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Nellie "Ilegvak" Moses

Nellie Moses

Nellie Ilegvak (Fritz) Moses is Yup'ik and was born November 15, 1934 to Louise and Senakvaq Henry in Akiachak, Alaska. Nellie grew up living a traditional nomadic subsistence lifestyle of hunting, fishing, trapping and berry picking. She enjoyed becoming aware in the yuilquq (subsistence camp) and remembered fondly the days when people practiced the subsistence way of life. She married George Moses, Sr. on August 24, 1953, and together they raised ten children. Nellie worked for the Akiachak Native Community, and for several years as a custodian for the Yupiit School District. In her later years, Nellie worked as an elder for the Yup'ik Preschool Program and enjoyed passing on the elders’ knowledge to parents of preschool children in the community.

Biography written by Sophie Kasayulie of the Yupiit School District.
Date of Birth:
Nov 15, 1934
Nellie "Ilegvak" Moses appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
Nellie Ilegvak Moses, Interview 1

Nellie Ilegvak (Fritz) Moses was interviewed on October 12, 2005 by Louann Rank, Marla Statscewich, Sophie Kasayulie, Frank Chingliak and Mary Frederick at Nellie's home (sections 1 - 6) and on October 13, 2005 in the Yupiit School District "Blue Building" in Akiachak, Alaska (sections 7 - 11). In this interview, Nellie speaks in Yup'ik and English about her childhood memories of fish camp and other seasonal subsistence camps, camp locations and changes in the river channel, drying and smoking salmon, berrypicking, and traditional and medicinal use of plants. She also shares her memories of the qasgiq, dancing and potlaches in Akiachak, the use of story knives for storytelling, and coming across old burials and graves out on the tundra. View a map of family fish camp sites at Akiachak, circa 1939, as identified by Nellie Moses.

 2004-07-38 Akiachak - Then and Now Oct 12, 2005
Nellie Ilegvak Moses, Interview 2

Nellie Ilegvak (Fritz) Moses was interviewed on March 31, 2006 by Elena Chingliak, Sophie Kasayulie, Louann Rank, Frank Chingliak and Karen Brewster at Nellie's home in Akiachak, Alaska. In this interview, she speaks in Yup'ik and English about the traditional subsistence lifestyle of moving to seasonal camps for fishing and hunting, and the types of structures people lived in during different seasons. She talks about fish camp, fall camp and spring camp, types of animals hunted, the types of fish they caught, and how fish caught in Akiachak taste different than fish caught in tundra areas. The following are a few excerpts of a longer interview. View a map of family fish camp sites at Akiachak, circa 1939, as identified by Nellie Moses.

 2004-07-45 Akiachak - Then and Now Mar 31, 2006