“I am originally from Kotzebue [Alaska]. I married a man from Noatak [Alaska]—that’s what brought me here. I had 13 kids, one adopted. My brother arranged my marriage even though I was going with someone. I have been in Noatak since 1948. I like Noatak. We would go hunting just across from Kotzebue, every summer we would go down there to hunt ugruk [bearded seal] and stuff for our food—that’s how we live, we go around the world. I like to go berry picking. I like to do things, but I can’t do anything anymore, but my boys are taking good care of me. I am 85 years old, some people can’t believe it! I can still understand English and Eskimo. That’s how I was raised. My dad was a pastor in Noatak and Kivalina [Alaska]. We would travel to Kivalina with dog team. That was the good life. I love the outdoors.” — Martha Burns is Inupiaq and lives in Noatak, Alaska. Marriage, in traditional Inuit culture, was a necessity and not a choice. Often times, marriages were arranged at birth to ensure the survival of the family, because every individual had to rely on a partner to survive.
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