Goodwin Semaken lives in Kaltag, an Athabaskan village of under 300 people.  It is on the Yukon River side of a portage trail to Unalakleet on the Bering Sea coast.  His mother was Inupiat and his father Koyukon.  He has relatives in two cultures.  Goodwin was born the year Kaltag moved to its present site, he and the village are the same age.  His parents lived off the land before people stayed year-round in one place.  His children are at home in cities.

Goodwin is a man of smiling wisdom able to do what he advocates.  His hunting skill, business sense, creativity and love for children are well demonstrated to everyone in Kaltag.