Name
Ka’woosik’e
The Woman Who Makes You Feel Better
Tribal Nation
Koyukon Athabascan
Louden Tribal Member
Empower
Eva Matilda Olin belongs to the Teqwe’di Brown Bear Clan, Bear Paw House. Her name, Ka’woosik’e, means “the woman who makes you feel better.” Her parents, Lillian and Freddie Olin Jr., raised her in a large extended family of 14 siblings in Ruby and Fairbanks, Alaska. The family was raised in traditional Athabascan ways.
True to her real name, Eva’s graduated from Pikes Peak Institute of Medical Technology and worked her way into the University of Washington School of Medicine Medex Physician Assistant Program. She graduated in the top 10 of her class. Eva married her husband in 1977 and moved to his home of Yakutat, Alaska. She became Yakutat’s primary care provider for family medicine and emergency medicine for the next 42 years.
In the mid-1980s, Eva was asked by the family of John Pope, widely known as Rolling Thunder, to doctor him. During the ten years she cared for him, her genetic knowledge of traditional healing was rekindled. Eva and her family began participating in fasting ceremonies, traveling to the Sunchild-O’Chiese reserve in Alberta, Canada, for Sun Dance. They learned many ceremonies, and her family continues to share them with community members in Yakutat. Her great-great-grandmother told her through ceremonies that these were the same ceremonies that had been performed in Alaska but were forgotten because of Christianity.
Eva and her husband raised six children. She believes the ceremonies empowered them to be strong, committed parents who gave back to their communities. She shares this knowledge with younger tribal members to empower them. Eva has recently retired.
