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Grant Ballot

Grant "Uiugaagruak" Ballot is an Iñupiaq elder from Selawik, Alaska. Born in 1941 to Bessie and Paul Ballot, Grant grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle where the family of thirteen children traveled to various seasonal camps to harvest the fish and wildlife and collect the resources they needed to survive. As a boy, Grant would go fishing, collect firewood, snare rabbits, and trap muskrat. He has memories of spending time up the Selawik and Ikkuiyiq Rivers, at Niliq, and at Nauyaqtuuq and Paakliq. He moved away from the area when he was fourteen years old to go to boarding school. Later, he married and had a family, and lived in Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) before returning home to Selawik. Grant is a compassionate man who is interested in helping others and passing along his traditional Iñupiaq knowledge and stories to the younger generation.

Date of Birth:

Aug 18, 1941

Grant Ballot appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Land Use and Environmental Change, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Grant Ballot	Grant Uiugaaguqruak Ballot was interviewed on February 8, 2018 by Susan Georgette and Karen Brewster in the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge's office in the IRA Traditional Council's building in Selawik, Alaska. Nichole Hanshaw sat in and listened to the interview. In this interview, Grant talks about growing up following a traditional nomadic subsistence lifestyle, going to mission school, trapping, fishing and hunting. In particular, Grant talks a lot about muskrat hunting, preparation of the skins, and the fur trade. He also talks about other people and families that lived in camps and settlements along the Selawik and Tagraġvik Rivers, and changes that have led to the loss of cultural traditions and the importance of passing these along to the younger generations.	2018-04-03	Land Use and Environmental Change, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge	Feb 8, 2018