Carol Atkins

Mary H. Demientieff was interviewed on April 25, 2003 by her daughter, Carol Atkins, Debbie Turner from the Holy Cross Tribal Council, and Karen Brewster from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program at Mary's apartment in Bethel, Alaska. Mary had recently moved from Holy Cross to be near her family in Bethel and to be closer to better health care facilities. In this first part of a two part interview, Mary talks about about life at the Holy Cross Mission, the importance of religion in her life, and the other valuable lessons and life skills she learned there. She also talks about marrying her husband, Joe Demientieff and raising a large family together. She discusses subsistence hunting, trapping and fishing on the Yukon River, and shares her love of spending time at fish camp with her children and grandchildren. Mary also enjoys playing music, so during part of the interview she demonstrated her talents by singing and playing the guitar and keyboard. At the end of the interview, Mary describes photographs from her personal collection that she felt represented her life. She and Carol had selected some snapshots from her photo albums before the interview, and others were framed and hanging on the walls of her home. The photographs add another layer to understanding Mary's life and the history of Holy Cross.