Joe and Celia Beetus

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Joe and Celia Beetus
Joe and Celia Beetus were interviewed by Mike Spindler and Orville Huntington in Hughes on March 28, 1996. Joe was also recorded in February, 2004 by Eric Mack. The interviews were edited and produced by Clinton Brown.

"CELIA BEETUS is 80 years old. She has lived in Hughes since 1938. She was born by the mouth of Alatna River by Allakaket. She was born on September 5, 1922.

Her mom is Annie Koyukuk and her dad is Jimmie Koyukuk.

She went to missionary when she was a kid. She has five sisters and five brothers. She grew up in Allakaket and most of her summers were spent 10 miles below Allakaket at fish camp.

She has a husband named Grandpa Joe. She was married for 66 years. She was sixteen years old when she got married. She had eleven kids.

I wish she could stay alive forever or at least until I pass away but she can't. I love her and when I see her sew beautiful things and they are so beautiful that I wish I could sew as beautiful and as good as her. "

By Tamara Bergman

5th Grade

Johnny Oldman School

JOE BEETUS was born and raised around Allakaket until he was about 14 when his family moved down to the Hughes area. His mother was Ida and his father Leon. Leon was a prominent member of the community that coalesced around the Episcopal Mission, St. John's-in-the-Wilderness, that was built by Hudson Stuck in l907-08 at the site that became the village of Allakaket. Leon died not long after Joe was born, and his mother married Little Beetus, who was from around South Fork. Joe grew up largely in camp, particularly in the Kanuti or Old Man River area. In l938 he married Celia Koyukuk, daughter of Jimmy and Annie Koyukuk, who was also from the Allakaket area. They settled around Hughes. Throughout much of his adult life, Joe has trapped and hunted in the winter from a cabin base camp on Hog or Hogatsa River, north and east of Hughes. He spent many summers working in a mining camp.

The goal of Raven's Story is to record elders' stories, observations, and experiences relating to wildlife, fish, and subsistence in the Koyukuk and middle Yukon areas of interior Alaska. This Raven's Story was produced by Clinton Brown at public radio station KIYU-AM in Galena, Alaska, with the support of Louden Tribal Council and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Click on an audio link below to listen to a story.
H2004-01-18/19
Celia Beetus
1) Wood Uses (3:04)
2) Berries (2:40)
3) Caribou Skin (2:40)
4) Clothing for the Cold (3:16)
5) Fishing Techniques (4:25)
6) Muskrats (5:08)
7) Parent Supervision (2:31)
8) School (2:54)
9) Travel (4:29)
Joe Beetus
10) Hunting Sheep and Bear Dens (4:36)
11) Bear Den Supported 3 Bears (5:24)
12) Crafty Bears (3:56)
13) Goose Hunting (2:34)
14) Learning from Others (3:05)
15) Moose and Caribou (4:38)
16) Spring Camp and Dry Meat (4:47)
17) Telling Stories (4:32)
H2004-01-27
Joe Beetus:
1) Early Settlements on the Koyukuk River (4:12)
2) Flu Epidemic in Allakaket (2:44)
3) Dog Team Mail Routes in the 1920's (2:37)
4) Mail Run to the Upper Koyukuk During Freeze-Up (3:35)
5) Stores at Allakaket and Alatna in the 1920's (3:30)
6) Missing School Growing Up (3:09)
7) Hunting with Johnny Oldman (3:21)
8) Eskimo Belief about Porcupine (4:02)
9) Cold Weather and Clothing (2:45)
10) Moving to Hughes and Working in Mines (2:48)
11) Cutting Steamboat Wood (2:36)
12) Salmon and Caribou Population (3:05)
13) Lost a D-6 Through the Ice (4:21)
14) Making a Living (2:53)
15) Trapping Alone (3:17)
 
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