Project Jukebox

Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

Project Jukebox Survey

Help us redesign the Project Jukebox website by taking a very short survey!

Don Woodruff

Don Woodruff

Born in Long Beach, California and moving around a lot as part of a military family, Don Woodruff came to Alaska in the 1970s and studied ceramics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. After a float trip on the Yukon River, Don was enthralled with the place, and in 1978 built a remote cabin at Washington Creek and settled there with his family. They lived a subsistence-based lifestyle relying upon fishing, hunting, trapping, and berrypicking. He eventually built another cabin up the Kandik River to expand his trapping activity. He lived on the Kandik River for more than ten years and worked summer jobs in Eagle and commercial fishing in Bristol Bay to earn enough money to support his remote lifestyle. After Don divorced and met his current wife, Jan, they moved permanently to the Kandik River cabin and lived an active subsistence lifestyle. Having been  a trapper, fisherman, and hunter and having traveled the region by dogteam and boat for so many years, Don has expert knowledge of the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and has witnessed environmental and social changes in the area, and now living in Eagle he is known for his large and productive garden. Don has served on the local Eagle Fish and Game Advisory Council and the Federal Resource Advisory Council, and continues to advocate for the importance of subsistence.

Don Woodruff appears in the following new Jukebox projects: