Catherine Attla

Catherine Attla in 1995, photo courtesy Raven's Story

One of the foremost speakers of Koyukon Athabascan passed away on Monday, March 12, 2012. Catherine Attla of Huslia was a gifted story teller, the author of three significant publications in the Koyukon language. Catherine grew up speaking Koyukon, not learning English until age 14. She loved to tell kk'edonts'ednee stories, the stories of long ago. She passed on stories told to her by her grandfather, Frances Olin, also a noted storyteller who passed away in 1949. For Catherine the kk'edonts'ednee stories were much more than folktales; they were the very essence of Koyukon culture. As Richard Nelson noted, Catherine felt that kk'edonts'ednee stories "are a way of learning of learning what is sacred and true, and they show people the ways to protect their health, safety, and survival."

Catherine explains why kk'edonts'ednee were told as follows (translated by Eliza Jones)

When we tell stories, right at the end of every story
we say, "I thought the winter had just begun and now I've chewed off part of it"
Times were hard long ago and at those times
they called (the spirits) in hopes of (a good) life
by telling stories.
It was their way of praying.

Many of Catherine's stories have been written down and translated and published in three books still available from the Alaska Native Language Center

• Bekk'aatugh Ts'uhuney  Stories We Live By (1983)
• Sitsiy Yugh Noholnik Ts'in'  As My Grandfather Told It (1989)
• K'etetaalkkaanee  The One Who Paddled Among the People and Animals (1990)

These works will stand as some of the classics of Alaska Native oral literature, among the most creative and elegant Koyukon language ever recorded.

Most of the recordings on which these publications were based were made during the 1970's and can still be accessed at the Alaska Native Language Archive.

A biographical interview with Catherine Attla was recorded by Mike Spindler for Raven's Story in 1995 and is available from Project Jukebox.