Raising Ourselves

<p>Velma Wallis shares the love loss and struggle that mark her</p><p>coming of age in a two-room cabin at Fort Yukon Alaska where</p><p>she is born in 1960 the sixth of thirteen children. Family life is</p><p>defined by the business of survival: Haul water from the Yukon.</p><p>Kill a moose. Chop firewood. Feed the sled dogs staked around</p><p>the cabin. Run the trap line. Catch salmon. It is a time of innocence</p><p>and laughter too as the children escape into a world of</p><p>play under the midnight sun.</p><p>The once-migratory family has settled at the confluence of two</p><p>she is born in 1960 the sixth of thirteen children. Family life is</p><p>defined by the business of survival: Haul water from the Yukon.</p><p>Kill a moose. Chop firewood. Feed the sled dogs staked around</p><p>the cabin. Run the trap line. Catch salmon. It is a time of innocence</p><p>and laughter too as the children escape into a world of</p><p>play under the midnight sun.</p><p><br></p>