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Stephen "Steve" Matthew
Stephen "Steve" Matthew was born in 1931 to Cora and Julius Matthew at camp at the Rapids on the Yukon River, Alaska. He spent the early years of his life in the river communities of Rampart and Stevens Village. His mother was originally from Stevens Village, and his father was from Tanana. As an adult, Steve also lived at Tanana, Nenana and Galena, where he worked a variety of jobs, including on the sternwheelers, as a cook, and a dishwasher at the Tanana Hospital..In the early 1960s, Steve became involved in the Native land claims movement and attended the first meeting of the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Tanana in 1962. Steve became active in Fairbanks Native Association and Tanana Chief Conference with a strong focus on health and social services program, was ordained to the Episcopal clergy in 1997, and eventually settled in North Pole, Alaska. Stpehen also joined the Army and was a proud member of the Alaska Native Veterans Association. Stephen and his wife, Valerie, raised 6 childen in Tanana and North Pole. Stephen Matthew passed away in 2011. For more about Reverend Stephen Matthew, see his obituary in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper.