Born to parents Alec and Mary Gregory, Dallia’s entered the world in the bushes on October 27, 1943. Kukaklek. Being the last of thirteen children, Dallia does not recall living in Kukaklek, instead she remembers living very close to the Kvichak River or the Iliamna Lake.

Dallia attended third grade in Kokhanok, with her Gabby, one of her older brothers. A teacher students called Miss Met ran the Kokhanok School, it was the teachers’ job to keep the school heated and running. Returning to Igiugig, Dallia spent her summers subsistence in Igiugig and commercial fishing the Naknek and Kvichak rivers. Winters as a young child, Dallia learned how to hunt and trap from her father, Alec. Winter traps were set for mink, fox, other, beaver, and lynx. Hunting caribou and moose was a skill Dallia brought into her marriage life. She still hunts for moose at Kaskanak during the fall.

As a young woman, Dallia was expected to wear dresses, instead of the modern day trousers and tees, it was a task she carried with much loathing. Mukluks up past the knees were worn to keep legs warm, ‘dresses are too hot,’ Dallia quotes. Chores were not fun for Dallia, neither, she remembers wanting to play outside instead of packing water, chopping wood, or washing dishes. Dallia and her siblings grew up in a time where electricity and running water was not yet introduced to small communities. Transportation was mainly dogsled. Hunting, trapping, traveling between villages were by dog-team. As time passed on, motors became available for boats, though they had very little horsepower.

Dallia met Mike Andrew in Branch River during the fifties. Their parents spoke with one another and it was soon determined that Dallia and Mike would be arranged for marriage. In 1960 they were married in Dillingham. Two years later, they moved to Igiugig, to raise their three boys, Alec (Smiley), Tref, and Michael Jr. Dallia would have had five children, but she had two miscarries. Despite her happiness with three children, Mike and Dallia’s eldest, Smiley drowned during a family summer at Branch River.

While her boys were young, Dallia acted as village health-aide for fifteen years, until late Anecia Olympic replaced her. Today, Dallia works as the Lake and Peninsula School District Igiugig School cook. She enjoys boating, hunting, crocheting and knitting, spending time with her four grandchildren, and sewing.