Peter Twitchell

by Peter Twitchell People in my village of Bethel Alaska say that we have a total of 15 miles of road in Bethel. I have been on a road that ever ends! Route 66 from […]

by Peter Twitchell If we don’t keep up with today’s technology we sadly get left behind. Life has become easier because of satellites, microchips, fiber optics, cell phones, and the internet. Telemedicine is wonderful and […]

by Peter Twitchell There are many good stories about man and dogs in Alaska long before the western world moved in from beyond our horizon in western Alaska. My dad David Twitchell had his team […]

by Peter Twitchell A pastor in the church said, “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.” It is a good reminder to think on things of this nature as it […]

by Peter Twitchell Looking back at my life, say 50 years of working jobs to make a living raising a family, no regrets. It taught me the importance of work ethic to always do my […]

by Peter Twitchell I’d never thought I’d ever have to talk about bingo, but it’s starting to bother me again. I hear too often how bingo has taken over our lives. We depend on playing […]

by Peter Twitchell 2020 was one tough year nothing like we ever experienced in recent years. We didn’t know what was going to happen to us, our uncertainty kept us on edge. We were told […]

by Peter Twitchell I really want to write about the Pandemic of 2020. COVID-19 virus was devastating to the human race. The virus took so many lives but here we are still hanging on to […]

by Peter Twitchell Christmas is bankruptcy time for me. What does Christmas really mean? Jesus came into the world, He came as salvation to the world. He paid the price for the forgiveness of man’s […]

by Peter Twitchell During this time of the year we’re thankful for our children and grands, our past families who gave us a strong foundation on which to stand on and weather the storms of […]

by Peter Twitchell We were taught in psychology not to live in our past, but to leave it and move forward! But research is finding that we can examine our past and be empowered and […]

by Peter Twitchell The world needs us right now indigenous people to guide our youth in using our value system. We need our youngsters to respond to this positive stimulus. We need to brighten a […]

by Peter Twitchell After ten months hunkered down because of the coronavirus, I see the world through a different lens. Life is precious. I thank Creator God each morning that I am awake, what a […]

by Peter Twitchell Baby Boomers, of which I am one, born in 1950, were expected to go to school. It was what was expected of us. We finished our school K-through-12, so we went to […]

by Peter Twitchell I returned home to Bethel for a day, 11/4/20, and I was happy to see my birthplace for a day and half the next day. Bethel hasn’t changed one iota from what […]

by Peter Twitchell Very disheartening to get a call first thing in the morning, “Peter, someone broke into your house and looks like destroyed everything.” What is the world coming to when grandparents know their […]

by Peter Twitchell Luther Oscar was my friend and he always acknowledged me. He was my best friend, Samuel Oscar’s oldest brother. He treated me no different than he would a brother and I really […]

by Peter Twitchell Local, State, and National Elections are important and they matter, by allowing us the “voice,” at the election booth. If you do not vote then you do not have a voice. Some […]

by Peter Twitchell I appreciate the CARES Act assistance through ONC, my native tribal organization, that helped me to buy groceries and gasoline. When you weigh it all that is a lot of help. It […]

by Peter Twitchell What is money anyway? It’s only paper, right? Absolutely correct. The Creator and his infinite wisdom has been teaching me the value of the dollar in the last several months. I haven’t […]

by Peter Twitchell Sod huts (dwellings) for men and boys on the tundra were referred to as qasgiqs by the “real people”, Yup’iks of southwestern Alaska at the turn of the last century. Our Ancestors […]

by Peter Twitchell Today was a swell day to reminisce about a different time when my mind was being filled with what was good, and a time in Bethel when people were impressionable. My dad, […]

by Peter Twitchell I’m addressing all the young men and women. COVID-19 virus is not a laughing matter. I know what you’re doing when you get a bottle of whiskey. You sit there drinking out […]

by Peter Twitchell I was lying on the bed with my eyes closed when the Dr. told my wife, “Peter has a 50/50 chance.” I prayed, “Dear Lord, you made me in your image. I […]

by Peter Twitchell December 30, 2016 was the last day I worked a fulltime job in Bethel, Alaska after receiving notice that my employer Akeela, Inc. was going to cease contracting their substance abuse treatment […]

by Peter Twitchell Mr. Ivan M. Ivan has been a leader in his hometown of Akiak, Alaska before he joined the military or before becoming the Representative in the Alaska State Legislature from 1990 to […]

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy we had “White Alice” Communications System (WACS), a United States Air Force Telecommunications Network with 80 radio stations constructed in Alaska during the Cold War. It used […]

by Peter Twitchell Moses “Uksuuq” Wassilie and I go way back. It was a frigid cold evening January 01, 1967 I ran into “Moe Man” as we knew him in music circles, at the Swanson’s […]

by Peter Twitchell When it comes to incarceration, we need to practice, first and foremost, understanding. There are at least five (5) people that are affected by this dilemma. And, it’s a worldwide problem, not […]

by Peter Twitchell In 1971 May 22, I went to work for KYUK. It was just starting to broadcast from 3rd road (ASHA) Housing. It was the 1st Native Station on the Air. In 1972 […]

by Peter Twitchell When I came on the scene in 1966, Bethel was a quiet little town, until the weekend rolled around. The Yupiit were hot blooded and we loved to dance! It was “fun” […]

by Peter Twitchell I have so many friends and family to thank for lifting me up and being there for me during the COVID-19 Epidemic. I would have nothing but names on this page and […]

by Peter Twitchell When we were boys in the EARLY DAYS before modern media like we know it today, we were living in a world that covered an area as far as the eye could […]

by Peter Twitchell It amazes me how Creator Almighty God will give us a wake-up call. I have heard a lot of complaining about our current situation with COVID-19 virus. For one thing, we have […]

by Peter Twitchell Since hunkering down toward the end of February 2020 I’ve been communicating at least twice a week with my friend and bandmate Frank Hunter. When Frank and I begin dialoguing we never […]

by Peter Twitchell Jesus Christ of Nazareth came into the world to love us sacrificially, unconditionally – true and genuine love (selfless love). He wants us to love each other, John 13:34-35. “34) And now […]

by Peter Twitchell Today I am grateful for my former bandmate guitar extraordinaire: Robert JM Gregory who was always there for me with his amazing guitar licks and riffs on the guitar neck when I […]

by Peter Twitchell In a hundred years will it be necessary to use N95 face masks to protect ourselves from infections? Face masks protected us from the flu and tuberculosis in our past. Today a […]

by Peter Twitchell Hunting and fishing safety becomes an important issue as you age. I have participated in hunting, fishing subsistence activities ever since I was a boy. I remember one spring day in April, […]

by Peter Twitchell My friends have been urging me to get with it and get into internet. For a long time I ignored them. With the COVID-19 pandemic I’ve had a lot of time on […]

by Peter Twitchell I am happy to report I made it to another special day – “Mother’s Day”, just recently recognized in Eskimo Country. By the term “Eskimo Country” I’m thinking of all the Native […]

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy I walked in the woods all day sometimes from sun up to sun down. Poor Mom, what I must have put her through. I know in my […]

by Peter Twitchell I’ll be 70 years old tomorrow. I was born April 25th, 1950 in a makeshift hospital Quonset after the Bethel Hospital burned to the ground. I was born to David & Sarah […]

by Peter Twitchell As a child I heard stories told by our elders of the flu epidemic, tuberculosis, which took the lives of so many of our Native people. Today our generation is experiencing the […]

by Peter Twitchell Remember when we used to have carefree days when we were a lot younger long ago? We got up in the morning and got ready for school. All of us knew it […]

by Peter Twitchell I like the concept of the letter “V” formation geese and other migrating birds fly in. Someone told me once that the reason geese fly in a “V” formation is so they […]

by Peter Twitchell Until this period of time since the emergence of the COVID-19 virus have I really appreciated the cell phone. It was like taking my family and friends for granted until now. Every […]

by Peter Twitchell I, Peter Adams Twitchell, wish to set the record straight once and for all. I write this being of sound mind and body. I was born April 25, 1950 to Sarah and […]

by Peter Twitchell You ever look in the mirror and see a fake smile? A smile comes from the heart where love, peace, and the joy of God reside. Are you truly happy? Being happy […]

by Peter Twitchell Congratulations to Dee Dee Jonrowe dog musher extraordinaire. She has come a long way against all odds. She lifted the institution of dog mushing and racing to heights above the expectations of […]

by Peter Twitchell I’ve received gifts and bought items with labels stuck to them that I need a magnifying glass to read the fine print. It tells you where the item was made and which […]

by Peter Twitchell For the last month I’ve pondered a question I believe man has pondered. It is truly amazing to me how a chicken can have eggs, any bird for that matter, and the […]

by Peter Twitchell I have always believed that music unites us! No matter who we are on this planet we have that in common. It is one common denominator we share in our journey through […]

by Peter Twitchell The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom and knows everything, knows what we say, do, think. The Holy Spirit speaks to us all the time. Every wonder where your good thoughts […]

by Peter Twitchell I was invited by Mary Walker to join her and Carl Jack at the Anchorage Folk Festival 2020 on January 19, 2020 at the Wendy Williams Auditorium Stage that evening at 7pm […]

by Peter Twitchell I’m just going to repeat a story I was told recently, and then comment on it. Three men were out in the field not too long ago. They were tracked and stalked […]

by Peter Twitchell Where is the child support? The way I see it, mothers of young children are not seeing their child’s support payment each month consistently. The child or children are being neglected by […]

by Peter Twitchell As we begin down the road in 2020 help us to follow you. Open our hands and our hearts to receive this day as a special gift from you oh Lord. You […]

by Peter Twitchell For a hundred years before I ever heard about a deep sea fishery our salmon population was strong. After half that time since the 1970s our salmon fishery has dwindled to what […]

by Peter Twitchell Merry Christmas and remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Give thanks everyday we’re here. As I look back to my childhood, I was disappointed in man. I sat on Santa’s […]

by Peter Twitchell I spoke with old-timer David Kawagley who grew up in the village of Akiak, Alaska. He was my dad’s good friend growing up in Akiak together. David shared with me stories Dad […]

by Peter Twitchell It’s time to face reality. I know some people who play hide and seek with their disease of alcoholism. It’s a self-defeating attempt to try and deal with your disease on your […]

by Peter Twitchell Twenty-three years ago a doctor in Bethel told me that I had arthritis on one of my spinal discs back of my neck. I called is a stroke of Bad Luck. I […]

by Peter Twitchell As a boy I never worried or gave much thought to my future. Grandma Hannah and Mom always reminded me to help others and especially Elders. We lived in the moment. “The […]

by Peter Twitchell Domestic violence is real, it’s also scary. The violence we see in our homes is fueled by anger, resentments, and fear. Most of us grew up in one room dwellings with nowhere […]

by Peter Twitchell First I believe that congratulations are in order here to Bethel residents and Bethel’s latest Mayor Perry Barr. His success in life has brought him here to deliver the will of the […]

by Peter Twitchell As young parents, we do our best following in the footsteps of our parents. Mom and Dad never really lectured us on proper parenting skills. I believe back 100 plus years ago […]

by Peter Twitchell I really appreciated my friend Chief Gary Harrison of the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council  NAY’DINI’AA’NA at the close of the 2019 AFN for telling Native Country of Alaska that we have been […]

by Peter Twitchell It is that time again, to prepare for winter. We’ve put our winter feed of dried, canned, frozen salmon and moose, caribou, deer and bear stored. Time to fit our kids and […]

by Peter Twitchell If God didn’t pay for all our sins He didn’t pay for any of our sins. If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me, Deuteronomy 4:29. Delight in […]

by Peter Twitchell Webster’s definition of humble is “destroy the power or prestige of.” The reason I looked this word up is because one day this past summer I saw a middle-aged native man holding […]

by Peter Twitchell There were two signatures I liked when I was a boy growing up, and that was Mom and Dad’s. When Mom went to the B.I.A. School in the 1920s the teacher was […]

by Peter Twitchell 100-200 years ago Mother Nature was our friend, it provided for our food and heat. You didn’t need much else – our Native people back then weren’t money driven, but they cared […]

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy of 3, 4, 5 years old I remember being taught Love, and realize now, it was the foundation on which the Yupiit People began their day, each […]

by Peter Twitchell Most of Yup’ik People it is said go to K-12 and don’t go any further in higher learning. A few go on and climb the ladder of success. We are tested. Some […]

by Peter Twitchell In the days before tools and colonization, the Yupiit People buried their deceased loved ones above the ground for it was not possible to dig up the frozen tundra. When the human […]

by Peter Twitchell On July 1957 I was walking along the Kuskokwim River just a half a mile upriver from the Old Airport across the river from Orutsararmiut of Bethel as the Moravian missionaries named […]

by Peter Twitchell The State Fair is fast approaching and we, The Pilot – Steve Willis of Wasilla, and Bread – David Chanar, Louise Leonard, Michael Angaiak, and yours truly Peter Twitchell will be performing […]

by Peter Twitchell A message from Creator God to His children: My child – you may not know me but I know everything about you (Psalm 139:1). I know when you sit down and when […]

by Peter Twitchell There are three types of people in the world. Let’s personalize this and say – in your life. First, there are those who help you in your difficult times. Let’s take the […]

by Peter Twitchell Imagine how isolated we were in Alaska before colonization. There were no roads, trains, airports. Not until steamships started sailing north did we have people and goods. Even tools, dry goods, and […]

by Peter Twitchell I worked as a substance abuse counselor and my last two years at YKCC I was the Psych Ed Coordinator. Jesus of Nazareth put me in that position for His purpose. I […]

by Peter Twitchell In the Bible, God’s Holy Word, it says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is His Promise to us. Although we (I) have left Him in my past. I […]

by Peter Twitchell I have permanently moved from Anchorage to the Valley for one reason only – the earache the jets have been causing and the irregular sleep patterns last and this summer. There are […]

by Peter Twitchell In reading the June 5, 2019 Delta Discovery Newspaper I found the writers and commentators to be diverse, provocative, informative, caring, self-expressive and interesting. Perhaps the paper leads us to self discovery […]

by Peter Twitchell When I was a boy about 8 years old I was walking to the Civil Aeronautics administration compound. I had a sense that there was something out there in the trees watching […]

by Peter Twitchell I remember growing up in the village of Bethel. My parents David and Sarah Twitchell lived on the upriver south side of Bethel. Back in the 1950s life seemed simple. There was […]

by Peter Twitchell When it comes to policing in a village community I can only imagine how challenging it must be to be a police officer where you know everybody and you’re related to them. […]

by Peter Twitchell When we were boys not too long ago, and we were going out to play we were given instructions by our mom and dad and grandparents, “Ilaten ata kenkurluki piurqina.” Meaning, “Love […]

by Peter Twitchell I met Carla Maxwell recently here in Anchorage who told me about her death in a traumatic car/van accident. She died bewildered, not sure what was going on around her. Her state […]

by Peter Twitchell The fair City of Bethel, Alaska is not a thriving community with unlimited municipal funds like Barrow, for example. I don’t believe the Bethel City Council members should be paid public servants […]

by Peter Twitchell While I was growing up in Bethel in the 1950s, money was scarce this time of year. The money dad made the summer before at Bristol Bay was spent, and there was […]

by Peter Twitchell I have a friend who is terminally ill. It’s never easy to lose a friend. To tell you the truth, I was overcome with anger when I found out. Due in large […]

by Peter Twitchell Queen the rock band from the 1970s recorded “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I wasn’t aware of the values “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” as being joined to each other. We were taught these […]

by Peter Twitchell I come from a long line of musicians, including mom and dad. When I was born mom already had a pump organ that she and her husband had shipped up from Seattle […]

by Peter Twitchell Congratulations to Pete Kaiser, our 2019 Iditarod Sled Dog Race Champion! You have set the course for future generations of Yup’ik mushers! A Yup’ik by birth Pete’s ancestral roots go deep into […]

by Peter Twitchell There was a test putting a vehicle in a middle class neighborhood to see what would happen to it. After a week or so the vehicle was untouched. And then part of […]

by Peter Twitchell Who doesn’t want to live forever? I think that we all do, to a certain extent. I believe I’m starting to accept the fact that death is an integral part of life […]

by Peter Twitchell It’s good to see high school, college-age parents and grandparents fill up the dance hall at Carpenter’s Hall in downtown Anchorage, where the young and old mingle. I never see kids running […]

by Peter Twitchell All of us have prepared ourselves, if not consciously, by our teachers, cohorts, parents, and the efforts of those closest to us for the world stage. My Grandma Hannah shared her values […]