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Eliza Jones

Eliza Jones was born in 1938 to Little Peter and Josie Peter at a camp near Cutoff, Alaska. Her Native name is Neelteloyeeneelno, which means "mixed talent" or "having more than one project going at the same time." She was named by Grandma Cecilia Happy, who gave her the name because her grandma was a very talented person and she was a good seamstress, fisher person and made good dried fish. Cecilia was a good trapper and hunter so she gave Eliza the name as a way of carrying on the story of her life and also wishing Eliza would inherit some of her talent. Eliza was raised near her grandparents, so she had considerable exposure to fluent Koyukon language speakers. Ever since, she has been fascinated with the Koyukon language and traditional knowledge. From 1973 to 1990, Eliza worked at the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a language expert and translator. She co-authored the Koyukon Athabascan Dictionary (J. Jette and E. Jones, 2000, Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks). In recognition of her language contributions, in 1990, Eliza received her honorary doctorate degree from the University of Alaska. In 1959, she married Benedict Jones from Koyukuk and they had 9 children. After retirement, the couple moved from Fairbanks back to Koyukuk, where Eliza has remained active in the community: serving on the tribal council, working as a Koyukon studies teacher in the school, and continuing to provide language translation expertise. She and Benedict remain active in language preservation efforts, including in recent years an effort to document traditional place names in the Koyukuk River region. For more about Eliza Jones, see a profile of her prepared for the UAF Centennial Celebration.

Date of Birth:

Feb 28, 1938

Eliza Jones appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Raven's Story

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Eliza Jones, Part 1	Eliza Jones was interviewed on December 10, 2002 by Mike Spindler and Clinton Brown in Koyukuk, Alaska for the Raven's Story radio series on KIYU-AM public radio station in Galena, Alaska. In this first part of a two part interview, Eliza talks about living a subsistence lifestyle and following traditional hunting, trapping and fishing practices. She discusses working with moose hide and duck feathers, making fish nets, and setting snares for trapping. She also talks about the effect of wildfires and floods. The interview was edited and produced by Clinton Brown.	2004-01-03_PT.1	Raven's Story	Dec 10, 2002
Eliza Jones, Part 2	This is the continuation of an interview with Eliza Jones on December 10, 2002 by Mike Spindler and Clinton Brown in Koyukuk, Alaska for the Raven's Story radio series on KIYU-AM public radio station in Galena, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Eliza talks about life at fish camp, traditional foods and food preparation, surviving in a cold climate, and traditional beliefs about bears and wolves. The interview was edited and produced by Clinton Brown.	2004-01-03_PT.2	Raven's Story	Dec 10, 2002

Interview Title

Abstract

Archive #: Oral History

Project

Date of Interview

Eliza Jones, Part 1

Eliza Jones was interviewed on December 10, 2002 by Mike Spindler and Clinton Brown in Koyukuk, Alaska for the Raven's Story radio series on KIYU-AM public radio station in Galena, Alaska. In this first part of a two part interview, Eliza talks about living a subsistence lifestyle and following traditional hunting, trapping and fishing practices. She discusses working with moose hide and duck feathers, making fish nets, and setting snares for trapping. She also talks about the effect of wildfires and floods.

The interview was edited and produced by Clinton Brown.

2004-01-03_PT.1

Raven's Story

Dec 10, 2002

Eliza Jones, Part 2

This is the continuation of an interview with Eliza Jones on December 10, 2002 by Mike Spindler and Clinton Brown in Koyukuk, Alaska for the Raven's Story radio series on KIYU-AM public radio station in Galena, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Eliza talks about life at fish camp, traditional foods and food preparation, surviving in a cold climate, and traditional beliefs about bears and wolves.

The interview was edited and produced by Clinton Brown.

2004-01-03_PT.2

Raven's Story

Dec 10, 2002

As Interviewer

Interview Title	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Abstract
Sarah Simon, Interview 2	93-36-05	Raven's Story	Sarah Simon was interviewed on February 10, 1993 by Wendy Arundale and Eliza Jones at Peggy Thompson's house in Fairbanks, Alaska for the Koyukok River History Project. In this interview, Sarah talks about living a traditional subsistence lifestyle based upon hunting, trapping and fishing. She shares her experiences of life at spring camp, cooking for lots of people, and how people enjoyed being at spring camp. She also talks about family relationships and life at summer fish camp. (Photograph of Sarah Simon on the bank of the Koyukok River in Allakaket, Alaska in the summer of 2005 by Peggy Patterson.)