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(Radio sound) Angela Denning-Barnes: It is getting colder.
Although there's no snow in the forecast, freezing temperatures are.
Until conditions improve, Max Olick against traveling on the river near Bethel.
But if you have to, he says don't go alone, and bring extra rope.
In Bethel, I'm Angela Denning-Barnes.
I actually started out in print. I worked for the Tundra Drums newspaper,
for a few years, and I didn't have any radio experience before KYUK.
My mom was a big NPR fan, so we'd drive around in the old station wagon.
Early 80s, and my mom would listen to NPR, All Things Considered.
I still remember hearing that sound, driving around.
So I've always been a public radio fan.
KYUK is entirely unique, because we are in two languages.
And that's what makes the news room here unique, as well.
There's no other station in the state that is doing daily news casts in 2 languages.
(Yupiq announcement). A homeless shelter program is now in Bethel.
Angela: That's who our listening audience is. They're predominantly Yupiq.
And the villages that we're serving.
There's 56 tribes in the region. It's the size of Ohio. That's what Bethel is serving.
So they're very different stories.
"Now it's time for 300 Villages. This week we're heading to the community of Tununak."
This is the only daily news that they get, that's local.
I definitely feel a sense of purpose, when it comes to what the state hears
from the region, because there's not a lot of stories coming out of Western Alaska.
They're still Americans. It's just kind of an amazing thing.
They should have a voice just like everyone else.
"..clarify the history of Native people, KTOO's Scott Burton has more."
Angela: Actually I have family in Bethel. My aunt and uncle have been here since 1972.
And when I was younger, I visited for the first time,
and I kind of fell in love with the place at that point.
They had all the things you could want, they had a dog team, and a boat,
so I was able to get out on the land right away, and have a lot of adventure.
I've always felt very comfortable here, because it's a rural place,
and I grew up in rural Kansas. And I've always had a lot of space.
And I kind of need that. I'm not really a city type of person.
Most Americans live an urban experience,
and rural Alaska, bush Alaska has a wild element that I really like.
And I like to tell those kinds of stories,
the stories that come from the fringes of society, the edges of society.
And that's what Bethel has to offer.
I like having a connection to my food.
I'd rather put the labor in, and put the work into going to check a net for my dinner,
than going to the store and buying it.
I like to take responsibility for catching the meat and the fish that I'm gonna eat.
Happiness is a feeling, and you either feel it or you don't.
I look for that contentment every day.
All I know, all I really know, is am I feeling that?
When I'm checking the white fish net, pretty happy. I'm content. I like it.
I know I'm happy, it's just a feeling that I get.
If I'm mushing dogs, I'm happy. If I'm around the dogs, I'm happy.
I don't really know why all the time, sometimes it's hard to explain.
Why do you connect so much with dogs, or why do you like being out on the land,
and having that adventure? But it's just a feeling that I have.
I'm afraid of, I'm afraid of living a boring life.
I'm also afraid of not spending enough time with my family, my mom.
She's 74.
And, she's also been quoted as saying,
"If I see you once a year, this is how many times I'm gonna see you again."
That's pretty hard core. That's a reality check in some ways, although kind of morbid.
But it still makes you think, is this lifestyle worth it?
Being so far from your family and your loved ones?
But then I go back to that feeling of happiness.
And that day to day, are you happy? Maybe it's selfish.
Maybe in the end it will be selfish.
But on a day to day, so far it's what I have to do.