Page 182 - Vacation Country Travel Guide

SISTER “In the 70s, Mom and Dad embarked on inspired Doug to work with native elders
in meat processing. He developed a two-
a journey from Michigan to Alaska with
their newborn baby, heading towards the
week course where individuals from the
ACT land of opportunity,” says Kukowski. Their villages would come to the store and
learn how they could provide for their
father Doug Drum was a trained meat
people. According to Renia, they covered
cutter and knew that there was serious
game meat in Alaska. When the business everything, including sharpening knives
opened in 1976, they processed game and and packaging and selling the meat. “But it
then moved into bulk items of smoked was more than just my Dad teaching. There
ham, bacon and turkey for people to take was a real sharing of knowledge where
into remote backcountry. “My husband he learned about things like processing a
remembers when he was young, that his whale,” says Kukowski.
father would come into Indian Valley Meats Family stands not only as the cornerstone
and purchase entire slabs of smoked of their existence but also their business,
bacon for them to take to Chicken Alaska offering unwavering support and a sense of
where they would spend the summer gold belonging. “Our mom Millie is 78, and she
prospecting,” states Kukowski. “That was a still works at the store three days a week.
thing, back then. Entire families would go She would work every day if we let her,”
off into some isolated area for the summer says Kukowski. Today Indian Valley Meats
and prospect or fish.” processes over 175,000 pounds of bone-
Renia and Cathy’s father also worked in game meat a year, not including all the
with the owners of the reindeer herds on other boneless meat such as hotdogs and
St. Pauls Island to help them obtain state sausage. While the family business has
inspection so that they could process grown from the early days, the sisters still
and sell the meat to individuals. “My Dad retain a sense of tradition and quality in all
knew how to butcher and grind meat for the meat they process. They also count all
Sisters Renia Kukowski and Cathy Drum burgers. He had local friends that pitched their customers as family. “It was humbling
grew up in Indian Valley Meats. Some of in and helped him develop the recipes for during the pandemic that people made
their most memorable family pictures are reindeer polish sausages and the teriyaki it a priority to come out and support us.
of Cathy wrapping meat and Renia packing. sticks,” says Kukowski. “I remember there That sense of community where everyone
Running a family business in Indian, Alaska were a lot of burned batches.” pitches in and comes together is what
required an all hands on deck approach. It was that sense of community that makes Alaska unique.”

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