KAREN: Any -- any special moment or experience from your years that you would like to share with other people that was important to you? Good or bad.

STELLA: Important to me as a health aide?

KAREN: Yeah, or as a person, something that -- that experiences.

STELLA: Oh, that -- yeah, my experience as I wanted to become a health aide is that I -- I was able to do something that I didn't think that I could do.

KAREN: Uh-hum.

STELLA: That, you know, if -- if you put your mind to it, you can certainly do something.

KAREN: Uh-hum. What about for the -- the next generation of the health aides, do you have any advice or lessons to pass on to them?

STELLA: Yes. The health aide is -- is a job that you really need to want to be, you know, because there is where -- a person has to be wanting -- wanting to -- wanting to help or wanting -- wanting to be there.

KAREN: Uh-hum.

STELLA: Is that what you were asking me?

KAREN: Yeah. Yeah. Sort of advice for -- yeah, the up and coming ones and --

STELLA: And it's not, you know, a really -- you know, it might be a -- you know, something, it's a good paying job, it could be, but, you know, it's just you have to realize that sometimes it's going to be a sad situation. It's not always a happy time.

It's -- and people that are sick that you worry about, but then -- and the other way, you know, I would say it makes me feel good to help them.

KAREN: Uh-hum.

STELLA: Uh-hum. To be there. I mean, to do something, at least, to be there, to help them, or to try to -- well, I say try to help them do -- go to a different doctors or, you know, come here.

KAREN: Uh-hum. In your work as a health aide, did you ever use some traditional healing or plants or anything? Did you mix that in with the Western?

STELLA: No. No, I didn't think that -- that I would do that.

KAREN: Do you know if other -- other health aides around Kodiak do that?

STELLA: I don't know. I don't think so.

KAREN: That's interesting.

STELLA: No.

KAREN: Do you know the mixture and the balance that --

STELLA: Although, I also gave some advice to some people that are real allergic or can't handle the medicines, I would say, why don't you just try traditional, like even for coughing, because when I was growing up, I always had onions and I guess they put sugar in it to make it like a syrup.

KAREN: Hmm. For a cough?

STELLA: Uh-hum. You know, little things I would give advice if they want to try, but not to say they have to do it or...