Mariah Huhndorf Oral History Interview

Huhndorf, a native Alaskan with an Athabaskan mother and Yupik father, describes her experiences at Oregon State University, both as a student and as an activities coordinator at the Native American Longhouse. She discusses Longhouse events, such as the Alaska Winter Games, which she coordinated; the challenges and solutions that NAL staff have experienced with communication; her suggestions that staff learn more about events hosted at the NAL by other groups and work to make it clear that the NAL welcomes all visitors, native or not; what the new Longhouse means to her; how OSU and the NAL have affected her own identity as a native Alaskan; the importance of sharing stories; and the "culture shock" she felt coming to Corvallis, with a population of about 54,700, from her hometown of Kenai, Alaska, with a population of about 7,000.

At the time of this interview, Mariah Huhndorf was an activities coordinator at the Native American Longhouse. A junior General Science major studying to become a physician's assistant, Huhndorf came to OSU from her hometown of Kenai, Alaska.