I am a teen like you. Born in 1999, but not quite raised in the "21st Century," I was born in bush Alaska and raised in a small Indian village along the Yukon River. I am an enrolled member of the Ruby Tribe and I am Koyukon Athabascan. My father is George Albert of Ruby. His parents are the late Phillip Albert Sr. (from traditional village of Kokrines) and the late Justine Demoski Albert from Koyukuk. My paternal grandparents had an arranged marriage, he was ten years her senior. This was a custom there at the time. They were the last family to depart Kokrines as a 2 room school was opening in Ruby because of statehood in 1959.
The maternal side of my family begins with mom, Eileen, whose dad, John McGlynn, was full Irish. My grandmother, Edie, lives nearby and is responsible for the Mayflower lineage from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. When I was about to enter seventh grade, my parents decided to give me the opportunity to move alone to Lake Placid, N.Y. and have my Uncle Mike take care of me. He tutored me in math and nightly homework, soccer, skiing as well as all things 'Lower 48.' It was a big transition to leave an Alaskan village of 180 and a typical classroom of three grades with one main teacher to a former Olympic tourist town. The village school had about 40 students in K to 12th, here there is 400 in 7th to 12th grades. I am in tenth grade now still expanding my horizons in upstate New York with my mother. I do miss the rest of my family in Alaska, Yukon river life and opportunities there outdoors.
But, now is the time for education. I want to be ready for college. I did not know kids who went to college in my village. Even though I will be playing 'catch-up' to New York peers for quite awhile, I know I have experiences and resources from my twelve childhood years in Alaska that most Americans would marvel at. There will be a time when I return to Indian Country to live, learn from and give back to. I know the advantages and hardships that challenge us in off-road (isolated by wilderness) America which shares the same circumstances as most of Native America-whether on the reservation or urban neighborhoods. My dad provided us with a subsistence lifestyle eating moose, salmon, grouse, beaver, duck, black bear meat and berries. Throw in some fat, white rice, pilot bread and tang and ya got a meal! My mom's garden provided the Irish spuds and Fairbanks, 300 miles by only airplane, supplied other treats like tofu or even quinoa! Now I survive outta the grocery stores here. Not all bad though! (McDonalds, Subway and lots of pizza shops as well as ice cream parlors here in civilization.)
I know how it is to live in a small log home right in our village which was built by my dad, heated year-round only by one 55 gallon drum wood stove. We still have no running water as it is hauled year round by sno-go (snow machine), pick-up truck or even hand pulled by sled. We have a out house but dad put in a toilet that gravity drains by tossing used water down it. Better than using a frosty outhouse at 40 below! When we were younger than 6, we'd use a honey bucket. Those were the days! But, in 1999, mom got a computer and later dial up internet that cost a buck a minute so she could teach herself these high tech skills. My older niece/sister, Katrina, still attends school in the village and only has a iPhone to get online now when not at school. My other niece is a toddler and lives up the road there with my brother, Vern, mother Audrey and sons, Sheldon and Vernon aka "Nummies." My brother is a oil roustabout at Prudoe Bay. He ran the Iron Dog snowmachine race twice.
In contrast to this fossil burning race fan is my dad, George as he is one of the two remaining snowshoe master builders in Alaska. I often went to the Alaska Federation of Natives annual Arts and Crafts Fair at their annual conference. At AFN I would see amazing Alaska Native art displayed, representing the cultural pride of our state's tribes. Mostly traditional art forms but also more modern items were for sale. Dad was designated a Athabascan Cultural Living Treasure. He builds Koyukon Athabascan snowshoes out of birch, moose and sometimes caribou. Besides being recognized for his mastery of this 10,000 year old craft vital to Athabascans survival in Alaska's winters, he is also a birch sled and fishwheel builder, fine finish carpenter, fur trapper, and firewood supplier. He knows how to survive in bush Alaska as do all my neighbors in village Alaska. He is also known for his long distant snowshoe racing abilities which made him competitive into his late fifties against men half his age.
I know my dad is concerned about passing on the skills of snowshoe building as well as climate change and its impact on Alaska. Dad is concerned about the health of the land for the future. Living off the land is vital to village Alaska. So is having opportunities to educate oneself and have choices to follow your interests and have a good livelihood for our young people.
Enough about me. I will post some photos but this blog is for, about and by my peers. I hope to write or share information I come across which relates to Native teens. I hope the information interests you. This is initially one person's perspective but I hope this blog-magazine will grow and be helpful to other teens and folks living off the beaten path, overlooked parts of rural and urban America or even Canada! I hope you will join together here as a meeting and sharing place.
Your creativity, ideas, comments, content such as photos, video clips, articles, reviews, drawings are welcome. Send me items and put in a sincere, positive effort. There is space for all viewpoints. There is positive happenings in 'Indian Country' which includes all our Native North American peoples. Indigenous, Native American, Inuit, First Nations, half breed or more and our allies - we ALL need each other to enact positive solutions and outcomes for a better planet. And I will make sure I upload weekly as we went over a month with computer problems but now the tower is back talking to the router and the printer! A benefit of town living was having a computer repair person help get us back online. Even though it took three 'doctor' visits, that final home visit would have been more costly in bush Alaska, so I count our blessings and send out best wishes for good outcomes wherever YOU live! Write about your village, rez, reserve or home town. Generation Indigenous has something to say. You are appreciated.
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