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Lydia Fly
Lydia Fly was interviewed on April 13, 2005 by William Schneider, Louann Rank and Marla Statscewich at the school in Tuluksak, Alaska. Lydia speaks in both English and Yup'ik. There was no Yup'ik translator available during the interview, but Lydia was encouraged to tell her story in Yup'ik anyway. Lydia's laughter was infectious, so there was lots of giggling in this interview. Sophie Kasayulie helped translate a few sections of this interview the following day. In this interview, Lydia talks about growing up near Uuravik, how the family traveled to seasonal camps for hunting, fishing and trapping, living near Macavik with her husband in a mud house, running the trapline with him, and types of Native foods she likes.
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 2004-07-27
Project: Tuluksak
Date of Interview: Apr 13, 2005
Narrator(s): Lydia Fly
Interviewer(s): Bill Schneider, Louann Rank, Marla Statscewich
Translator:
Location of Interview:
Funding Partners:
U.S. Department of Education, Alaska Native Education, Yupiit School District
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.
Sections
1) Background information.
2) Traveling to camps and living off the land.
3) Camps.
4) Marriage.
5) Living in a mud house on the Macivik and subsisting off the land.
6) Translation by Sophie Kasayulie of Lydia's description of life in Macivik (recorded in Akiachak on April 14, 2005).
7) Types of food she likes to make and eat.
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: born -- across from Uuravik/ Yup’ik name/ parents -- Lott, Peter and Martha/ grew-up -- Tuluksak, Bogus Creek/ school -- then on to camp/ parents -- hunting, fishing/ sew -- mother/ make fish traps -- father/ first sewing project/ parkas -- tanned hides|
Section 2: summer camp/ spring camp/ (speaks in Yup’ik)/ set net -- made by hand/ king salmon net/ kinds of fish/ (Yup’ik)/ parents -- made a church/ fish camp|
Section 3: Bogus Creek -- Kuskokwim River/ fish camp/ (speaks in Yup’ik)/ spring camp -- across the Tuluksak River/ always busy -- not lonely/ Hawk, Minnie/ no money -- only subsistence|
Section 4: married -- age 15/ arranged marriage/ Fly, Frank -- passed away/ living alone/ children/ lived in Macivik/ mud house -- very warm|
Section 5: (speaks in Yup’ik)/ picture -- Lydia skinning a beaver/ beaver/ otter/ parka/ lush fishing -- Macivik|
Section 6: Compared to the homes now made out of plywood, the mud houses were much warmer. They were excellent. She says they were really warm compared to today. Her husband would fish for all kinds of fresh water fish like pikes or whitefish. She enjoyed being out in the wild at their camp. She never got lonely, even though they were by themselves. She would go up with her husband with her dog team to go trapping. They would be out there hunting and trapping with the dog team. They traveled all over the Macivik area, fur trading and then just before Christmas they went back to their camp. They would go back to their camp in March and April. In May it warmed up and they would go muskrat hunting with the canoe. She had her own canoe on the lakes hunting muskrats. She would be scared when the canoe was going to tip over. She was using traps for muskrat. She would set her traps around the beaver’s house. She would make holes and set the trap near muskrat houses or beaver houses. She would find the muskrat in the trap.
Section 7: pike -- akutaq/ whitefish/ dried fish eggs -- summertime/ kinds of food/ fermented fish/ husband, Frank -- hunting/ stayed in camp/ travel -- dog sled/ set net -- from Anchorage|