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Willa Ashenfelter

Willa Ashenfelter is Iñupiaq and was born on July 4, 1940 to Lucy and Abraham Lincoln in the village of White Mountain, Alaska. She grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle with summers at fish camp. Her father died in 1952 from tuberculosis, so her mother and the children did all the hard work of harvesting, cutting, and drying the fish. Willa got married in 1959 to George Ashenfelter and raised six children in White Mountain. In the early 1960s, the Ashenfelters spent five years in Chicago, Illinois while George received training as cook at a trade school. In 1967, Willa became the health aide in White Mountain when the Tribal Council had a job opening and she said she was willing to do it. She credits her interest in being a health aide to having grown up watching her mother be a medical aid to tuberculosis patients and help with doctor visits to the village. Willa worked with and was trained by long-time village health aide, Martha Agloinga. Willa retired in 2001. For more about Willa Ashenfelter, listen to an interview with her aired in 2017 as part of KNOM radio station's Elder Voices series.

Date of Birth:

Jul 4, 1940

Willa Ashenfelter appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Community Health Aide Program

Irene Aukongak's Slideshow

Willa Ashenfelter's Slideshow

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak, Part 1	Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak were interviewed on September 13, 2005 by Karen Brewster at the Norton Sound Health Corporation, Village Health Services office in Nome, Alaska. Willa and Irene were interviewed together because they were health aides in nearby villages during the same time period, worked closely together, went to training together, and are close friends. They traveled to Nome for the interview. They have great fun remembering their younger days and telling stories together, each adding to the memories of the other. In this first part of a three part interview, Willa and Irene talk about how they became health aides, training they received, early equipment they had, working without being paid, methods of communication with the doctors, challenges and joys of the work, the importance of family and community support for a health aide, and changes in management of the health aide program. They also talk about delivering babies, handling emergency cases, working in their home village, and dealing with deaths.	2004-17-16_PT.1	Community Health Aide Program	Sep 13, 2005
Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak, Part 2	This is the continuation of an interview with Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak on September 13, 2005 by Karen Brewster at the Norton Sound Health Corporation, Village Health Services office in Nome, Alaska. Willa and Irene were interviewed together because they were health aides in nearby villages during the same time period, worked closely together, went to training together, and are close friends. They traveled to Nome for the interview. They have great fun remembering their younger days and telling stories together, each adding to the memories of the other.In this second part of a three part interview, Willa and Irene talk about the role of the health aide in a community, dealing with suicide, domestic violence, and emergencies, providing quality patient care, developing a patient records system, communicating with doctors and with each other, and relying on each other as co-workers and close friends. They also talk about the use of plants as traditional medicine, how they handled the stress of the job, and the joy of saving lives.	2004-17-16_PT.2	Community Health Aide Program	Sep 13, 2005
Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak, Part 3	This is the continuation of an interview with Willa Ashenfelter and Irene Aukongak on September 13, 2005 with Karen Brewster at the Norton Sound Health Corporation, Village Health Services office in Nome, Alaska. Willa and Irene were interviewed together because they were health aides in nearby villages during the same time period, worked closely together, went to training together, and are close friends. They traveled to Nome for the interview. They have great fun remembering their younger days and telling stories together, each adding to the memories of the other. In this third part of a three part interview, Willa and Irene talk about how they met and became friends, the stresses and rewards of caring for people and being a community health aide, and the joys of successfully treated a patient. They also talk about dealing with accidents and emergencies, how the types of medical problems and communication methods have changed over the years, and effects of an increase in suicides.	2004-17-16_PT.3	Community Health Aide Program	Sep 13, 2005