Roger Atoruk: Interview Outline: Section 9 The naming of Roger Atoruk and the missionaries Tape Reference Number: H2002-09-07 Roger Atoruk talks with Bill Schneider, Hazel Apok, and Eileen Devinney in Kiana, Alaska on February 27, 2002

Roger Atoruk: John Atoruk. I was named after my grandfather, my father's -- my father's father, John -- John Atoruk. But there were two ladies that named me Roger. I would like to be named John after my grandfather. Because they gave me Atoruk, Eskimo name Atoruk, but they named me Roger. I think it was after Jimmy Rodgers. That singer, Jimmy Rodgers.

Eileen Devinney: Who were the two ladies?

Roger Atoruk: They must have -- they must have liked that. They had record players, you know, the kind that you wind. They -- they must have only one record or something of Jimmie Rogers. And they -- that was Florence Jackson. And Margaret -- Margaret Ferreira's mother. Mother, who was that now?

Hazel Apok: [Translation: "I don't know her"]

Roger Atoruk: Tulukaan is her Eskimo name.

Bill Schneider Tulukaan?

Roger Atoruk: Tulukaan. That's Belle Cook's sister.

Hazel Apok: Other names, you got? - oh, just Stella?

Roger Atoruk: Yeah, there's a lot of other names, but that all the ones I can remember -- I could remember right now. And there used to be a church over at the old village. It was pretty new when I -- when I was growing up, in 1930s. It must have been around -- been built around 1920s or something.

Eileen Devinney: Was that a Friends Church?

Roger Atoruk: Friends Church, uh-hum. We had our first missionaries, Miss Hunnicutt. She was a white lady, Miss Hunnicutt. And afterwards we started getting Eskimos, Eskimo missionaries.

And everybody used to go to spring camp to hunt muskrats. That's about the only income they had. No -- no other work in the village. No jobs. The only income was trapping. Trapping and hunting for fur. No electricity - no electricity, no running water. And after spring camp, we used to go out for summer -- summer -- summer fish camp. After summer fish camp we used to go to fall camps. We used to move from camp to camp all year around. The only time we come to the -- to Kiana is wintertime.

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