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Merlin Henry

Merlin Henry is Iñupiaq from Koyuk, Alaska. In the 1930s, his grandfather was chief reindeer herder for Koyuk and in 1960 his father, Archie Henry, became a reindeer herder with animals he transported from Deering and Candle, Alaska. Merlin did not attend school because his father needed help with the reindeer herd. Merlin entered the military and left the region, but eventually returned home to help his father. When his father passed away in 1981, Merlin took over the reindeer herding operation. In the 1990s, infiltation of caribou and wolf predation crashed his herd, but in the mid-2000s, with help from the Reindeer Research Project, efforts were made to re-establish the herd.

Merlin Henry appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Reindeer Herding: The Present and the Past

Merlin Henry's Slideshow

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Merlin Henry	Merlin Henry was interviewed on March 18, 2002 by Bill Schneider, Knut Kielland, Greg Finstad, and Rose Fosdick at the Reindeer Herder's House in Nome, Alaska. Suzanne Worker, an employee of the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks was also present during the interview. In this interview, Merlin talks about his grandfather and father being reindeer herders, the importance of herding as a family activity, the effect of caribou on reindeer herds, changes in the reindeer industry, and what he sees for the future of reindeer herding on the Seward Peninsula. He also talks about not going to school and following his father to learn about herding and driving his own reindeer herds and living off the land.	2000-102-14	Reindeer Herding: The Present and the Past	Mar 18, 2002