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I was born in September of 1964 to a single mother. My grandparents and uncles took care of me while my mother struggled to get back on her feet. When I was 4 years old my grandparents decided to adopt me and this was a blessing to me because I was already accustomed to their ways.

Every season was and still is a time for food gathering and we started our outdoor life after the spring breakup. We would not return home until school started. In part we lived on the fish river on the confluence of the Niiukthaq river. This was where several families gathered to help each other put salmon away for the long winter months both for family consumption and for dog food as the dogs were heavily relied on for hunting, trapping, fishing and winter travel.

When commercial salmon fishing was in full swing our families followed the ice leaving Golovin Bay to camp out in a protected cove to prepare for the fishing season and months ahead.

From White Mountain this is a 30 mile trek, it would take more than one trip to bring all the provisions necessary to make it all work to put food away for storage. This included food staples, fuel, numerous wooden barrels, fishing gear, ammunition, traps and snares.

The ocean has the most valued resources, bearded seals, beluga whales, provide the blubber that is rendered to oil that is used to preserve many of the foods that are gathered such as greens that are picked in season and half dried meat and fish kept in permafrost dugouts. Fish and meats completely dried kept well in the cashes. Berries and roots are also gathered.

These ways have always been a part of our lifestyle and the only change is, now we have freezers for an added long term food storage capability.

And while local fisherman from many of our areas have prospered from commercial fishing in past years, we’ve noticed dramatic changes after the introduction of bottom trawl fishing and increased harvest of salmon on the Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay fisheries.

Aside from this I have served on the White Mountain Native Corporation Board since May of 1992 to present. I am also currently serving a term on the Chinik Traditional Council, recently served a term on the Golovin City Counil as Mayor 2019-2021, this last week appointed to a vacant seat and again chosen as Mayor. Serving in the member at large on the Bering Sea Aquaculture Association. And started serving on the Norton Sound Health Corporation as a Board Member. This advisory committee is my latest appointment that I would like to see carry on far into the future to help preserve an inherent right that belongs to us as indigenous land owners, hunters,fishers, gatherers.

Charlie Brown

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