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Randy Brown, Interview 2, Part 2
This is the continuation of an interview with Randy Brown on December 30, 1991 by Dan O'Neill in the audio studio at Elmer E. Rasmuson Library on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska. This is the second part of a two part interview that is the second interview in a two inerview series. The first interview (ORAL HISTORY 99-21-42) was conducted on October 28, 1991. In this second part of the second interview, Randy continues to talk about living on the Kandik River in the late 1970s. He discusses how he and his family survived, how the area changed as more people moved in, and the effect of the arrival of the National Park Service and the establishment of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. During the interview, they were looking at USGS maps (1:250,000) of the area, so much of the conversation can be traced on the map. Since Dan O'Neill, had been a dog musher in Alaska for ten years, many of the questions relating to dogs, gear and traveling conditions are fairly specific.
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 91-22-58
Project: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Date of Interview: Dec 30, 1991
Narrator(s): Randy Brown
Interviewer(s): Dan O'Neill
Location of Interview:
Location of Topic:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
Themes
Boats, Change, Clothing, Dog Mushing, Effect of Park Creation, Family, Land Ownership, Land Use, Life on the River, Living in the Park, National Park Service, Park Administration, Park Management Issues, People, Policy, Raising Children, Regulation, Safety, Subsistence, Supplies, Survival, Trails, Travel, Wilderness
After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.
Sections
1) Safety considerations of children in the woods
2) Patterns of determination and resistance to stopping
3) Supplies for camping at 50 degrees below zero
4) Kandik River population growth.
5) Arrival of the National Park Service and the subsequent changes
6) Trails that were made in the Kandik River area
7) Effects of the park on the lifestyles of people in the Kandik River area
8) Opinions of people who left the area after the National Park Service came in
9) Restrictions on new settlers
10) Management of subsistence users by the National Park Service
11) Prejudice against wilderness people
Click play, then use Sections or Transcript to navigate the interview.
After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.
Transcript
Section 1: life jackets\ hot water bottles\ temperatures\ Yukon River\ distance\ wind chill factor\ tent\ stove\ mountain climbers\ taking chances\ responsibility for family\ dog sleds\ supplies\ frozen feet\ hypothermia\ toe loss\ campfires\ frostbite|
Section 2: schedules\ persistence\ costs\ fire building\ fire wood\ subsistence vs. profit|
Section 3: sleeping bag\ change of clothes\ caribou coat amp; pants\ wolf ruff\ Eskimo clothing\ double layers\ skin coverings\ spruce boughs\ axe\ dozing vs. heavy sleeping\ fire description|
Section 4: subculture\ Beech, Fred\ Gunderson, Morris\ Gaudio, John\ Edwards, Charlie\ Edwards, Cher\ Prusseau, Tony\ Prusseau, Tom\ Eagle\ caribou meat\ bird migrations\ bears\ Kallen-Brown, Karen\ Lynch, Mark\ Fairbanks\ McGrath\ Evans, Dave\ Patton, Sage\ Akiak\ marriage\ cabin building\ Waller, Sarge|
Section 5: land monitoring\ discovery\ Nation River\ Kandik\ Hard Luck Creek\ Doyon Land - Park Service agreement\ Evans, Dave\ Edwards, Charlie\ Woodruff, Don\ Beech, Fred\ Kandik River\ territory\ Laurie, Mark\ Laurie, Tim\ de-population\ land issues\ BLM\ Doyon\ lifestyle extinction\ trapping\ trails\ map\ passes|
Section 6: Evans, Dave\ creek cut banks\ toboggan\ moose\ old trails\ 1930rsquo;s\ Basin Creek\ passes\ Nelson, Chris\ trapping\ steamboats\ gold mines\ map\ Indian Grave Creek\ caribou - Pingo herd|
Section 7: trespassing laws\ policies\ park rules\ permits\ longevity status\ regulations\ rumors\ cabin building restrictions\ subsistence vs. profits\ teaching\ Doyon\ land usage\ Arco\ oil exploration|
Section 8: loss of freedom\ pressure of regulations\ Nation River\ park boundary\ Doyon\ Cook, Dick\ Smith, Richard\ private land holdings\ mining claims\ 1970's\ fur market\ commercial enterprise\ trespass issues\ ownership\ possibilities of wilderness living|
Section 9: hostilities towards the Park Service\ river people\ quot;floatersquot;\ fish camp visitors\ river people -- Park Service employees\ de-population\ river people extinction\ cultural value of subsistence living\ Bradley, Zorro|
Section 10: influx of people\ resource impact\ Yukon River\ reasons why people from lower 48 want to try wilderness living\ family traditions\ ability to make a living in the woods\ providing for a family\ viable lifestyles|
Section 11: ANILCA\ bias against river people\ limited resources\ qualifications - privilege\ limited entry - fishing\ government sanctions\ Canadian registered trap lines\ permit values\ programs\ government ownership\ motivations\ boundaries - zones\ Yukon-Charley Park\ campground\ Park Service impact|