Our Youth, Our Future

by Bethany Goodrich | Dec 8, 2017 | Communities, Emerald Edge, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Kake, Kasaan, Klawock, Sitka, Yakutat, Youth Engagement, Youth Engagement

Written by The Nature Conservancy, Sarah Dybdahl, and Tis Peterman

Huna Heritage foundation in partnership with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) convened in Juneau, Alaska in April 2017 for a two-day gathering titled Our Youth, Our Future.

AUGUST 25, 2017

Focussing on youth leadership in Southeast Alaska, First Alaskans Institute assisted in facilitating our time together by creating a space for youth, community leaders, local and regional organizations to share and discuss opportunities to address the wants and needs of youth, their communities and the surrounding region with special emphasis on catalyzing leadership behaviour.

Youth and communities leaders (or organizational representatives) participated from the communities of Kake, Hoonah, Kasaan, Juneau, Yakutat, Wrangell and Klawock.

Organizations in Attendance:

Alaska Crossing
Discovery Southeast
Forest Service – Tongas National Forest
Goldbelt Heritage Foundation
Hoonah City Schools
Huna Heritage Foundation
Organized Village of Kake
Organized Village of Kasaan
Sealaska Corporation
Sitka Science Centre
Southeast Regional Health Consortium, Kake
Southeast Sustainable Partnership
State of Alaska Community Economic Development
Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS)
The Nature Conservancy
Yakutat Tlingit Tribe

Culture Camps

The first day of our time together we had the opportunity to have a series of catalyzing presentations. To start, the community of Kake outlined the years of work they’ve spent developing and creating their Annual Culture Camp. Another catalyzer presentation was provided by the Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) program based out of British Columbia. The intent of these catalyzer presentations was to educate participants of current programs that exist to provide leadership development opportunities and generate thoughts, ideas and conversations

What is important for our young people?

The adults and elders representing their communities and organizations discussed amongst ourselves questions including:

What is important for our young people to know?
What would we like to see in our youth?
What could adults do to assist in the success of our youth?

Key takeaways included the need for more opportunities for youth to get outside, connect with elders and community members, and learn about their culture.

Developing Leadership Programs over the next 40+ years

The youth then had the opportunity to spend time together thinking about and sharing their ideas amongst themselves, lead by First Alaskans Institute’s guiding questions. The start of their conversation was looking ahead into the future forty years and discussing where they would like to see opportunities for leadership development.

Key takeaways included the desire to see more opportunities to learn about culture in school (tools, names, language), the preservation of traditional language and practices taught by elders and more consistent opportunities for cultural events like trips, native activities and dance group practices. These types of immersive learning opportunity allow the youth to connect with each other informally in the region.

How do we make that happen?

The youth were encouraged to share their ideas and thoughts on activities and actions that would need to take place to make their vision of 40 years from now come to reality.

Key takeaways included broadening the youth’s support system by allowing for time to visit elders and involve language instructors to assist in all aspects of culture. From learning stories, purpose and pronunciations to preparing foods and understanding the words of songs and practicing dance, learning their culture in context help the youth feel empowered and whole; confident in passing on their learnings to the next generations.

What is possible?

Participants were divided into groups to identify what methods of developing leadership programs resonated as most possible, with one youth leading the smaller group discussions. Providing the youth an opportunity to have a voice in what happens in the region ______

Key takeaways included regional cultural camps to bring youth together from their expanded regions (ex: British Columbia), providing structure to the educational experience by replacing existing SEAS curriculum to allow for more active engagement in school and time with elders (through the outdoors or specialized projects), and the creation of safe space/networks for students leaving community for post-secondary education.

Circle within a Circle – Adults working with Youth

A select group of adults who represented their communities or organizations were asked to sit in a circle with the remaining participants surrounding them on the outside. Those on the outside were to be active listeners while those in the middle shared their thoughts and ideas. Those sharing imparted many barriers both personally and professionally, along with reasons they are dedicated the youth leadership in their communities.

Key takeaways included an appreciation and sense of pride towards the youth that have stepped up into leadership roles to help the community and strengthen traditions and language. By providing the opportunities for the youth to work with elders to bridge the gap of knowledge from the past trauma, helps them appreciate things happening in the community – the more communities are connected, the better. Listen – Learn – Do.

Reflections of Leadership Development Lists

Participants were asked to take some time to review all the thoughts and ideas captured regarding youth leadership. Below are thoughts shared after having time to absorb and process what had been shared collectively up to this given point.

Key takeaways included more programs in school and jobs in the community with an emphasis on sharing among tribes, mentorship/apprenticeship opportunities to bring elders and youth together, diversification and support for the leadership in the community and motivating the youth by recognizing their achievements within the community.

How can we move forward?

The last activity of our two days together was to share what each participant could do now to ensure the thoughts and ideas would become a reality. What would each of us commit to within our communities and organizations, both personally and professionally.

Key takeaways included opportunities for youth to connect with each other informally at culture camps or other events in the region by creating events for them to connect with each other, opportunities for youth to have a voice in what happens in the region and more consistent opportunities for youth to get outside, connecting with elders and community members, and learn about their culture (year-round). The collective group continually returned to cultural connection as the heart of what they wanted to focus on. Getting youth outdoors, involved in science, or on career development paths wasn’t enough – this must always be integrated into the idea of cultural connection as a whole.

Stewarding Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon: Conversations in Community Fisheries

by Bethany Goodrich | Nov 29, 2017 | Food Sustainability, Klawock, Natural Resource Stewardship, Trip Reports

Written by Christine Woll, Southeast Alaska Program Director of The Nature Conservancy

Beach seining on Klawock Lake. Photo by Lee House

“What does sockeye salmon mean to Klawock? I didn’t have to think that hard about that question. Klawock is here because of sockeye salmon.” Lawrence Armour, the mayor and tribal administrator of the Klawock Cooperative Association opened the Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Stakeholders meeting on November 14 on Prince of Wales Island. This 2-day gathering brought together community members, land managers, local government officials, fish and wildlife managers, tribal members, researchers and subsistence and commercial fishers in order to build a common understanding of the history and current status of sockeye salmon in the Klawock Lake Watershed. Stakeholders identified opportunities to partner on shared goals that will help steward this critical resource.

As the mayor mentioned, sockeye salmon has long been the critical resource that brought people to Klawock. Tlingit settlers from Tuxekan first used this area as a fishing camp during the summer, fashioning traditional fish traps, the remnants of which you can still see today in the tidal flats. In 1878, one of the first Alaskan canneries was built in Klawock, and a significant commercial sockeye fishery operated out here through the late 1930s. Today, sockeye continues to be of high value in the community – as Millie Schoonover, the president of the Craig village native corporation Shaan Seet, inc., stated “Sockeye is not just about subsistence – it is our traditional food.”

It is well documented in Klawock traditional knowledge that sockeye salmon have declined over the last century. The potential factors for these declines have been studied over many years, and are very complex and intertwined. These factors include:

Commercial harvest of sockeye salmon in the past and climatic change may have permanently altered the ecology of the lake;
Significant timber harvest, road building, and other development have altered the health of the spawning habitat
A salmon hatchery, permitted before the Alaska Department of Fish and Game stopped permitting hatcheries on wild salmon streams, likely interacts with wild sockeye in unknown ways;
And commercial and subsistence harvest continues to impact run size.

The Sustainable Southeast Partnership’s community fisheries program focuses on ensuring that local priorities are central to fish and fish habitat management. So when the organizers of the meeting began to plan this meeting, we knew that community priorities must take precedent to enable continual long-term stewardship and action. As community member Harry Jackson stated, “We are the original stakeholders of Klawock Lake.” Two community meetings and an online community meeting offered the general public a time to come, eat salmon, hear music and dance, and share their thoughts on how the community and managers should approach salmon stewardship. Over 100 people attended these events or responded to the survey. Quinn Aboudara, the Klawock community catalyst, followed the Mayor in the agenda, and presented on the results of this outreach.. It was made clear that sockeye harvest continues to be a major subject of passion and survival. Salmon habitat management, hatchery protocols, overharvest, and climate change were all voiced by participants as concerns. Many respondents also offered possible solutions, ranging from raising sockeye salmon in the hatchery; improving habitat; practicing traditional methods of predator control, and others.

The meeting also offered community leaders and members the opportunity to hear from managers and researchers on their current practices and information. Meeting participants learned the process for influencing and changing regulations in subsistence and commercial fisheries. Participants discussed and debated hatchery practices with the hatchery managers and regulators. And, they provided feedback on ongoing research into the ecology and habitat condition of Klawock Lake.

It is hard to facilitate difficult conversations like these when so much is at stake. These conversations require attention to power dynamics, avoidance of technocratic language, and the willingness to move past conflict. Luckily, participants acknowledged that they were all here for the same reasons – because they cared about sockeye. This type of shared learning and understanding between the community and managers is often the first step towards solutions, and an essential part of successful community fishery programs.

Meeting participants acknowledge that, in Klawock Lake, there is no “smoking gun.” No one action or one person is going to bring back sockeye salmon to historical levels. Brainstorming and discussions brought forth many great ideas and recommendations on ways to move forward – together. For example, participants recommended community-facilitated harvest reporting, watershed monitoring projects for students, and a community task force to develop recommendations on hatchery practices. We hope that the relationships and trust built at this meeting will help catalyze these next steps into action – and lead to a thriving future for this community fishery.

Stakeholders gather in Klawock to discuss stewarding the critical salmon resource. Photo by Christine Woll.

This meeting was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy, the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, the Klawock Cooperative Association, and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership. The meeting was funded by the North Pacific Research Board. Thank you, Gunalchéesh, and Háw’aa to everyone who helped organize, facilitate, provide food and logistics, offer review and guidance, and share their knowledge before and at the meeting – all were essential to making this happen. To learn more about the final synthesis from recent research and this meeting, please contact Christine Woll at cwoll@tnc.org

Hoonah Native Forest Partnership Holds Dual Meetings to Plan For Future

by Bethany Goodrich | Nov 28, 2017 | Hoonah, Natural Resource Stewardship

The Hoonah Native Forest Partnership (HNFP) has completed its last season of data collection with our locally trained work crews and is now full-steam ahead with writing a watershed management plan. On November 6th-7th, 2017 the HNFP Steering Committee and Technical team met to discuss the landowners objectives and recommendations as the partnership moves forward. Each of the groups spent time reflecting on important steps for the HNFP to be successful. There were many mutual answers for ways to create success, and both groups agreed it is crucial the Steering Committee to work closely with the Technical Team and that community value needs to be at forefront of all discussions as we move forward with recommendations and projects through the HNFP. This type of collaboration takes a lot of work! Ultimately the watershed management will be collaborative document that will be guided by community values, land manager needs, and technical advice.

A Relationship Between The Steering Committee, Technical Team, and Community

The technical team presented their results and preliminary recommendations in each of the resource areas. These recommendations will be refined by community priorities and values as well as landowner needs before they are finalized in the watershed management plan. Hoonah Indian Association Community Catalyst Ian Johnson will be hosting meetings with community members, and maintaining regular dialogue between the teams. This project will span the winter with a final watershed management plan being completed by April so that the local crews can complete projects. Although the projects are yet to be determined, it is possible that crews will be build on the stream restoration work they learned in 2017.

Check out the presentations on each of the resources that the technical team presented to learn more:

The technical team met at the Sealaska Plaza to go over results and next steps in the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership. Their results will be provided to the community and land managers to collaboratively form the final land management plan for the study area.

To learn more about Hoonah Indian Association’s Environmental Programs, check out their new beautiful website here!

To learn more about the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership or to get involved with the Hoonah Stewardship Council, please get in touch with Ian Johnson. ijohnson@hiatribe.org. 907 945 3545.

*NEW Home Energy Leader Program

by Shaina Kilcoyne | Nov 27, 2017 | Energy Independence, Program Description

The new Home Energy Leader Program (HELP) provides training and resources to residents in Southeast Alaska to lower their energy bills through efficiency and conservation measures. Through the program, a group of Energy Leaders spent the day in training in late January. Home Energy Leaders will use the information and resources they gained in Juneau to engage their fellow community members to reduce energy use. This includes changing out up to five bulbs to LEDs. Participating communities include Hoonah, Yakutat, Kake, Angoon and Metlakatla. Check out these low cost energy savings tips here.

CALL TODAY! Community members interested in participating in the program as a resident participant should contact SSP Energy Catalyst Shaina Kilcoyne, S.kilcoyne@realaska.org or (907) 331 – 7409.

This program is unique because it provides the Home Energy Leaders with the knowledge and hardware to enable them to immediately implement efficiency improvements in their community when they return from the training.

Training: The one-day training in Juneau was presented by a team that includes Certified Energy Manager Jim Fowler of Energy Audits of Alaska and local utility experts. The training included the following content:

Analysis of utility bills and consumption
Light bulb savings comparison
Use of kilowatt meters to assess appliance draw
Eliminating phantom power consumption & using power strips
Installation of weather stripping and reduction of air infiltration
Programming and using programmable thermostats
Testing water temperature
Installing faucet aerators
A hands-on site visit to a home
Assessing heating and air infiltration

In addition to the training content, Home Energy Leaders received a tablet to work on and materials necessary to engage residents in their communities including: Home Energy Savings guides; energy cost charts with community-specific rates; kilowatt meters; LED bulbs; thermometers; faucet aerators; power strips; and weather stripping.

Resident Participation: After qualifying the resident, the Home Energy Leader will schedule and perform a “site assessment”, which includes analysis of heat and electric consumption, light bulb inventory and LED swap out, plug load assessment, installation of weather stripping, installation of faucet aerators. Site assessment features will be completed as needed and desired.

Each participating resident must pay $25 for the site assessment, which will go back into the Program to allow more homes to be assessed. The true cost of the assessment is $125. Savings vary by community based on energy costs but can be up to $85 per year for the light bulb exchange alone.

Thank you for your interest in this program. Please direct any inquiries to: Shaina Kilcoyne | Renewable Energy Alaska Project | Sustainable Southeast Partnership | s.kilcoyne@realaska.org | 907-331-7409

Robert Venables |Southeast Conference |energy@seconference.org | 907-723-0177

This program is funded by the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership

Growth Inside and Outside of the MOBY Greenhouse in Hoonah, Alaska

by Ian Johnson | Sep 29, 2017 | Food Sustainability, Hoonah, Moby the Mobile Greenhouse, Storytelling, Youth Engagement

In April 2016, “MOBY”, the mobile student greenhouse, rolled off the ferry in Hoonah. The trailer-become-greenhouse had a mission in the small community of 750 – educate students and community members on to grow in a greenhouse and to inspire conversation around a larger, permanent greenhouse in Hoonah. Four months later MOBY had produced beans, peas, tomatoes, sunflowers, swiss chard, kale, spinach and more. The green growth experienced in the greenhouse is a metaphor for the growth in individuals and community.

MOBY’s Timeline in Hoonah

April 17th, 2017 was planting day for the greenhouse. Melissa Thaalesen paired the greenhouse with her middle school health class. Students absorbed the sun rays outside of Hoonah City Schools where MOBY was parked. They got their fingers dirty and planted many flats of leafy greens. Once planted, the health class cared for the small plant starts each day.

Three weeks after planting the greenhouse school ended for the summer. With the release of the students came a change in location and intent for the greenhouse. It was moved to the Hoonah Indian Association and paired with the Hoonah Community Garden. The exposure to the community garden members provided great outreach. Twelve of the community garden members used starts to populate their gardens.

For the rest of the summer, the responsibility of the greenhouse was spread among different people. Ian Johnson, Community Catalyst, worked with student Ted Elliot almost daily. Their work was boosted by Tesh Miller who worked with her student Duane Jack, and five other community members periodically helped with planting, watering, and care of MOBY throughout the summer.

“As a community member who was raised in a subsistence lifestyle, this has taken me back to the idea of clean eating and knowing where our food comes from. After seeing MOBY my family has picked a place in our yard to build a greenhouse, and have begun talking about the items that will go into the greenhouse, how it will look, and how to make it yearly produce.” — Hoonah Community Garden Member

MOBY greenhouse engaged 17 students during the school and during the summer. These students had a great opportunity to be involved in the initial setup of MOBY, however, throughout the summer, one student maintained regular involvement with MOBY. In late June, 12-year old Ted Elliot took his first harvest of swiss chard, kale, and spinach home to his family. Soon after he was regularly snacking on peas draping from heavily laden vines and bringing those to his family too. The produce from the greenhouse was subsidized by Ted’s community garden plot and was well received by the Elliot family. His mom, Elleana, posted to Facebook several times to express her gratitude.

When asked whether a greenhouse could be viable part of Hoonah City Schools, Tesh Miller thought so. “Yes, I could see a greenhouse become a huge part of school. Starting with growing our own produce to growing produce to share with our elders and also growing produce to sell. I could become a class for students to take and learn. The possibilities are endless.”, she said . Shery Ross from Hoonah City Schools added that the MOBY curriculum was useful to teachers and that integration was pretty simple in the classroom to get students interested. “The staff all have a copy of the [MOBY] curriculum. This has provided support for our teachers. The list of seeds and when planting occurs was extremely helpful to new gardeners. The elementary students planted within their own classrooms.” She also added that students were able to bring the successes home to their family, “Grandparents and parents were thankful to receive lettuces and herbs this summer from their student. We see an opportunity to supply fruits, veggies to our school cafeteria and culinary department. The students were very engaged and thoughtful with the planting process. We see this as a viable lifeskill in Hoonah; teaching our students how to plant, care for, share and preserve a garden.”

“I had three students involved with the greenhouse during summer. I included it in their daily summer program session so their involvement depended on their attendance. One of my students had a garden plot also which he was very proud of. He was able to take produce from his garden plot (the starts came from the greenhouse) to his grandmother’s house one afternoon for a snack. The pride in his eyes as he left to share what he had grown with his grandmother shined through his face. He is still talking about going and watering the greenhouse and also is talking about the day he saw produce come from his garden and was able to share it. Another student who helped water has discussed with her parent the possibility of growing her own veggies in the spring. She has talked to me about ideas for what she can grow in garden containers.” — Tesh Miller, Hoonah City Schools

What’s Next?

The arrival of MOBY was paired with a tour of the biomass-heated greenhouses on Prince of Wales Island. The tour brought five people from Hoonah to review how the systems and lessons learned at Coffman Cove, Thorne Bay, Naukati, and Kasaan can be brought to Hoonah. Since the tour, the greenhouse group has met 6 times to lay the groundwork for a biomass greenhouse in Hoonah. Most recently, the greenhouse group hosted a MOBY outreach event which will show off the greenhouse through a MOBY greenhouse culinary demonstration. This was also a brainstorming session with the community to understand the opportunities and hurdles of a future greenhouse project. In Hoonah, we believe MOBY is the stepping stone that Hoonah needed for future greenhouse projects that will positively influence food security issues in the long term.

Thinking about bringing MOBY to your community next year? Here are some lessons learned in Hoonah that you can “grow” from. These are based on the advice from the community and school members who were involved in the project.

I think MOBY’s biggest success was that it was highly visible – near the community center and on a walking path that many people use – such that community members and particularly children got to see it. It was attractive, had informational panels, and was clearly of interest to many who wandered past. Our family used a number of starts from MOBY that grew reasonably well and kept us from 1) purchasing expensive starts from Juneau, or 2) being behind the growing season because we direct seeded.
It seemed that there needed to be more clarity about who was watering, etc. as there were many, many days when it needed to be watered and wasn’t. I was afraid to water because I didn’t know the schedule. Many starts were never planted and were consequently “wasted.” Even unplanted starts can be used for salads, etc.
The starts were “over-planted” so roots didn’t fully develop. They likely should have been thinned considerably in the flats so they could develop a better root system before separating for planting.
Need to think through what the community will likely use the most of when planting.
I love the idea of MOBY and wish the school could be more involved. That said, it feels to me that we are sometimes overly ambitious with garden plans, etc. and when summer rolls around we are all overwhelmed.
Hinderance was that it was a summer thing – and people are busy in the summer!
The greenhouse needs to be a part of the school throughout the year. Moving the greenhouse down to the community plot was a great idea but the school staff and students lost the feeling of ownership. They were glad to share with the community but the learning process of how to work together needs further development and organization.
I feel that MOBY was successful with those that knew and were involved with it. To touch more people, the greenhouse needs to be shared, possibly hosting a few community classes on growing produce and having it more visible to the public from the beginning to the end, combined with the community garden plots could improve its community impact.

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