subsistence hunting activities. He talks about thinning ice, the effect of wind and current, the timing of freeze-up and break-up, dealing with tides and overflow, being safe on the ice, and stories about people drifting out on the ice.	2013-25-32_PT.1	Sea Ice in Northern Alaska	Mar 29, 2016
Ross Schaeffer, Part 2	This is the continuation of an interview with Ross Schaeffer on March 29, 2016 by Karen Brewster, Andy Mahoney, and Rebecca Rolph at his home in Kotzebue, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Ross talks about seal hunting and changing ice conditions around Kotzebue, including thinning ice, changes in freeze-up and break-up, being safe on the ice, and understanding weather and wind. He also talks about the effect of climate change on subsistence and the local lifestyle, and the continued relevance of traditional knowledge.	2013-25-32_PT.2	Sea Ice in Northern Alaska	Mar 29, 2016