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Emma Ramoth
Emma Ramoth is an Iñupiaq elder from Selawik, Alaska. She was born in 1937 at Katyaak, up river from Selawik, and adopted and raised by Dora (Foster) and Walter Ballot. She grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle where the family moved to various locations to harvest the fish and wildlife they needed to survive. She learned about trapping and hunting from her father, and about muskrat hunting and skin sewing from her mother. Emma grew up at Niliq and became close friends with the children of the Rotman family, whose father owned the store there. Eventually, Emma moved to Selawik to attend school, but was hired by the teacher as a babysitter for his family. This left her little time for school work, so she was not able to complete her education. In 1955, Emma married Ralph Ramoth and together they raised seven children, as well as some of their grandchildren. Despite her limited formal education, in 1958 Emma became a health aide for Selawik, at first as a volunteer and later in a paid position. She retired from her formal health aide duties in 2000.