Written from my notes...Mom's Life Story...Chapter 2

In Akhiok village there are no stores. Moser Bay is to the north and Lazy Bay is to the south. There is one store seven miles south at the cannery in Alitak and one store seven miles north in Moser Bay.

 Alitak Cannery 1989 - photo by Judy A. Peterson

 

 Moser Bay, AK 1989 - photo by Judy A. Peterson

 Its an all day walk over tundra and across beaches to get to the store in the north at Moser Bay and you have to beware of the large Kodiak bears. Mom walked there once.

Mom and her friend Gladys made a plan to walk to Moser Bay but knew their parents wouldn't let them.

So mom woke up early one morning and walked and walked wearing boots and warm clothes.

My mom Vonnie - not sure of location in this photo

Halfway to Moser Bay was Larry Matfay's fish camp. They didn't think to bring food. Larry's fish camp was a shack with tin ribs and driftwood nailed together.

Larry Matfay, old Akhiok barabara 1989 - photo by Judy A. Peterson

Larry's fish camp was open, so mom and Gladys went in looking for food because they were so hungry. They found some hard candy and ate it which made them happy.

They had walked over land to get to the cabin but then walked on the big long beach the rest of the way. They passed a white man's camp but didn't go in. 

Moser Bay, AK 1989 - photo by Judy A. Peterson

By the afternoon they arrived at Moser Bay and the whole village was in an uproar! Their parents thought they had died. People were always drowning.

Moser Bay Cannery 1989 - photo by Judy A. Peterson

The winter watchman got on the phone right away to tell their parents that they were okay because everyone was looking for them...

"This is KOT Larsen Bay calling AOB Alitak. Are you reading me? Over." 

Every morning at 9am and then at 4pm all the villages call in to make a weather report to Kodiak. The land to sea radio operator was a woman named Dottie. Mom said her brother Duffy would know the real call numbers but she just made them up for her story.

Everyone in the village had their radios on in the boats and in their houses.

Dottie replied, "AOB 99 Alitak back to KOTB Larsen Bay, I'm reading you...I'm reading you. There's two girls (age, name) missing from Alitak village. They just disappeared. Nobody knows nothing. Been calling up everywhere. Have you heard anything? Over."

The winter watchman replied, "We got your two missing girls here. They just walked into the cannery here. They'll be riding home in an outboard skiff. Over."

There were white people watching all the drama with mom and Gladys in the Moser Bay cannery that day.

Mom's step-dad Scotty was one out of two winter watchmen when they lived in Larsen Bay.

Archie Brunton, nicknamed "Scotty"

22 years later...mom's life story

 March 19, 2011 Saturday Super Full Moon

While looking in my files out in the garage I came across a folder I’d titled “Mom’s Life Story”. I seem to have forgotten that I once tried to capture her life story. Here is only the beginning of what is in the folder.  I will add more of her story as I find the time. I began taking notes of mom's storytelling at her house on Taylor Street in Santa Cruz, CA on January 12, 1989.

Vonnie with her mom Marie 

 

My mom, Vonnie was born on January 23, 1939 in Seattle, WA on a rainy day. She was a breech baby and her mom, Marie (whom we called Nana) was pronounced dead at birth. Mom almost died too. Fortunately, Nana survived.

Nana is originally from Afognak, Alaska but was going to school in Washington State to become a teacher when she had mom. After her studies she returned to Alaska.

Back then you had to travel by boat to get to the mainland of Alaska. Mom's little brother, Duffy dreamt the boat was going to sink and so they changed their travel plans. And the boat they were going to take did sink!

Leaving Seattle, mom was seven years old. When Nana, mom and Duffy left Seattle they made their way to Old Harbor, Alaska. Then they went to Lazy Bay Cannery in Alitak in an outboard skiff. Alitak is seven miles south of Akhiok village. 

Lazy Bay Cannery courtesy of Timothy Smith

When bush airplanes arrived in the village everyone ran to the beach to greet it. Akhiok village back then had a population of 61. Alfred Noemoff was there. Mom had blue eyes. My dad, Joseph saw Nana, mom and Duffy in the plane and told his friend “I’m going to marry that girl someday.” Mom was 9 years old and dad was 11 years old. They married three years later at ages 14 and 16 when mom became pregnant with my older brother Tom.

 Duffy, Nana and mom

They went to Mary Phillips house. She had keys to the schoolhouse and was a nice, laughing lady. They lived in the schoolhouse and ate powdered eggs with water and scrambled that with canned spinach.

Akhiok village, courtesy of Timothy Smith

Upstairs were two bedrooms. Duffy and mom shared one and Nana and my step-grandpa Scotty shared the other one. There was a small living room and small kitchen on one side of the schoolhouse. The school was one big room. In the attic was government food. There were approximately 20 desks. There was a pump in the kitchen to pump water from the well. There was an electric light plant in a shed with an engine in the back to turn the school lights on and was loud.

The village used gas lamps. They had a battery radio. They heated irons on the stove. Scotty showed movies in black and white such as Roy Rogers & Dale Evans and Gene Autrey.

The mail boat brought the movies and was rare. Uncle Robert always gave mom candy bars…Cup ‘o Gold. They went out to the mail boat in a skiff.

Akhiok, AK - photo by Judy A. Peterson

When they lived in Larsen Bay Uncle Robert brought them a cow. He hoisted the big black pregnant cow, dropped it in the water and it swam to shore.

 Larsen Bay, AK - photo by Judy A. Peterson

Happy Ozhuwan had two bulls and kept wondering why they never had any babies. Happy couldn’t read or write.

The cow that Uncle Robert brought to them birthed seven bulls, which they put out on an island. She provided fresh milk and they named her Star because she had a black and white star on her forehead.

 

At Larsen Bay they caught fish by throwing rocks up river. The rocks stunned the salmon and they were able to catch them with their hands and throw them onto the beach. During salmon season there were lots of bears.

 Larsen Bay, AK - photo by Judy A. Peterson

Uncle Robert married Nana and Scotty in Larsen Bay in a radio shack because he was a captain of a ship.

 

Scotty, my little brother Jon and Nana (much later)