People
My life in Arctic Village: Amateur photographer captures snippets of Alaska village life
(Gary Black/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 27 February 2010) -- FAIRBANKS - Marjorie Gemmill is putting Bush life on film.The 31-year-old amateur photographer, who was born in Fairbanks but has spent her whole life in Arctic Village, carries her camera in the diaper bag of her son, Charlie Gemmill, and uses it to capture scenes surrounding life in Arctic Village. Her shots range from her stepfather, Charlie Swaney, teaching teens subsistence skills to tribal gatherings to baptisms at the village’s church.“My dad, stepdad, uncles and great uncles are all pretty good hunters. We go out hunting and live a subsistence lifestyle. It’s our heritage,” she said. Marjorie is Neetsaii Gwich’in and has worked as a tribal administrator for the past couple of years. She also is a tribal council member. “People say the Gwich’in are a poor people, and they say why don’t we realize we need to open ANWR? But we don’t think like that,” she said. “We put the land and the animals first. We’re rich in our hearts and our traditional lifestyle. That’s why we live here.”
Posted 28 February 2010; 12:11:45 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Alaska, Circumpolar News, Communities, February10, People, Photography
email to: agra...@yukoncollege.yk.ca
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