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Frank "Obbie" Greene

Frank Greene

Frank Greene, who locally is mostly known by his nickname, Obbie, is an Iñupiaq elder from Kotzebue, Alaska. He was born in 1945 and raised in Kotzebue, attended Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska, and received electronics and radar training while serving in the U.S. Navy. After the Navy, Frank worked for the U.S. Air Force at White Alice sites at Nome and Kotzebue. He later served as president of Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation (KIC) and as land manager for NANA Regional Corporation in Kotzebue. Frank was raised by his grandparents, Andrew and Maggie, and his grandfather taught him how to hunt seals and beluga whales, to fish, and to be safe on the ice. Frank has continued to live a mixed wage and subsistence lifestyle, and raised his family following similiar hunting traditions. Frank also has joined his relatives on Iñupiaq whaling crews in Point Hope and Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow).
Date of Birth:
Sep 28, 1945
Frank "Obbie" Greene appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
Frank "Obbie" Greene

Frank "Obbie" Greene is interviewed on May 17, 2017 by Karen Brewster and Andy Mahoney at his home in Kotzebue, Alaska. In this interview, Frank talks about hunting seals and being on and around the ice of Kotzebue Sound. He discusses the effect of wind and current on ice movement, observing the color of the ice to determine thickness and safe conditions, the presence of tidal overflow, and the effect of big storms. He also discusses beluga whale hunting, the processes that occur during freeze-up and break-up, and knowing when it is safe to be out on the ice. At the time of this interview, Frank was not in the best of health, but he did the best he could under the circumstances to tell stories and share his knowledge. At one point during the interview, his wife, Linda, came in to check on him, and to meet the interviewers and find out the purpose of the project.

 2013-25-38 Sea Ice in Northern Alaska May 17, 2017