Most Alaskans have heard of the “three lucky Swedes” who found gold in Nome – the legend behind the gold rush of 1899. In 2000, Sitnasuak Elder and Sitnasuak Native Corporation Board Member Jacob Ahwinona told an often overlooked part of that story to a visiting children’s book writer, Jeff Kunkel. The three Swedes did not fi nd the gold on their own, they did so with the assistance of two young Eskimo boys, Constantine Uparazuck and Gabriel Adams. This story was passed on to Jacob Ahwinona by oral tradition; he is a direct descendent of Constantine Uparazuck. The Nome Beltz Native Youth Leadership Organization erected a large bronze statue to commemorate the two Eskimo boys in Nome’s Anvil City Square in 2010.
Historical Spotlight: Two Eskimo Boys Meet the Three Lucky Swedes
June 3, 2015by Media