I worked on this oil painting in 1986 in Tununak. The late Stephanie Nayagniq, my sister-in-law's mother. One of many elders I respected, as they portrayed living beings based on Love. Who were taught to respect others before zealous missionaries ever stepped foot on their land and infiltrated ideosyncracies to what did not require fixing.

Oils which takes time to dry, not like fast drying acrylic, easier to manipulate pigments than the fast drying acrylic. This one was still in progress before everything changed in my life when I was hired by the Association of Village Council Presidents to work in Bethel, Alaska. I tried to asking for it from my brother Joseph, but he as grown with it and does not want to part with it.

The background is missing the overall theme that outlines the personality and the life of the person. With the Tununak mountain in the background, you could imagine the berries, fish drying in the background, some animals, birds, plants and all the gathering she did.