Florence Nictune

The following tape was recorded with Wallace and Florence Nictune at their home in Evansville, Alaska on September 15, 1992. When interviewers Bill Schneider and David Krupa arrived, their letter describing the project sat on the kitchen table, and the Nictunes were very courteous and helpful as the prospects for making a recording were discussed. Outside, an early freeze-up was under way, but the Nictunes seemed well prepared and unconcerned. Their old dog snored in the corner, and smoke curled up lazily from Wallace's cigarette. Both Wallace and Florence expressed some sadness over the fact that they felt they were among the few people left in the area. Their own children had moved away, some as far away as the Lower 48. They said that there just wasn't enough opportunity in the village to keep people around anymore. When discussing the old times, they became a lot more animated, and from the recording the listener can get an inkling of the former hustle and bustle of the Koyukuk River and its distinctive communities.