Stanley Ned and I talked in one of the recording studios at Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, on the morning of December 11, l992. Stanley's comments were very articulate and wide-ranging. Stanley is from Allakaket, Alaska and is married to Virginia Moses, whose parents are Johnson and Bertha Moses, and they have two sons. Virginia is a teacher in the school at Allakaket. Born in March 1950, Stanley is one of the younger people I interviewed. We began by talking about Stanley's family, early experiences, and growing up. Some of his favorite early memories are of the spring, summer, and winter camps his family used. He talked about the various camps, including the village of South Fork, the resources that came from various locations, and their importance to him and his people. For Stanley, the older people in his family were his most important teachers, his "professors". He especially remembers his Grandpa Joe Williams, and recalled how at spring camp he brought in muskrats in the early morning and cooked hot cakes. His uncles, William Williams and Jimmy Koyukuk, and his aunt, Effie Williams, were also important teachers. They taught him how to live in camp, trap and skin muskrats, how to hunt and take care of ducks, and other hunting skills. In the context of learning, the effects of missionaries and the school came up. Stanley sees many of these outsiders as lacking an understanding of his people. He feels they depreciated Native ways of doing things and restricted Native cultural practices and language use. The missionaries criticized Native rituals and ceremonies, calling them "devil worship." Some of the teachers punished the children for using their Native language, in some cases using such harsh measures as spanking them with a paddle or washing their mouths out with Borax soap when they spoke it. Stanley drew an important contrast between the teachers he encountered in school and the true teachers of his own culture who were his grandfathers, aunts, uncles, and older brothers. They taught by telling stories about hunting and other life experiences and then by having young people actually gain experience themselves by living and working in camp. They learned about the resources; when to take animals and when to leave them alone. They also learned about values and traditions, especially respect for the natural world. From this store of knowledge, Native people have valuable things to say, and outsiders need to try to listen to them. Stanley went on to talk about his high school experiences first at Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka and then at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks from which he graduated. He also recounted his military experience which culminated in a combat tour in Vietnam. As with many men who served there, his time in Vietnam has left an indelible impression on the rest of his life. Resuming his education after his military service was not easy. In l973, Stanley went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and stayed two semesters, but found that either he wasn't happy with the University as it existed then, and perhaps the University wasn't quite ready for him, either. He went back to Allakaket and started trapping and living a subsistence lifestyle. His teachers were the older people, and he stayed in Allakaket until l989. When he returned to the university he found attitudes had changed; there was more interest in understanding Native ways and Native students. He completed two more years of college, then went to work for Tanana Chiefs Conference in wildlife management. Stanley contrasts his experiences at the University of Alaska in l973 with what he found when he returned to college in l989-l991. Although some common problems of Native students remain, he describes some important changes in attitudes toward Native students. He eventually plans to return to school and finish his degree in Rural Development. Stanley went on to discuss his work for Tanana Chiefs Conference, where he is a staff researcher for the subsistence program. He sees his role in part as that of cultural translator, of helping to educate non-Natives about Native life. He sees one of the most enjoyable aspects of this job as the chance to work directly with his "professors", the older people who have so much to teach. For him, the project that excites him the most is an effort to collect all the information he can find on potlatches. The potlatch is a crucial ceremony for Koyukon people; Stanley compares it to a last supper, an ultimate expression of respect and a chance to say a final farewell to the deceased. People bring out their best food, delicacies saved as well as fresh meat. It is a time when a village is like one big family, when people share and support each other spiritually in very special ways. It is a central element in Koyukon life. For Stanley, the potlatch embodies what he sees as the importance of traditions passing between generations. Stanley also sees the changes taking place, the development going on, as like a malignant cancer that cannot be stopped. Among the on-going changes that concern him are: language loss, the lack of knowledge and understanding among younger Native people of their heritage, the loss of knowledge of place names and the information they represent because the kids don't travel on the land and learn the names, the impact of state and federal regulations, the influx of outside people, the growing private land ownership, the increasing pressure on the land and its resources, the conflicts that pressure is engendering, and the disproportional impact of lobbyists and special interests which the Native people often don't have enough money to fight. Stanley's interview concludes with a discussion of subsistence issues and some of the critical problems that face those dealing with this problem currently. He comments on what he sees as some of the future directions he'd like action on these issues to take. In this regard, he also comments on the local effects of and reactions to formation of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. As with many other federal actions, the hearings held and the actions taken have been almost perfunctory. Little of the information or advice provided by Native people seems to be heard or used. He offers several valuable comments about resources, the spiritual importance of areas within the park, and potential problems of visitor use. His final comments deal with the importance of elders and Native lifeways and the contrasts in values and lifestyles between non-Native and Native people.