The tough captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern, Captain Sig Hansen, became one of the most recognized reality television personalities through the hit series “Deadliest Catch.” His amazing exploits in the treacherous waters of the Bering Sea was well documented by Discovery Channel since the TV show was launched in 2005. His journey with the show had been smooth sailing until he faced a lawsuit filed by a former deckhand, citing inadequate and delayed medical treatment for his abdominal pain, which resulted in an emergency operation along with the discovery of a more serious medical condition.

Get to know Captain Sig Hansen

Sig Hansen was arguably the most popular crab fishing captain in the reality TV series “Deadliest Catch.” His success in the industry was primarily due to his family background.

Growing up years and family

Sigurd Jonny Hansen was born on 28 April 1966, in a Scandinavian fishing community in Seattle, Washington State. Initially, his parents, Sverre and Snefryd, debated on whose father would be their eldest child’s namesake. Eventually, his father won and he was named after his grandfather, Sigurd. To ensure that his other grandfather, Jakob, wouldn’t be left out, Sig was christened with a second name Jonny as a tribute to him. Apparently in Norway, if a person wasn’t chosen to be the baby’s namesake, it was considered an honor to choose one that began with the same letter of his name. However, Sig recalled that being given such a name, Sigurd Jonny meant getting into many fistfights growing up in 1970s America, as he was oftentimes teased by friends and classmates. The family moved out from to Shoreline, Washington State, to a bigger house with a yard. He has two younger brothers named Edgar and Norman.

He grew up surrounded by Norwegians, Swedes and Danes; most never really spoke English unless they needed to. There was a time when he was in elementary when Sig went home with a note from his teacher addressed to his parents telling them, ‘TEACH HIM ENGLISH. STOP SPEAKING NORWEGIAN.’ They didn’t attend PTA meetings as his father was out at sea nine months a year, and his mom only spoke English when paying bills or buying groceries.

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His family’s fishing legacy

Sig came from a long line of Norwegian fishermen, sailors, merchant marine workers, and captains. His father, Sverre, was also a captain of a fishing vessel just like his grandfather before him. When the fishing industry around Seattle declined back then, he and a few brave and adventurous fishermen went farther North to explore the Bering Sea. They couldn’t believe their luck when they found an immense treasure in the form of Red King crabs. Today, Sverre is widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the crab industry in Alaska. Dutch Harbor wasn’t as popular and successful as it had been in the last two decades; at that time, it was only a few Japanese and local trawlers who had been catching crabs, but when the Norwegians and Americans developed the boxlike steel traps, they amassed a fortune. It was from a bygone era when fishermen mostly relied on experience, gut instinct, and a whole lot of luck to make it home alive with huge hauls of crabs, without the assistance of technology. Some people in Sig’s family were swept overboard, and it didn’t matter if they did everything right, the Bering Sea was just brutal so even the most cautious men perished at sea.

What time is it Time to check out my bling! #grablife pic.twitter.com/rzvgDKVZ7b

— Sig Hansen (@northwesternsig) August 2, 2013

His fishing background

Captain Sig Hansen started fishing at the young age of 12, and was mainly taught by his father. He was already aware of how dangerous their profession was, as he grew up watching his grandfather walk around with crutches because of it, however, it didn’t deter him from dreaming of becoming just like them. His mother knew right from the beginning that he would continue the family legacy, as the young Sig would draw boats and crab pots instead of practicing how to write the alphabet. Initially, he had a terrible bout of seasickness, but he eventually became used to the rough waves. Aside from watching his father do his job aboard the family-owned fishing vessel called Northwestern, he also accompanied his uncle on fishing exploits. However, his first real fishing job was under his father’s friend who never hired greenhorns, but took him in as a favor. Sig’s father equipped him well with the best fishing gear and a piece of solid advice that he followed to the letter. ‘Keep your mouth shut, do what he tells you, and everything will be fine.’

Sig Hansen and his journey in “Deadliest Catch”

Captain Sig Hansen often considered the Bering Sea as the major league of the fishing industry and Dutch Harbor as Yankee Stadium. He was used to playing in the biggest game, competing with the biggest boats, and making the biggest paychecks in a place with the biggest egos. However, he never thought that his job would have him working under the beaming lights of Hollywood, as he became part of the original cast of a reality TV show. He often wondered how it would be if his father was still around when it all happened.

What was “Deadliest Catch” all about?

Hunting for the Alaskan king crabs was not for the faint of heart. Crab fishing wasn’t only challenging but quite unpredictable as well. Most of the time, the weather didn’t co-operate, and the crabs would forever play hide and seek, which made it great for TV. A documentary about this profession was turned into a fully-fledged reality show called “Deadliest Catch.” The TV show presented the fearless fishermen who would battle it out with the raging waves of the cold Bering Sea as they navigated their way to the fishing spots where crab populations continued to shift, depending on several factors including climate change. The series premiered on 12 April 2005, and has been on the air for 19 seasons and counting, produced by Original Productions for Discovery Channel.

Captain Sig’s crew of the F/V Northwestern

The F/V Northwestern had been under Captain Sig’s helm for the past three decades. It wouldn’t be as successful as it had been for many years if not for the support of his fishing family and his dedicated crew that worked alongside him. It had been one of the original fishing boats featured in “Deadliest Catch,” and throughout the years, viewers became familiar with his crew. Some had been with him from the start, but due to the nature of the job, there had been changes over time. Both of the Captain’s younger brothers were part of the Northwestern crew. Edgar worked as the ship’s deck boss and engineer while Norman would alternate as the cook and deckhand, or take responsibility for whatever was needed to be done in the boat. A few seasoned deckhands such as Matt Bradley and Nick Mavar Jr. were the notable ones, but they left the boat for different reasons in 2020. Nick’s nephew, Jake Anderson was also part of the crew for a time, but went on to be the captain of another fishing vessel later on. In recent seasons, the captain’s other family members came in to contribute their skills and expertise to catching crabs including his wife June and his adopted daughter, Maddy, whom he was grooming to be his successor when he hired her back in 2009.

Notable accidents at sea

In every fishing vessel, it was expected that aside from the captain and deckhands, there would be mechanics and welders who could practically fix just about anything, so any incidents that would occur due to the force of nature or overworked machines could be immediately corrected. For instance, a fire broke out in the 9^th episode of the 12^th season of “Deadliest Catch.” The boat lost its power without any warning, but Captain Sig told everyone to stay calm as his crew put out the fire, and the engineer assessed the problem. Their priority was to isolate the damaged breakers so that they could still use enough power to get the crab pots from the sea before returning to port. During the same season, a part of the boat’s bow cracked as they were hit by a 35-foot rogue wave. He said, ‘I hope we have something in our gear, man, that’s all I can say.’ The F/V Northwestern was lucky enough that for all the years it was at sea, it only had one collision with another boat, in March 2019 as it was nearing Dutch Harbor. The other fishing vessel was cruising out of control and crashed straight into Captain Sig’s boat. While neither boas sustained overwhelming damage, it was a clear reminder that accidents do happen even with a calmer sea and in good weather.

Captain Sig Hansen’s health struggles at sea

Health challenges also occurred at sea, mostly because of extreme exhaustion due to long hours of hard work and an unhealthy lifestyle. Captain Sig Hansen had a severe head injury in the 1990s, when a metal block struck him on his head.  While it didn’t result in a serious long-term effect on him, it was a painful lesson to learn to be extra cautious while on deck. He suffered a heart attack in March 2016, captured in “Deadliest Catch” along with the medical evacuation so he could be rushed to a hospital in Anchorage. The tests revealed that he needed emergency surgery since an artery had burst. His doctor said that he was lucky because what he had was what they called the “widow maker.” However, after eight months, he was back at sea. There was also a time when the deckhands noticed that he became incoherent, so a producer fetched his brother Edgar from the engineering bay to check on him, but he couldn’t be convinced to call it a day. Edgar then called Sig’s wife back home and that was only the time he agreed to rest in his cabin.

Success in catching crabs

Due to his extensive experience in crab fishing, Captain Sig would often come home with a huge haul of crabs. During the second season of the reality TV show, his crew was ecstatic that they returned with crabs worth over $1 million. When his tanks were full, he immediately put the boat at top speed because the price of his haul would drop the next day if he couldn’t deliver them to the processing plant in time. In 2019, with his adopted daughter Mandy as relief captain, the F/V Northwestern recorded a staggering catch, and the crew went home with more crabs than they anticipated. The Captain then knew that he could retire anytime he wanted to, because the business was in safe hands. However, the problem was that he didn’t want to stop working. He said in an interview, ‘I can’t stop, that’s the problem. All of us are egomaniacs. You want to stop, but the ego portion won’t let me stop.’

Captain Sig Hansen’s controversial lawsuits

The more Captain Sig Hansen became popular, the more he was embroiled in several rumors and possible controversies. Most of them were unfounded, but a few of them became much-talked about especially on social media platforms due to the scandalous nature of the issue.

Abuse allegations by a daughter from a previous marriage

“Deadliest Catch” fans were surprised when reports circulated on blog sites that Captain Sig Hansen’s biological estranged daughter named Melissa Eckstrom from his previous marriage made allegations that her father sexually abused her when she was about two years old; it was during the time when her parents were in the process of divorcing in 1990. The adult Melissa said that she went into depression, had suicidal tendencies and eating disorders during her childhood because of the incident. She said that the memory of his abuse was still prevalent in her memory. Based on court records, the prosecutor back then didn’t file a case as they knew they couldn’t prove the allegations, even if they believed Melissa was sexually abused. The F/V Northwestern captain denied the accusations and claimed, ‘This is nothing more than an old-fashioned shakedown.’ Sig said that the lawsuit was some sort of blackmail, and reiterated that it was full of lies concocted by his ex-wife when she took their daughter away from him. It was also used in her attempts to get money from him. Apparently, after the divorce, the captain relinquished all his parental rights, as he thought it would be the best decision for his daughter.

In 2010, Melissa reached out to Sig to ask for help to pay her law school fees, and Sig assigned a mediator to ensure everything was properly documented. However, it didn’t push through as his daughter and ex-wife wanted Sig to pay $300,000 or else they would go to the press. He then filed a police report of what he believed was extortion. When the police intervened, his ex-wife said that he abused their daughter, and that he never paid the support money worth $50,000 as agreed upon during the divorce, which Sig vehemently denied. His lawyers said that they paid for it, and that the case should be dismissed since it was already proven in the past that he didn’t abuse his daughter – it would be a case of double jeopardy. Later, during an interview, Melissa said that she wasn’t after his father’s money, but was asking for justice for what he did to her. A $1.5 million settlement was supposed to close all the issues in 2016, but the mediation fell apart because Sig’s lawyers insisted that if any word from the agreement was leaked to the public, Melissa would lose her lawyer’s license, insisting on that to protect Sig and his family. The case was still in the hands of the Court of Appeals, as they would decide if there was any new evidence to reopen the case.

Former deckhand sued F/V Northwestern’s Captain in 2023

Before 2022 ended, and just a few months after the Captain and his daughter headlined their own spin-off series called “Deadliest Catch: The Viking Returns,” they were greeted by a lawsuit. Nick Mavar Jr., a former deckhand on the F/V Northwestern, filed a lawsuit against Sig Hansen and other owners of the boat, demanding $1 million in damages for failure to provide medical help during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also cited that the delay in an adequate examination of his abdominal pain onboard the fishing vessel led to his appendix rupturing and the late discovery of a tumor, which proved to be cancerous. Nick suffered many illnesses including infections that led to more complications and surgeries.

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Captain Sig and the other owners of the boat denied liability in Nick’s personal injury lawsuit. They shifted the blame to Original Productions, the production company of “Deadliest Catch,” and Trifecta Solutions LLC, the subcontractor that they hired to provide medical support for the crew of the boat. Apparently, when Nick complained of abdominal pain, the company’s medics checked on him multiple times but failed to act on it with urgency. Captain Sig and other Northwestern’s owners, through their lawyers LeGros Buchanan and Paul, sought for damages associated to what happened to Nick’s medical care. Despite the ongoing lawsuits, Captain Sig and his daughter Maddy were seen in the 19^th season of the reality TV show, which started to air in April 2023.

June Shannon, better known as Mama June, became a reality TV star when TLC gave her and her daughter the TV show “Honey Boo Boo,” in August 2012. Although it was canceled in August 2014, she didn’t disappear into obscurity. Instead, Mama June rebranded herself through her weight loss journey, and WE tv granted her the TV show, “Mama June: From Not to Hot,” in 2017. Sadly, that’s also when her health problems began; she experienced vision loss and had several surgical opertions. Then, after regaining the weight that she’d lost, she made things worse by ecoming addicted to cocaine, and was subsequetly arrested with her boyfriend in 2019.

However, what worried her fans the most was her struggle to control her lymphatic system, which threatened her life in 2021. Despite alleviating the pain and swelling, Mama June ran into a new set of issues, with lightheadedness and migraines in September 2022. Still, doctors couldn’t diagnose her with anything specific. Mama June’s journey to find what has been ailing her is the main topic of the sixth season of her show on WE tv; we’ve compiled a list of her symptoms to see if we can guess the reason.

Mama June’s eye damage could have had consequences

All viewers eventually noticed that Mama June squints frequently, and that her eyes seem out of the ordinary. However, it wasn’t until one episode of “Mama June: From Not to Hot” in 2018 that she revealed the cause. After experiencing eye problems, she said, ‘”I’m totally scared about losing my vision. I feel like I’m going to lose my independence, and it’s really starting to weigh on me.’

She revealed in a confessional that she was born with cataracts in both eyes but that her parents didn’t intervene, consequently, she went blind in her right eye in 2014. However, nothing happened to her left eye until that fateful episode when she woke up blind. That prompted her then-boyfriend Geno and daughter Alana “Honey Boo Boo” to take her to the hospital.

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After doctors diagnosed her with a detached retina, Mama June underwent four eye opertions to correct the damage – one included applying a scleral buckle to attach the retina to the eye and restore her eyesight. Despite her fears that she won’t see her daughter’s baby since Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon’s delivery date was approaching, she never complained about her eyesight again until 2022. However, Mama June briefly gained weight since she couldn’t exercise, and started living a sedentary lifestyle. She also felt slightly depressed, because she had to rely on others for everyday tasks.

She struggled with drug addiction

Police officers booked her and her then-boyfriend Geno Doak for having drug paraphernalia in their car on 13 March 2019, and for threats of violence. They pleaded guilty in October, attended drug rehab, the went their separate ways afterwards. Mama June later admitted to spending $3,000 daily on her drug habit, and over $1 million on her cocaine habit. That ruined her family dynamics, for obvious reasons, and her finances; she spent that year slowly selling everything she owned in garage sales. That also destroyed her relationships with neighbors and fans since she ignored their warnings.

Mama June received bad news over two years ago

Her addition and cataracts were worrying from the get-go, but not to the point of requiring emergency care. What scared everyone was her sudden prediction that she could ‘die within six months,’ which was allegedly confirmed by the doctor. In an episode of her family show, aired on 26 March 2021, her sister Doe Doe asked her why she was using a walker, suspecting that drugs were the cause.

Mama June rejected that claim, and explained to her audience and her sister that her doctor, who removed fat from her chin, told her that he thought that she had lymphedema and lipidemia. The former illness is a swelling caused by the build-up of the body’s lymph fluid, causing tingling sensations, feelings of heavy limbs, pain, and more. Lipidemia suggests the presence of extra lipids or fats in the blood, and irregular distribution of fat across the body.

And yes it’s crazy in sept last year I was diagnosed with lymphedema and Lipidemia a lot of women that r obese have this it happens in every 9 women out of 10 so if r having issues women get checked #MamaJune

— Mama June (@MamaJune_BooBoo) March 27, 2021

According to the doctor, Mama June had reached a worrying point. She was at stage 3 of lymphedema, meaning that fibro adipose tissue began accumulating in her skin, and that she had skin changes. After his explanation, she realized that the disease, not obesity, caused her uneven limbs. Mama June explained that her left leg was larger than the right by 13in or 33cms. Similarly, her left arm was 27in or 68cms in diameter while her left was 6in or 15cms smaller. After the episode aired, Mama posted on Twitter that she wanted to inspire other women to check if they have the same condition. She credited Dr. Schwartz for enlightening her; lymphedema is more common in larger women and is often misdiagnosed as cellulitis or morbid obesity.

She was hospitalized last September

News broke in September 2022 that Mama June had to be hospitalized. When she was released from the hospital, she explained that she’d begun experiencing dizziness and headaches routinely, but swore that she didn’t experiment with alcohol or drugs. Nonetheless, despite performing various tests and scans, the doctors didn’t identify the cause of Mama June’s problems.

Mama June’s weight loss helped minimally

Her struggles with lipidemia confused some followers who thought that her weight loss would help her condition. Additionally, Mama June underwent a gastric sleeve, tummy tuck, and other cosmetic operations. Additionally, her nutritionist likely recommended a diet with low carbohydrates and high-fat macronutrients. After combining an operation, proper diet and exercising with Atlanta-based personal trainer Kenya Crooks, Mama June lost about 300lbs or 135kgs from her peak weight.

Unfortunately, medical research shows that lipedema fat cells are nearly immune to diet and exercise. Some experiments suggest that a ketogenic diet reduces pain and swelling and mildly affects the loss of actual fat; hence, it is the go-to diet.

Nonetheless, in the absence of a cure, patients who want to reduce the number of fat cells must choose an operation, usually liposuction or lymphatic drainage. Therefore, Mama June likely started doing aqua aerobics, yoga, pilates, and wearing compression garments, all promoting lymph flow.

Her daughter also had an abnormal growth

Another scary bit of information is that her daughter, Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, had a stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in January 2023 after complaining of stomach and back pain. Although she initially only had a cyst, which they removed, the doctors later discovered that the cancer had reached her lungs, spleen and liver. Anna seemed to be recovering, and had a scan on 6 May to assess the situation, but she hasn’t shared the results. That type of cancer predominantly attacks children and middle-aged adults, meaning that Mama June is at risk based on her age and genetics. However, her issues a few months before the diagnosis were too mild to say for sure, and doctors did not want to rush to conclusions.

She encountered new medical issues this May

While she seems to be taking care of her illness, Mama June started experiencing different symptoms during the sixth season of her show, “Mama June: Family Crisis.” In the debut episode aired on 5 May 2023, the cameras follow her and her new husband, Justin Stroud, as they relocated to Alabama without notifying any of her children.

While having breakfast and discussing their marriage, Mama June started complaining to her husband about unusual symptoms, that she’d began losing feeling in half of her body and face.

Mama June’s symptoms contiued, and Justin took her to the emergency room the next day, but she received no conclusive diagnosis. Therefore, viewers had to speculate on what happened, which could be intentional; it boosts the reality TV show’s viewer base. Based on her known medical history, a lymphedema flare-up was the predominant guess on the Internet. However, one of her daughters was immediately suspicious that June was taking drugs after three years of sobriety and that she was having a bad reaction.

Mama June’s medical condition is still unknown

When accused of drug relapse, Mama June commented, ‘I’m getting tired of having severe headaches and not being able to think… I’m getting tired of being dizzy and not being able to see straight.’ She indirectly denied the accusations, and stated that she couldn’t have taken drugs even if she wanted, as her prior drug addiction makes doctors suspicious, and they think that she fakes symptoms to obtain painkiller prescriptions. However, she’s now sought new doctors who would take her seriously, because ‘she was tired of tests coming back normal’, and refusals.

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Mama June wanted to run more tests and do extra bloodwork to determine what was happening. Unfortunately, according to her, good doctors have a busy schedule; hence, she needs six or seven months to get them to see her. Her eyes could be causing the issues with headaches and dizziness, however, it might be something that she hid, too; losing feeling in one half of her body may indicate a stroke; some reports were that Mama June ‘had mini-strokes’ in September 2022.

Also, that wasn’t the first time that she’d kept some things to herself. For example, while she was open about her drug habit, she didn’t reveal one detail until recently. During a recent discussion about her health issues, Mama June off-handedly mentioned that snorting cocaine damaged her vision, forcing her to transition to smoking crack cocaine. Regardless, she’s adamant that drugs aren’t the root cause of the problem.

Her family will keep her accountable

Although something is wrong with her body, Mama June has improved her mental health. She recently got her priorities straight and started focusing on her family; her biggest criticism was prioritizing her former relationships over caring for her daughters. Early in 2023, after constantly traveling back and forth to her, Mama June welcomed her daughter Anna into her Alabama home and tended to her during cancer treatments.

Moreover, she was overcome with guilt over spending so much money on drugs, and now handles finances responsibly. Her family thinks that she’s taking it to the extreme; she admits to being a penny pincher, while her husband calls her a money hoarder.

Overall, Mama June is dedicated to her and her family’s health, and is eager to find the cause of her mysterious illness by seeing the right doctor. She also stopped denying help and accusations of bad behavior or poor self-accountability. Most importantly, she is honest about her symptoms, and refuses to take unnecessary drugs, increasing her chances of finding a professional willing to dig deeper.

A life off the grid might seem idyllic for some and a complete nightmare for others, but there’s no denying that the concept causes curiosity and awe equally in those who come across it. In the case of the Kilcher family from “Alaska: The Last Frontier”, it’s their alternative lifestyles and sense of belonging to their home which has captivated the hearts of viewers for several years.

Just as any other TV family, the Kilchers aren’t strangers to dramas and unbelievable stories, some of which their audience has no idea about, but what exactly are those secrets about?

Stay with us to know all about the lifestyle of the Kilchers, including their most well-kept mysteries about their family, their current life, and all the things which make them one of the greatest not-so-common clans to ever be featured on TV.

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How Did They Get To Alaska?

While “Alaska: The Last Frontier” offers its audience a big insight into what it’s like to live off the grid away from civilization, there are still lots of questions regarding the family’s life before the show.

The story of how the Kilchers established in Alaska started in 1936, when an archeologist and journalist named Yule Kilcher moved from his native Switzerland to the US, setting up his home outside of Homer, in Alaska. He came closer to his original idea of creating a community when he was given 160 acres of land by the government, following the then-active national Homestead Law – his land was later increased in size to 660 acres, about 300 hectares

In 1941, Yule married Ruth, a Swiss poet and singer who had lived in the US for a while. The couple welcomed eight children, including future “Alaska: The Last Frontier” stars Atz and Otto. In his mission to convince others to adopt an out-of-the-box, sustainable life in Alaska, Yule documented his family’s homesteading lives as they harvested, fished and hunted for food, while not having electricity or plumbing.

The movies filmed by Yule turned out to be some of the earliest homestead documentaries ever produced, showing these during his brief returns to Europe in the late 1940s and 1950s. One of these documentaries was “The Last Frontier”, which gave its name to the show we all know nowadays.

The Family Keeps The Land

Several decades have passed since the first Kilcher was established in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay area, but time hasn’t changed a lot of things for the family. For one, the land granted back then to the patriarch Yule remains the same size, as in 1990 he set up the Kilcher Homestead Trust to maintain it undivided and preserve it for generations to come.

Nowadays the Kilchers live in separate cabins on the land, but team up with each to keep the entity whole and alive, including growing their food. That being said, while living in the homestead has modernized a little by adopting commodities such as electricity, other activities such as stacking up wood, fishing, hunting, and harvesting are diligently done by the family members. The place remains mostly without plumbing, which means outhouses are still built, and located near the cabins.

The place also serves as a workshop and camping land for those who wanted to experience the Kilcher homesteading life, at least for a short time. The homestead also has 50-acres allocated for a museum centered on the family’s history.

Going To School Was Difficult

The Kilcher children didn’t have a common childhood, especially when it came to their education. Given that elementary school was too far away from their Kachemak Bay-based homestead, Ruth Kilcher homeschooled the children through a correspondence course.

I love meeting my fans and what better place to spend an afternoon together than the Eagle's Rest cabin I built on the border of the Kilcher Homestead. My sister Catkin & I are looking forward to hosting you there on July 28 before the Folk School concert: https://t.co/ZjtI7g8Aw4 pic.twitter.com/nTHZTcKcDa

— Atz Kilcher (@akilcher) July 15, 2018

It was later in their teens that the children finally attended school by themselves, with the highlight being that Atz became an accomplished high school athlete during those years. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of educational resources for the Kilcher kids, as the house was allegedly filled with magazine, and books, and were passed down the knowledge of their multilingual parents, according to a conference they offered in 2016.

The children were also heavily influenced by their mom Ruth when it came to their musical tastes, singing, and instrument-playing skills. However, the kids still helped out their parents in keeping up the homestead, apparently doing equal jobs regardless of their gender or age.

Growing up on a homestead doesn’t sound easy, but it was most likely a compelling experience which sets the Kilchers apart from most families in the world.

Not All The Family Is In The Show

Although “Alaska: The Last Frontier” gives us the feeling that we know all the members of the Kilcher family, the truth is that we don’t see many of them on screen.

The only children of Ruth and Yule appearing in the show are Atz and Otto – their six sisters Wurtilla, Catkin, Fay, Stellavera, Mossy and Sunrise hardly appear in I at all. As it’s known, most of them still live in the homestead, but some have taken different paths in life. As Sunrise said in a 2016 conference, during which she reminisced on the times she lived in Alaska – ‘It brings home to me what a big, long full circle I’ve made, and it’s a real gift to me just to be aware of who I am. It’s such a part of who I am and I’ve taken that for granted’.

On the other hand, some Kilchers don’t appear in the show for other reasons than living away. Such is the case of Atz Lee and his wife Jane’s children, who weren’t featured in the show during their early childhood and teens, due to their parent’s choice of protecting them from public life. Some other members of the family refrain from appearing in the show for unknown reasons.

They Have Gone Through Rough Times

Normally, few people have the chance of growing up or even living some time on a homestead. However, the experience of living away from civilization and working hard at home is not what the Kilchers mean when they say they had a rough childhood.

As Atz Kilcher opened up in 2018’s memoir “Son of a Midnight Land”, he was the subject of his father’s anger issues and humiliation. According to Atz, this toxic and abusive behavior reflected on him in the form of alcoholism and physical hurting of his own kids as well.

The issues are also touched on in the memoir “Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story”, in which Atz’s daughter and Grammy-nominated singer Jewel opened up about dealing with her father’s alcoholic tendencies and violent behavior, eventually pushing her to leave home at an early age to pursue a music career: ‘I was determined to heal: to let go, move on and figure out how I could be the one who changed those habits’, she told People in 2020.

After he sobered up for good, Atz and Jewel reconciled and rebuilt their relationship, but it’s a different case for Jewel and her mother, who’ve remained estranged from each other for over 20 years, as Jewel discovered that her mother has been scamming her during the years she worked as her manager.

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The Learning Experiences

As seen in “Alaska: The Last Frontier”, the Kilchers are very appreciative of the life they have, holding to their principles and alternative ways of living. The most remarkable lessons to learn from them have to do with the importance of family, being genuine, and working hard.

The Kilchers are very well aware of the things that growing up the way they did taught them. In the case of Jewel Kilcher, being a homesteader for most of her early life stopped her from becoming overwhelmed by fame and money, instead choosing to stay grounded while following her path in the entertainment industry, as she told Channel Guide Magazine in 2016.

Despite not living in Alaska, Jewel keeps the Kilcher values alive, and teaches them to her young son Kase, who visited the homestead for the first time in 2016. She’s not the only member of the family who warmly remembers the homestead, though: ‘Every single one of us, despite having maybe gone off and started families elsewhere, still loves this place for what it is and what we truly believe it can be’, as Otto Kilcher’s son August told Alaska’s News Source.

The Legacy

When it comes to the legacy built by the Kilchers, it’s inevitable to talk about their contributions to their beloved Alaska. On one hand, Yule Kilcher was not only an adventurer, filmmaker, and homesteader, but was also a politician who impressively helped write Alaska’s Constitution.

For her part, Ruth’s legacy went beyond homesteading and educating her children, to also influence them artistically and musically. Some of her children followed this artistic career path, such as oldest daughter Mossy and son Atz, who in 2022 was awarded by the American Society Of Composers for his “Alaska: The Last Frontier” theme song.

Ruth’s granddaughter Jewel is the most recognized for her talent, having sold over 30 million albums since her musical debut in the late 1990s. That being said, “Alaska: The Last Frontier” is one of the most remarkable parts of the Kilchers’ legacy, as it’s contributed to spreading the word about environmental conservation, and alternative ways of living.

All in all, there are many secrets about the lifestyle of the Kilchers, but the things we know about them such as their beginnings, the way they were raised, the hard work they dealt with in and around the homestead, and the experiences they’ve lived through, leave no doubts about how inspiring they are.