Marjorie "Margie" Attla

Marjorie "Margie" Attla was born in 1941 to Mary David and Walter Koyukuk at spring camp on the Kanuti Flats east of Allakaket, Alaska. Prior to attending elementary school in the village, she lived a semi-nomadic subsistence-based lifestyle with her parents, moving around among various seasonal camps. During her school years, Margie lived in Allakaket until she left at the age of 17. She moved to Huslia, where she met her husband, Robert Attla, and married him in 1964. They lived in Huslia until 1964, when they moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Margie and family returned to Alaska in 1969, and in 1974 they moved to Galena, where they have resided ever since. Margie and Bob had three children, two daughters and one son (who died young), and actively conducted subsistence activities, including berry picking, salmon fishing, beaver trapping, and moose hunting. Margie worked for the Tanana Chief's Conference for 14 years as their Health and Safety Educator for the Galena sub-region. In 2002, Margie began to work for the Galena Mental Health Clinic as a counselor. She is an active community volunteer, being a key person on the boards of Galena Search and Rescue and Galena KIYU Public Radio, helping to organize the Koyukon Jamboree, a regional fiddle festival held each fall, and hosting a radio show on KIYU to share stories and experiences relating to wildlife, fish and subsistence in the Koyukuk and middle Yukon areas of Interior Alaska. Margie is a fluent speaker of her Native Koyukon Athabascan language, Denaakk’e, and has worked on many Denaakk’e language preservation projects. She has taught throughout Alaska on the importance of subsistence living: how it relates to the Athabascan language, improves the health and safety of Alaska Natives, and keeps culture alive. Even as a elder, she continues to live an active subsistence lifestyle, and in the past, she and her family hosted groups of youth at their fish camp along the Yukon River to share and teach their subsistence lifestyle. In 2018, Margie Attla received the Daaga’ Community Service Award from Doyon Ltd. regional Native corporation.