the river and barging

i've been asked to talk about growing up in a family barge business. as good a place to start as any. since the river has been so big a part of my life and has become a metaphor i know, i will predict that much about my growing up will show through my words as i talk about my people and my home.

as a native man these brown eyes do not only see tracks on the snow or a mud beach. i see a story. i was taught to pay close attention to detail. probably why i so eagerly took to reading water. i see the shape and depth of the river in the action of it's surface and banks, river tracks.

eight miles below nenana on the tanana river. doug sturm photos

Sam cook sings," every wind in the river finds it way to the sea." every now and then the drift gets thick and there is much weaving and dodging all the while making your way along a generally straight line. was not planning on talking about myself here. but let me tell you a little of my story.

i first took the wheel of a tug in the summer of 1960 at the tender age of 10 yrs. it was our first year on the river and we had just left Tanana with our new home-made covered barge containing a general store, known then along the river as the store boat. so eager i was to steer the outfit and try this new experience, at first my dad would only let me hold the wheel while he steered the tanana river. but always there was the promise that when we get to the Yukon, i can take the wheel and steer on my own. i did not know then that the tanana does not forgive mistakes like the yukon. Tanana was our 1st Yukon stop for the store boat. after a couple days it's time to move on to the next village, ruby.  many years later dad changed vessels into a freight business, taking advantage of new village construction fuel by new pipline money.

MV ramona landing in tanana, doug sturm photos

on the first stretch below tanana after dad made the crossing..I'm already in the wheel house barely able to contain myself. dad finally gives me the wheel as i stand on a gas box for a height adjustment, then he tells me a story. told me about the steamer Nenana coming up through here and how after going around this sandbar could see a point way down there. "after the timber and a channel marker on a short cutbank, favor the point then you'll see a stretch. i could only imagine the steamer nenana puffing smoke way down there. after the story dad says, ok you ready? i'm going to lay down rest. no problem, his bunk is just off the galley one level down and close to the pilot house. at the time i was sure he went to sleep and i was really all alone at the wheel. it was what i wanted right? i was petrified. in retrospect, he probably never slept, just laid down with his book.  picture above is 18 miles below tanana where my training started and this story took place.

about the time his story about the steamer nenana ended and my knowledge of the river was running out, dad reappears in the wheel house with a cup of coffee thankful for the break he got and happy to take back the wheel. the yukon river was getting pretty big for me about that time.

and that was the first of many stories i'd hear about the river. eventually all the stories came together in my mind and made one very long river, my tug boat home. it wasn't many trips and several years before i began to tell stories of my own, to show my dad i knew what was on the other side of the sandbar, because i had been through there on the last trip. guess i was trained by the best in a most gentle and wise way. now i can close my eyes and see each and every bend from nenana to the mouth of the yukon. helps to see it in your head when it's pitch dark in the fall time. there are lots of village men who can do this and can keep going in the dark as long as a tree line or ridge can be seen, "nativeGPS". everyone knows their own backyard.

mitch & kathleen demientieff singing native songs for then gov. palin

 much like our river homeland,the native community is an ancient, wise, tough, and proud people. despite thick drift, darkness, cold, fish & game. we don't tie up for whitecaps. long as we can make this crossing we can get around the next bend.