Rose Ambrose

Rose Ambrose is a Koyukon Athabascan elder from Huslia, Alaska. She was born in 1928 to Eliza and George Attla, Sr. in Koyukuk, Alaska, and grew up along the Koyukon and Yukon Rivers living a traditional subsistence lifestyle moving to seasonal camps for hunting, fishing, trapping, and berry picking. Her brother is the late, George Attla, Jr. ("the Huslia Hustler"), widely considered one of the best sprint sled dog racer to ever compete in Alaska. Rose attended school at the Holy Cross Mission for a short period, and in 1968, when she was 40 years old and her children were grown, she was selected by the village council to become the community health aide in Huslia, Alaska. She retired from the job in 1993. In recognition of her contributions to the village, the health clinic in Huslia is now named the "Rose Ambrose Health Center." For more about Rose Ambrose and her 25-year career as a community health aide, see the June 2003 issue of "The Council," the newsletter of the Tanana Chiefs Conference.