Living in the Alaskan Bush

This is from a classmate of mine WAY back in the late 20th century. We'll call him Sam
He and his family were boating along one of the rivers in the Alaskan Bush, Northwest Alaska, during the Summer. They came across a house along the shore of the river, but don't know the name since it wasn't mentioned. It could have been the Noatak River. As they were sleeping, he woke up to pounding on the door, like someone wanted in. Waking his dad up while whispering.
"Dad, Dad, Dad. There's someone at the door."
His Dad in a sleepy tone "Go see who it is then." and fell back to sleep.
Sam saying to himself. "Feck that, I'm not going to do that." Grab the shotgun they were travelling with and slept with it in his arms.
Travelling with firearms in Rural Alaska is common, especially for subsistence hunt for small and large game.