Carrie Kaligtok Anvil was born in western Alaska on January 31, 1925. She was one of 18 children raised in a traditional Yupik family. Her parents, Anna and Pastor/ Chief, Wassillie Shepherd, adopted nine of their children after their families had died in the flu epidemic. Then the blended family moved to Togiak where her father became the Chief and Anvil learned the English language from a supportive Public Health nurse.

Anvil, also known as Mommie, was a talented matriarch who supported her husband, Japhet J. Anvil, nicknamed Poppie. They were happily married for 61 years.

Later Anvil became the first Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) teacher hired in the community of Togiak Alaska. Upon returning to Bethel Alaska, she was hired at the Lower Kuskokwim School District as an activities’ coordinator and worked at the Kuskokwim Inn. She taught school lessons as well as Yupik history, law and cultural practices. She showed students how to sew parkas and qaspeqs (kuspuks) and how to speak the Yupik language.

She always would offer up her home to the people of the Y-K region who needed a place to stay for the night when they came into town for doctors’ appointments.

Anvil was active within the church community. Her baptismal record was documented January 31, 1925. During many church services she would play the piano and her husband would preach.

In 1980, Anvil was named the first Tribal Judge of the Orutsararmiut Native Council of Bethel. She served in this role for 30 years. The major responsibility of the Tribal Judge is to oversee the protection of families through the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Indian Self Determination Act. These laws articulate the sovereignty of the people to direct their community. In the Legislative Citation she received in memoriam in 2016, she was described as a true “mama” who would counsel, advise, assist, and lead any individual with any need. She had a heart of gold. Her generosity was shown through actively helping others.

The 1980s were a challenging period for this work because many students had been sent to boarding schools, from all over the Kuskokwim villages. Where their language and customs were minimized or forbidden. When students returned to Bethel or the surrounding Kuskokwim villages, they had lost many of their cultural practices. She took up the role of culture bearer with renewed energy. She taught them their Yupik language and made sure they knew how to fish, hunt and gather food for their families. Anvil herself was an avid trapper and commercial fisher in the Togiak and Kuskokwim area.

When her parents passed, Anvil was named the Chief of the Yupik people of Nunachuk, Alaska. Which is a position she held until her death in 2015.

Carrie Kaligtok Anvil served as a model of how a women can guide a community to live the values of the Yupik people.