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George Setuk

George Setuk

George Setuk was a Yup'ik elder who lived in Levelock, Alaska. He left the community around 1951, when he was nine years old, to receive medical care for a broken back at Mount Edgecumbe hospital in Sitka and lived in Eklutna for fifteen years. George returned to Levelock when he was nineteen years old and began living a life off the land, trapping and commercial fishing. He spent a number of years living remotely at Ben Courtney Creek and traveling by dogteam, and has made most of his living from the sale of furs and working as a commercial fisherman. Ella Mae Charley is his sister. George Setuk passed away in March 2024 at the age of 87. For more about George, see his obituary in the Anchorage Daily News newspaper.
Date of Birth:
Mar 11, 1937
Date of Death:
Mar 26, 2024
George Setuk appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
Ella Mae Charley and George Setuk

Sister and brother, Ella Mae Charley and George Setuk were interviewed on May 5, 1998 by William Schneider and Don Callaway in Levelock, Alaska. In this interview, Ella and George talk about their subsistence lifestyle, and the changes they have observed in methods of transportation, in the environment and wildlife populations, and cultural attitudes toward hunting, trapping and fishing and living off the land. George discusses recovering from a childhood back injury and being out on the trapline in the winter with a dogteam and wroking as a commerical fisherman in Bristol Bay in the summertime. Ella talks about various seasonal subsistence activities and how they traveled to find the resources they needed. They also both talk about how their subsistence lifestyle has changed and been impacted by the establishment of Katmai National Park and an increase in sport fishermen and hunters coming to the area. They also discuss changes they are concerned about in the community, the Native culture and traditional practices.

 98-17-02 Katmai National Park May 5, 1998