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Willie Goodwin, Jr.

Willie Goodwin, Jr.

Willie Goodwin, Jr. is an Iñupiaq elder from Kotzebue, Alaska. He was born in 1944 and graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe high school in Sitka, Alaska and went on to receive electronic training in Los Angeles and New York. He worked at Cape Kennedy and then at the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Site at Clear, Alaska. After returning home to Kotzebue, Willie worked for RurAL CAP, the Northwest Native Association, in the lands department at NANA regional corporation, was mayor of the City of Kotzebue, and served as Director of Planning for the Northwest Arctic Borough. He also grew up hunting and fishing and learning traditional subsistence skills from his father.
Willie Goodwin, Jr. appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
Willie Goodwin, Jr. and Joe Harris, Sr., Part 1

Willie Goodwin, Jr. and Joe Harris, Sr. were interviewed on May 17, 2017 by Karen Brewster and Andy Mahoney in an apartment of the Fish and Wildlife Service bunkhouse in Kotzebue, Alaska. In this first part of a two part interview, Willie and Joe share their experiences with learning to hunt seals on shorefast ice and amidst moving, broken pieces of ice, and gaining knowledge of sea ice conditions and safety. They talk about the importance of understanding ice conditions, the effect of wind and current, freeze-up and break-up, and how conditions have changed in their lifetimes. They also discuss times when people have drifted out on moving ice.

 2013-25-37_PT.1 Sea Ice in Northern Alaska May 17, 2017
Willie Goodwin, Jr. and Joe Harris, Sr., Part 2

This is the continuation of an interview with Willie Goodwin, Jr. and Joe Harris, Sr. on May 17, 2017 with Karen Brewster and Andy Mahoney at an apartment in the Fish and Wildlife Service bunkhouse in Kotzebue, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Willie and Joe talk about learning about safe ice conditions,knowing how to travel across the ice, and drifting out on ice. They also discuss changes in ice conditions, freeze-up and breakup, and Iñupiaq terminology for ice types. Joe also shares a story about a time when he got caught in a boat amidst moving ice floes.

 2013-25-37_PT.2 Sea Ice in Northern Alaska May 17, 2017