Crow Village Sam (Phillips; 1893 – 1974) was a

Yup'ik The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...

Alaskan Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numb ...

who lived in the mid

Kuskokwim River The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth l ...

valley in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. Crow Village Sam was born around 1893 in

Crow Village, Alaska Crow Village is an unincorporated community on the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. There are an estimated six residents. Geography Crow Village is located in the Bethel Census Area on the north bank of the Kuskokwim River by ri ...

. Birth records in the area were not maintained until 1914, so that date is based on Crow Village Sam's recollection as told to

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Wendell H. Oswalt in 1963.Oswalt, Wendell H. & James W. Vanstone (1967). "The Ethnoarchaeology of Crow Village, Alaska" Coyote Press. It has been reported by some of his descendants that Sam was half Russian. When he was approximately 10 years old, he was part of the evacuation of Crow Village to a settlement downriver that was referred to as New Crow Village although today it is called Crow Village and the original settlement is referred to as Old Crow Village. He had survived the ''kanukpuk'' or "big sickness" - a Kuskokwim influenza epidemic of the early 20th century that wiped out about 50% of the population. He also lived in Akiak, and

Chuathbaluk Chuathbaluk ( esu, Curarpalek) is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 118, down from 119 in 2000. Geography Chuathbaluk is located at (61.575693, -159.247311), on the Kuskokwim River, appr ...

. By the 1940s, Crow Village Sam was recognized as the leader of the native people living in the mid Kuskokwim valley. He was an accomplished boat builder, wood worker, and

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

maker among other things. He was fluent in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, which is probably the biggest asset in his role as leader. In 1954, Crow Village Sam orchestrated the abandonment of Crow Village when he moved the inhabitants upstream to Chuathbaluk. Chuathbaluk was a village located 18 miles upstream from Crow Village that had been abandoned since 1929. Crow Village Sam still maintained a fish camp at the abandoned Crow Village with a large fish smoke house and would later install a wind powered generator at Crow Village to supply his radio with electricity. Crow Village Sam was an avid subsistence fisher and had the largest fish smoke house in Chuathbaluk as well. Crow Village Sam married 3 times. Each wife would die, and he would marry again. Amazingly, each one of his wives was named Lucy. He had at least 7 offspring from his first wife. Given his fluency in English, he was able to officially obtain ownership of the land surrounding Crow Village after the passage of the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing ...

in 1971. Crow Village Sam died in 1974 at the age of 81. That was remarkable longevity for a person living in that culture during that time frame. The Chuathbaluk grade school built in 1969 was renamed Crow Village Sam School in 1991 in his honor.

References

{{Alaska history footer, state=collapsed 1890s births 1974 deaths Native American history of Alaska Native American leaders People from Bethel Census Area, Alaska People of pre-statehood Alaska Yupik people 20th-century Native Americans