ABOUT ERNESTINE HAYES
I was born and raised in Juneau when Alaska was still a territory. When I was fifteen years old, my mother and I moved to California, where I spent twenty-five long years. When I turned forty, I resolved to go home or die with my thoughts facing north. It took me eight months to get from San Francisco to Ketchikan. I finally made it back home two years later.
After I came back home, I enrolled at the University of Alaska, eventually receiving an MFA in creative writing and literary arts. I now teach at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.
I belong to the Kaagwaantaan clan of the Eagle side of the Lingit nation. I have four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.