Willa Ashenfelter was a health aide in White Mountain from 1967 to 2001. Her mother had been a chemotherapy aide and helped with doctor visits. Willa became a health aide because the Tribal Council had a job opening and she said she was willing to do it. She worked with and was trained by long-time village health aide Martha Agloinga.

Irene Aukongak was born in Upper Kalskag and received nursing training at Mt. Edgecumbe School in Sitka, Alaska. She married a man from Golovin, moved back to his village with him in 1956, and because of her nursing background was asked to help with visiting doctors and nurses. She retired from being a health aide in 2002.

In this interview, Willa and Irene talk about the training they received, early equipment they had, working without being paid, methods of communication with the doctors, challenges and joys of the work, the importance of family and community support for a health aide, dealing with emergency cases, changes in program management, the job turnover rate within the health aide program, and advice to the younger generation.

1) Some background about each of their lives and families, and how Irene became a health aide.
background -- Ashenfelter, Willa\ parents -- Lincoln, Abraham\ parents -- Lincoln, Lucy\ health aide\ retirement\ White Mountain\ marriage\ children -- number of\ grandchildren\ background -- Aukongak, Irene\ Upper Kalskag\ Kuskokwim River\ school -- part time\ family -- moving\ trapping\ Holy Cross -- school\ Crooked Creek\ school year\ Mt. Edgecumbe -- school\ Sitka, Alaska\ education\ certification -- nursing\ training -- Licensed Practical Nurse\ Golovin\ husband\ Anchorage\ mother-in-law -- caring for\ health aide -- selection\ Fagerstrom, Mayor Floyd\ doctors -- visiting\ nurses -- visiting\ Anchorage -- hospital\ nursing -- training\ nursing -- experience\ teacher\ high school|

2) Willa tells how she became a health aide.
health aide -- becoming\ mother -- medical aide\ patients -- care of\ tuberculosis\ medicine -- ordering\ Frazier, Dr. Rabeau\ Kotzebue\ Alaska Native Medical Center\ doctor -- reporting to\ communication -- radio\ Agloinga, Martha\ injections -- Penicillin\ medicines\ Lincoln, Lucy -- retired\ city council\ health aide -- selection\ Agloinga, Martha -- assistant\ training\ payment -- lack of\ job -- wages\ midwife\ village -- helpers\ Buck, Rita\ Simon, Mike\ Brown, Carl\ [Kumagak], Linda\ Agloinga, Sally\ job -- quitting\ quitting -- thoughts about\ patients -- care for|

3) Irene talks about times she wanted to quit and why she never did.
quitting -- thoughts about\ pay -- lack of\ death -- coping with\ patients -- care of\ patients -- cancer\ training\ patients -- worry about\ helper -- Willoya, Florence\ Farrell, Phyllis\ Henry, Sharon\ Lock, Sharon\ Lincoln, Howard\ job -- on-call\ elders -- support from\ support -- each other\ cases -- talk about\ telephone -- calls\ confidentiality\ husband -- support from\ emergencies\ clinic\ village residents -- support from\ Nome\ family -- support of\ children\ marriage\ families|

4) Raising a family while working as a health aide, and what it was like before the health aide program became official and they started to receive pay.
families -- raising\ health aide -- work\ family\ career -- balance of\ babysitters\ children -- age of\ people -- helping\ work -- enjoyment of\ money -- importance of\ co-workers -- importance of\ health aide -- training\ nurse -- training\ doctors -- communication with\ Kotzebue\ communication -- radios\ radio room\ visits -- home\ radio -- use of\ radio -- first time\ ?, Dr. Dudley\ medication -- refill\ medicines -- Phenobarbital and Belladonna\ James, LPN Robert|

5) Radio call, and how it worked.
communication -- radio\ doctors -- communicating with\ radio call -- education\ education -- each other\ reception -- quality of\ radio -- relays\ Nome\ doctors -- voices of\ doctors -- cross cultural training\ doctors -- instructions from\ radio relay -- Point Hope\ Stebbins\ cases -- reporting\ radio call -- duration of\ KICY -- break-ins\ confidentiality\ names -- use of\ villages -- sizes of\ patients -- identity of|

6) Delivering babies in the village, often with Lucy Lincoln's help.
communication -- types of\ communication -- early\ teachers -- medical responsibilities of\ radio -- single side band\ radio -- location of\ school\ radio -- interference\ radio -- reliability of\ radio -- quality of\ Lincoln, Lucy -- midwife\ babies -- delivery of\ examination -- sonogram\ patient -- pre-natal\ delivery -- date of\ labor -- early\ Lincoln, Lucy -- help from\ fundal height -- high\ doctor -- report to\ labor -- active\ telephone\ delivery -- breech\ training -- use of|   

7) Irene talks about delivering a stillborn baby and how health aides helped each other through such tragedies.
baby -- delivery\ delivery -- first\ elders\ Boon, Ida\ elders -- support from\ birth -- early\ camp\ labor -- early\ doctor -- contact with\ birth -- breech\ birth -- stillborn\ births -- hospital\ parents -- talking with\  tragedy -- coping with\ health aides -- support from\ prayer\ talking\ deliveries -- prayer before\ babies -- importance of|

8) The first meetings of health aides organized by Norton Sound Health Corporation and the importance of the support network provided by those meetings and training sessions.
doctors -- village visits\ village visits -- preparation for\ Norton Sound Health Corporation\ Health Aide Association\ Health Aide Association -- formation of\ communication -- radio\ radio -- voices\ meetings -- in person\ talking circle\ meetings -- importance of\ meetings -- frequency\ health aides -- primary\ health aides -- new\ training\ Public Health Service -- employment\ Alaska Native Brotherhood -- pay\ Maynard MacDougal Memorial Hospital\ Nome\ training\ Kotzebue\ Indian Health Service Hospital\ healing|

9) Development of the training program for health aides and what health aides learned about during training.
health aide -- training\ training program -- development of\ Norton Sound Health Corporation\ Public Health Service -- employment\ training\ Kotzebue\ Anchorage\ Norton Sound Hospital\ training center\ PAC HA PA\ training -- standardization of\ doctors\ nurses\ programs -- planning for\ Dillingham\ Kodiak\ training -- duration\ training -- location\ training -- clinical\ White Mountain\ patients -- quantity\ training -- content of\ anatomy\ body systems\ training -- adequacy of\ instruments -- familiarity with\ catheterizations\ village residents -- bravery of\ health aides -- age of|

10) Treating patients in embarrassing or uncomfortable situations, like in the case of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), or treating family members.
patient -- care\ examinations -- types of\ examinations -- training for\ anatomy -- embarrassment\ embarrassment -- overcoming it\ patient -- talking with\ learning -- repetition\ shots -- giving\ medicine -- penicillin\ Lincoln, Lucy\ illness -- sexually transmitted disease\ injections -- fear of\ penicillin -- resistance to\ family -- treatment of\ illness -- strep throat|

11) Issues about treating friends and family, and how they coped with the dangers of getting involved with situations involving alcohol abuse.
village -- social aspects\ medical care -- providers\ choice\ White Mountain\ patients -- treatment of\ treatment -- equal\ family -- treatment of\ son -- asthma\ patients -- worry about\ alcohol -- abuse\ alcohol -- cases involving\ Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs)\ intoxication -- incident with\ health aides -- escorts for\ home visits\ Alaska State Troopers\ White Mountain\ alcohol -- legality\ City Council -- meeting\ City Council -- support of\ safety|

12) Dealing with deaths, including suicides and accidents.
cases -- alcohol involved\ alcohol -- abuse\ intoxication -- dealing with\ Village Public Safety Officers\ emergencies -- dealing with\ community -- help from\ case -- worst\ suicide -- dealing with\ suicide -- family member\ gunshot\ Agloinga, Martha\ Buck, Rita\ clinic -- running to\ oxygen -- carrying\ care -- knowing what to do\ Alaska State Troopers\ emergency -- called to\ cases -- fatal\ Norton Sound Health Corporation\ people -- support from\ deaths -- clean-up\ family -- helping\ bodies -- preparation of\ Alaska State Troopers -- participation of\ suicide\ accidents|