Hannah Anderson, Transcript Section 1

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Hannah Anderson,
Transcript Section 1

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MARLA: Okay. So my name is Marla Statscewich, and I have the pleasure today of doing an interview of Hannah Anderson in her home in Bettles.

Today is October 25th, and there's -- it's snowing outside and there's about 12 inches on the ground. And we're doing this project for the Community Health Aide Program. And I want to thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview and talk to me about your experiences here in Bettles. So thank you.

HANNAH: Okay.

MARLA: So if we just -- I just figure we'll start. If you want to give me a little background information, when you were born, where you were born, your parents, anything along those lines, and then we can continue from there.

HANNAH: Okay. I'm Hannah Anderson -- I'm Hannah Tobuck Anderson. My parents was Dave -- was Eva Brasil and David Tobuck. I was born at Alatna.

MARLA: In what year?

HANNAH: 1924.

MARLA: December 10th?

HANNAH: December 10, 1924.

MARLA: Great.

HANNAH: And as I understand it, when I -- I was born at Alatna because my dad's folks lived down there. And the missionary nurse was there at Alatna -- Allakaket. But we lived in -- our home was Bettles, Old Bettles, which is five miles from here now. Down -- down the river a ways.
And my dad was a riverboat pilot. My mother, a wife, homemaker. And my mother died in -- when she was very young. She -- she died when she was 29 years old. But she was born at Myrtle Creek near Wiseman up here. Her dad was a prospector back then, 1900. And dad was born, I think from the Kobuk area, so I'm not really sure where he was born, but over there somewhere.

And I guess after I got -- I'm not sure, but I know I grew up at -- I grew up in Bettles. And we were just...

MARLA: You said you were born in Alatna but you grew up in Bettles?

HANNAH: Yeah.

MARLA: Did you got -- did your mother and father go to Alatna specifically for you to be born?

HANNAH: I think so. I think this is what they were doing because we came back to Bettles and I was a child down here.

MARLA: And how many siblings did you have?

HANNAH: There's four of us. Let's see, my -- my dad was married twice, so there's four more after that.

MARLA: Okay.

HANNAH: So.

MARLA: And what number were you?

HANNAH: I'm next to the youngest.

MARLA: Okay.

HANNAH: Yeah.

MARLA: I just wondering if you did a lot taking care of your siblings --

HANNAH: Yeah, we did.

MARLA: -- after your mother passed.

HANNAH: After that, the two -- the youngest ones, which was myself and Rosie, took care of our little half sisters after dad remarried.

MARLA: Okay.

HANNAH: So yeah.