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Talking to Yourself

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Are people who talk to themselves crazy? I do it all the time, and my husband thinks it’s weird. Answer: Previously, I had heard that more intelligent people talk to […]

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Childhood lessons

by Peter Twitchell I was a boy of 7 to 8 years old when I was visiting with my cousin Joe Woods Jr. at Grandma Hannah’s fish camp up the “Straight Slough” upriver from Bethel […]

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My Donald Trump Food Box

by Tad Lindley A good gift meets some criteria. The gift is sacrificial. It costs the giver significant time or money. It is personal to the recipient. A great gift has involved much planning. And […]

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Pine Grosbeak Puyiiraq

by Frank Keim This bird should have been a parrot. Its beak size alone makes it look like one, as do its shape, size and color, and maybe even its sweet song. But it most […]

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Reconciling and Rebuilding

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Is it possible to reconcile after an affair and truly rebuild the relationship? I do not want to reveal whether I am a husband or a wife. But I am […]

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The effects of the pandemic

by Peter Twitchell I am eternally grateful to the Native organizations who provided us with Alaska COVID relief aid the past two years. First, the Orutsararmiut Tribal organization in Bethel, and the Bethel Native Corporation, […]

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Getting Hungry for God

by Tad Lindley Did you know that God has been thinking about you all day today? Whether you are a preacher or a prostitute, a deacon or a drug dealer, a lover of God or […]

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Equity v. Equality

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have been hearing a lot about equity lately. Is it the same as equality? If not, how is it different? Answer: In years past, the terms were often used […]

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The freedom to choose

by Peter Twitchell Medical professionals and science say those unvaccinated people face being hospitalized in 2022. Today they reported 277,000 Omicron Covid cases per day across the United States alone. Whatever happened to our precautions […]

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Chronic Enabling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How do you defend an elder who is being manipulated by their drug-addict child and this has been going on for years? The drug addict asks for money from the […]

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Elder survival wisdom

by Peter Twitchell Always be prepared for cold weather. After talking to my friend Charlie Kilangak of Emmonak about survival strategies it really got me to thinking about what I used to hear our Elders […]

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Crested Auklet Culuksuksaar(aq)

by Frank Keim The Yup’ik name (Culuksuksaar(aq)) for this handsome parrot-beaked seabird that I was given in Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay is one of the most descriptive that I’ve run across yet. It loosely […]

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Holiday Dilemma

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have come to hate holidays because without fail my wife is miserable. I have not been able to figure it out, but I think she looks forward to the […]

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Wives’ Tales or Attribution?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’m Yup’ik Eskimo from the Lower Yukon region. Growing up, I’ve heard a lot of wives’ tales about itching hands (to receive money soon), twitching eye lids (about to see […]

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Festive Cranberry Pecan Bread

by Millie Bentley Greetings. This week we have a recipe using either fresh or frozen cranberries that I found among some of my mom’s old recipe files. I really love my mom and am so […]

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Never a dull moment

by Peter Twitchell When I first started working for KYUK public radio station in 1971 a year after I started working I began attending radio conferences in the lower 48. One year in the West […]

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Memories of Christmas Past

by Peter Twitchell As we prepare for the Christmas holiday my memories go back to when I was a child of eight, nine, and ten. I went to Sunday school at the Bethel Moravian church […]

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Turn on the Light

by Tad Lindley In the beginning In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the […]

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Reasons to be Thankful

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: It’s Thanksgiving time. Is there any research on the benefits of being thankful? Answer: It seems intuitive that thankful people would navigate life better than someone who is unthankful and […]

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Birthday blessings

by Peter Twitchell Back in 2013 my daughter Suzi celebrated her 15th birthday. I remember back when I was 15. I told Suzi after my 15th birthday four months later I lost my Dad and […]

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Thanksgiving

by Tad Lindley We tend to think of Thanksgiving as a modern American holiday. It’s not. If you attended public schools, you may have been taught that the first Thanksgiving involved the English speaking Pilgrims […]

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Judgmental Attitude

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I don’t have a question to respond to, but I have had many people ask about the dry-drunk syndrome. So, over the last three weeks and today, I have written […]

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Dedication to the station

by Peter Twitchell In the 24 years I worked at the KYUK radio station there were two notable radio engineers who came to KYUK. There were a few of them throughout the years, but Bob […]

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Old traditions

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy growing up in the 1950s in Bethel, Alaska whenever a loved one passed on a family member of the deceased burned the clothes of their loved ones. […]

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Warm memories of cold winters

by Peter Twitchell Back in Bethel, during the 1960’s, us kids went house to house down Mission Road, including our friends and relatives’ homes on Main Street. The people of Bethel were always without fail […]

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A better tomorrow

by Peter Twitchell We must never forget our Ancients who nurtured us by feeding us a steady diet of healthy food to help our minds, our hearts, our bodies, and our spirit to develop into […]

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When Will The Rapture Happen?

by Tad Lindley In case you missed last week’s column, it was about the concept of the rapture. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible. It comes from a Latin translation of the Bible, […]

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Make it count

by Peter Twitchell This is Peter Adams Twitchell. I don’t mind saying I was a substance abuse counselor for 17 years, mainly for inmates in the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center and Phillips treatment facility named […]

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A song in my heart

by Peter Twitchell I’ve liked and I’ve loved music all my life. I believe music, singing, dancing all have some benefit to giving me longevity, freedom to express my feelings and my emotions in a […]

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Is this Elder Abuse?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Is it elder abuse to take away the harmful substances that they are addicted to such as chewing tobacco, cigarettes, or alcohol? Answer: I wouldn’t recommend going into an elder’s […]

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Parakeet Auklet Taituiq

by Frank Keim As its English name “parakeet” suggests, this auklet looks a little like a small parrot. But don’t be fooled, it is far from a parrot. Watch the way it stands, walks, flies, […]

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Fuller Than a Tick

by Tad Lindley Bed bugs bite people while they are sleeping, and then sneak back under the mattress before daybreak so they don’t get caught. Lice live in your hair and bite you to drink […]

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Mental Health Effects of COVID

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What are some of the mental health effects of COVID? Answer: To find an answer to your question, I searched the American Psychological Association (APA) data bases, WebMD, and Mayo […]

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Changing Times

by Peter Twitchell Today we are inundated with with extreme weather conditions. When I went to Southern Lake Tahoe in July, fires were raging in California and the smell of fire was in the air. […]

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Blueberry Coffee Cake

by Millie Bentley Greetings from Bethel. Weather is beginning to cool down but there might be still some time left to gather the remaining blackberries and blueberries left on the tundra. There must be plenty […]

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Secondary Gain

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What is secondary gain? Secondary Gain is defined as a benefit that occurs secondary to a confirmed or stated, but unconfirmed, illness. It describes the benefits derived from living the […]

Millie Bentley

Savory Javanese Chicken

by Millie Bentley Greetings. This recipe comes from my friend Karen from Chico, CA. She is the mother of four and she loves to cook. Karen’s recipe is fast, nutritious and delicious which is what […]

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Fall subsistence harvest

by Peter Twitchell Our Indigenous people in Alaska never wasted any part of an animal they hunted. There was no such thing as “trophy hunters.” They caught a fish in their subsistence nets, and cooked […]

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Our changing world

by Peter Twitchell Bobby Gregory told me today September 03, 2021 that the KVNA building was torn down. It’s always good to hear a bit of news from back home however disappointing, we know nothing […]

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The Obedience of Faith

by Tad Lindley Salvation is more than simply believing that Jesus really exists, it is obedience to the gospel. The following column appeared in the July 2017 Pentecostal Herald authored by David K. Bernard. In […]

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Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

by Millie Bentley Greetings. Here is one of my favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies. While looking for a cookie recipe, I discovered that I actually have several favorites that uses chocolate chips. The advent […]

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The way to wellness

by Peter Twitchell As far as I can gauge alcohol, it’s general abuse by people who drink alcohol like fish drink water, the poison which it is, in high amounts kills physically, emotionally, mentally and […]

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Elders are our Culture Bearers

by Peter Twitchell I have gained knowledge of the old ways, Traditions of our People, the Culture of our People of Southwest Alaska. First and foremost from my parents David and Sarah Twitchell, my maternal […]

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What does narcissistic personality disorder look like? Answer: Personality disorders often overlap with one another, and therapists recognize what is often referred to as a budding personality disorder when behaviors […]

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Making ends meet

by Peter Twitchell We were all limited in our income – those of us with big families. I had a family of five and I worked three jobs for 50 years. My regular job, custodial […]

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Hooked on Phonics

by Tad Lindley In 1987 a new reading program hit the market. It was called Hooked on Phonics. If you had television back then, maybe you remember it. It was supposed to dramatically improve your […]

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Pigeon Guillemot Qayagpagayuli

by Frank Keim While teaching in Hooper Bay in the early 1980’s, I would often ski out to the edge of the pack ice during late winter and early spring to photograph seal hunters in […]

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Adverse Childhood Experiences

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Recently, I was reading a book and the author wrote about something he called Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). What are ACEs? Is this really a mental health diagnosis? And do […]

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Go the extra mile

by Peter Twitchell Being an extra mile person is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s getting easier. We always expect something in return. If you do something for me then I’ll do […]

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Jesus was Buff

by Tad Lindley I am so sick of seeing these limp-wristed pantywaist Jesus paintings and drawings. Jesus was buff. Instead, a lot of artists have presented an effeminate Jesus. Far from the rough, tanned hands […]

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Preserving our Language and Culture

by Peter Twitchell It’s good that indigenous people are getting their covid vaccinations, not just to extend our lives but to preserve our native culture through our culture bearers, our Elders, and our children. To […]

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Field Sobriety Test

by Tad Lindley H ave you ever been charged with a DWI or a DUI? It usually starts like this: you told yourself you would only have one, because you didn’t want a DUI. But […]

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Common Murre -Alpak

by Frank Keim I don’t remember ever seeing Common murres while living and teaching in the YK Delta, but I did see plenty of them in both Togiak Bay and Nushagak Bay while helping two […]

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A cleaner future

by Peter Twitchell As a boy in the Early Years of my childhood the sky was clear and the sun shown brightly in the 1950s. Our skies were not polluted like they are today with […]

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The Prevalence of Schizophrenia

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How prevalent is Schizophrenia? Answer: According to the DSM-5, the lifetime prevalence appears to be between 0.3% and 0.7%. That means in a population of 1000 individuals, you could expect […]

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It is better to give

by Peter Twitchell Many of our native people have been cautious about getting a covid immunization, which is an individual choice, I won’t judge anyone. I chose to get a covid shot because I have […]

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July 4th Bethel Style

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy in Bethel, Alaska back in the 50s right about now excitement was growing with the July 4th Celebration a few days away. I thought about the Men’s […]

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5K Finisher

by Peter Twitchell Today I was getting ready to go on my usual mile walk, when I noticed booths getting set up on the compound where I live in Wasilla. An Elder told me that […]

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The Ten Virgins

by Tad Lindley You’ll have to read it for yourself and see if you can figure out if the man was going to marry ten ladies at one time, or if the ten virgins were […]

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We must respect our land

by Peter Twitchell I have to reflect back when I was a youngster growing up… our Elders loved to steam together and tell stories of the day’s successful hunts and laugh. They lived to be […]

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How Do I Go About Getting Married

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How do I go about getting married? Yes, that is a real question that has been posed to me on several occasions. On each occasion the couple was living together, […]

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Grateful for our Blessings

by Peter Twitchell Year by Year our body is aging. I’m 71, thinking I am aging “gracefully”. I can still walk. I can walk full steam ahead for ½ mile and not feel winded and […]

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How to Become a Psychologist

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am interested in becoming a psychologist and being able to some day have my own practice like you have. How many years does it take to become a psychologist, […]

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The Power of Prophecy

by Tad Lindley Imagine that this year some well-known, but not so well respected elder were to stand before the AVCP convention and say, “The Lord told me that in the future, the Yup’ik people […]

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A man named Yulqutaq

by Peter Twitchell I noticed an old man back in the Fifties, he had my undivided attention! Every spring he took his kayak out from under the building and put it on a homemade sled […]

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Net Mending

by Tad Lindley This column was written in 2006. This year my king gear is in great shape, safely tucked away under the house. It’s my whitefish gear that’s being torn to shreds. My king […]

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Seal oil saved me

by Peter Twitchell My grandson “Agyaq” (Rising Star) loves cottonwood smoked strips and dried fish, first try! I guess all us Yup’iks love our subsistence foods. Its in our DNA and in our body. Our […]

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Freedom From Nightmares

by Tad Lindley Across this region, live many men and women who have served in combat from the Aleutian campaign in World War II to Korea, to Vietnam, and most recently the Middle East. Even […]