KAREN: Do you remember what kinds of things they taught you in those trainings? Like that first one when you were there for two weeks, do you remember --

TRUDY: Well, they taught us how to deliver babies for one. Taught us how to care for major cuts. All kinds of things.

They really worked hard to try to teach us how to pick up on how people are getting sick. When we know someone is getting sick, we should tell them. A lot of people don't care. They just let it go. But we were taught all kinds of things, burns and what have you, delivery. I didn't know how to deliver.

KAREN: Yeah.

TRUDY: No way. I did it because I had to do it. How long I had my clinic in my home. And I had a lot of children. The girl and my oldest boy are the ones that really helped me.

My boy used to drive me around. My girl used to go with me, so she could help if she needed to. Dad almost croaked when he saw us clean the scalp of the little boy.

KAREN: I know, you telling me that story made me queasy just listening to it.

TRUDY: I just lifted it up and: “Ahhh.” I thought he was going to fall.

KAREN: So that training that you got, you think that was enough training?

TRUDY: No. We never thought that any one training was enough. And they knew it up there: “We know, but we can't take you away too long.”
Which was a good thing. At least they were thinking about us.

KAREN: Yeah, I was wondering if you came across a case where you didn't know what to do 'cause you didn't have the training for it.

TRUDY: Well, that's what I say. Like the delivery, I didn't know anything about delivering a baby. Never in my life had I been involved in anything like that.

KAREN: It sounds scary.

TRUDY: Or even saw anybody deliver a baby. Just did it because I had to.

KAREN: Sounds scary.

TRUDY: After the first one, I wasn't scared.

KAREN: Was there a midwife in Hoonah?

TRUDY: No.

KAREN: No. Nothing like that.

TRUDY: We don't have any old, hardly any old people there anymore. Very few. People in our age group are the ones that are called the old people. I'm 72, 71. I'll be 72 in August. And they call us the old folks.

KAREN: But when you were there as the health aide and needing to deliver that baby was there an elder midwife?

TRUDY: No.

KAREN: No. Not even then.

TRUDY: No.

KAREN: Wow.

TRUDY: If there had been, I wouldn't have been as scared as I was. Because I'd know somebody would be there to help me.

KAREN: Do you remember what you did to get through that?

TRUDY: No. Just sat there as nonchalant as you could be and act like you know what you're doing. 'Cause you don't want that girl to get scared, so I'd act like I knew what I was doing.

And she did really good, her first child. I told her boyfriend: “You stay out of here, you're the one that's scaring her.” He left, he went out in the living room.

KAREN: When you had to communicate with -- you had to talk with the doctors, they were in Sitka?

TRUDY: Oh, yeah. Mt. Edgecumbe.

KAREN: Did you have telephones?

TRUDY: Oh, yeah! What do you think we are?

KAREN: No, well some places didn't. Some of the people I've talked to they had to do it by radio.

TRUDY: I did -- the very beginning in 1965, I had to use the radio at the store office to call the doctor. Then, eventually we got a telephone. As soon as they came out, we got one. Then I never had problems.

KAREN: Right.

TRUDY: You know, when I talked to the doctor I made sure that the patient was there. So it could be repeated properly.

KAREN: That was once you had a phone. When you had to go to the store to use the radio did you have the patient with you?

TRUDY: No, not on that case. But after we got our own phones. People would have to come to the house anyways, so just let them listen to the conversation.

KAREN: Were you one of the first houses then in Hoonah to get a phone?

TRUDY: Yeah, we had to be because we were after them to get phones. “I'm having a hard time because I don't have a telephone,” I'd tell my husband.

So, in his city meetings he was telling them: “The health aide needs a phone. Somebody needs to do something about getting phones out here."

And finally we got it. It was good. Not that we really wanted it. We were happy without it. But after I got it, it was ringing off the hook. Even through the night. But my husband said: “It's better than to have to run out and see what's going on.”