Native Local and Traditional Knowledge Inventory and Bibliographic Data Base Report

By Carl M. Hild Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies Under Agreement with Alaska Native Science Commission 27 February 1998

PART ONE - OVERVIEW

“We have the wolf by his ears and we can neither hold him nor let him go!” Thomas Jefferson

SUMMARY

There are large amounts of uncataloged Alaska Native Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) which exist. Some is in unpublished reports and papers. Some is recorded on audio and video tapes. Some exists as photographs, maps and drawings. Some is documented in artifacts. Some exists in the bodies of those who have learned to dance. Some exists in the eyes of those who have learned to hunt. Some exists in the hands of those who have learned to sew or heal. Some exists in the minds of our elders and in the hearts of our children.

The problem of an Alaska Native LTK Inventory and Bibliographic Data Base is that it is a huge and changing issue. A culture can neither be preserved in a box nor on a computer disk, albeit aspects must be passed on to others for the foundation of the society to be understood.

There is much LTK material that has been recorded in one form or another. It is currently located in a large variety of places. Some of it is old and it may not survive in its current state of preservation and so is in danger of being lost forever. From dozens of interviews with knowledgeable individuals it is clear, no one even knows how much really exists. The cost just to conduct a thorough inventory would be large. The value of such an inventory would diminish with each passing hour as materials physically degrade or collections are lost to damage, neglect, or ignorance. Several people interviewed appreciated the contact as it acted as a reminder to go check on the condition of their own collections and think about modifying their wills to include the deposition of the valuable materials.

It has been suggested that the best way to incorporate Alaska Native LTK into new plans, policies, projects, research, and proposals is to involve Alaska Natives who know their culture. This may also be an important key for a way to look at how to further the process to preserve Alaska Native LTK.

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The Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC) could work as a “server” to access and deliver LTK. No archive of Alaska Native LTK is complete or able to be as interactive as is desired by the growing number of interested students and researchers. No electronic web site could be large enough to house the breadth of information that has been collected, in a format, so it can easily be accessed and contain the details and nuances of each culture. The active participation of Alaska Natives providing this information will keep the dynamic nature of Alaska Native LTK alive. When each request is received the accession record could be updated for where and how the materials were obtained and exactly what was provided. This process would then, over time, build a more effective and detailed method to utilize LTK.

The priority for ANSC is to take action so that unique materials are not forever lost. The recordings of elders from 25 years ago are in danger of being lost as magnetic tapes degrade. There were efforts in the 1960s and 70s to record Alaska Native elders before their information was lost when they passed-on. Those recordings are now going beyond their useful life span and “passing-on.” If they are not copied and protected soon they will be lost as surely as if our elders had never been. The stewardship of knowledge does not end with it being recorded once, but in its regular use. It is critical that the ANSC take action to determine how the collections of LTK are stewarded for future generations.

POSSIBLE ANSC OBJECTIVES

Bring together the major players to decide what is possible. Bring together the Alaska Native Science Commission with others who are involved to decide what is desired. Bring together the Alaska Native corporations to decide what potentially they or others can financially support. Bring together the appropriate technical staff of archivists, preservationists folklorists, anthropologists, librarians, and others to decide on the process and procedures for assessing the existing materials for triage, and protecting the most threatened. Have appropriate personnel inventory the existing collections. Identify the materials that have been collected with public funds, which have releases, and are cataloged and logged, so that they can be made readily available to all requesting them. Identify the materials that are in hand but need work to be able to be made available to the public, such as getting release forms, logging information, translation, transcription, or culling for appropriate content. Identify the materials that are in the worst physical condition so they may be prioritized for preservation. Identify resources, including funding, to begin the process of meeting objectives. Establish criteria for the use of LTK particularly the access and interviewing of elders who have provided many interviews in the past. Communities could establish records of which of their elders have been interviewed, on what topics, and assure that

2 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild copies of those are available so the elders do not have to be bothered unless there are new questions. Establish ownership and intellectual property rights definitions and procedures. Others…

QUESTIONS

How to establish the most efficient means of cataloging the materials for effective access? (A form of multi-tiered system to search first for general levels of information, then find particular items, then extract specific facts. Systems that can search a variety of media that must be used in composite for full meaning. Establishing the fields on reporting forms so that material information can be entered and transported between user systems as well as linking it to other relevant material.)

What has worked well in the past? (Document processes and examples such as the video “ Haze” and how Matthew Bean is portrayed; St. Lawrence Sea Birds research by Alaska Native Caleb Pungowiyi; LTK information on Beluga and how Henry Huntington of the Circumpolar Conference conducted the research; LTK information for the Polar Bear Habitat Strategy and how Suzie Kalxdorff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the research; work of the “Keepers of the Treasures – Alaska.”)

How have Alaska Natives made commentary about the dynamics of changing systems for environmental observations? (The North Slope Boroughs (NSB) involvement with the drafting of the Environmental Impact Statement for the “North Star” oil prospect in conjunction with the Minerals Management Services, and British Petroleum. There is an Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission that is a resource, but for example, there is no parallel body that is engaged in the study of ravens. How is change noted? How is knowledge expressed in story or action? Is the knowledge of one culture or area supportive or contrary to the knowledge of another area for the same species?)

Who do you ask to get the information? (Access to information is based on an individual’s awareness of sources of information. The quality of the information that is gained is based on the quality of the source of the information and the ease of access to that information. When Alaska Natives, no matter from which culture, need information, to whom do they turn? Natives who were new to an area traditionally asked permission to hunt on the grounds of others. Should there be a similar practice of respect and asking permission when hunting LTK information? When non-Natives need information, to whom should they turn? How is the community involved? How does the community want to be involved?)

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How do you “preserve” a living culture? (Preserving Alaska Native LTK is very different than documenting what was known by the Romans. Living cultures are dynamic and not like history, folklore, or archived materials. The ability to make wood and gut snowshoes and snowgoggles is folklore, while the current LTK of Alaska Native culture uses either new lightweight materials or snowmachines and glacier to conduct winter travel across deep snow.)

How are the admired Alaska Native cultural strengths of adaptability and resiliency transmitted in a collection of LTK? (The collection needs to be flexible and accessible from a variety of mind-sets, and capabilities. It needs to assist everyone from professional computer techno- jockies, to students in school, to children who need personal contact.)

How to maximize the viability of communities? (With increasing desires for local control, communities are being fenced in with maps, land ownership, and knowledge structures placed upon them from other world views. In a changing world LTK is a tool to help keep cultures viable and in itself needs to be reflective of a dynamic nature and contain the required spiritual components.)

What are the criteria for use of Alaska Native LTK? (Archives and rare book rooms in libraries require white gloves be worn and pencils be used with limits on the use of rare books. Elders are “rare books” and deserve limited access that has protective requirements. Information was traditionally personalized in that when a person was observed to need information, and be ready to receive it, then it was provided by those who knew it. A personal relationship with everyone who needs the information may not be possible, but providing a personalized service to access information may be welcomed if it is seen as a resource and not a hurdle. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill restoration Traditional Ecological Knowledge (EVOS TEK) program is an example of this process.)

How best to establish communication between cultural groups which have different basic parameters? (Western scientific investigation requires the removal of all spiritual components in order to conduct objective research, while Eastern based knowledge requires the inclusion of all spiritual components in order for it to be fully utilized. These are mutually exclusive requirements that will inhibit direct communications. Acupuncture is one example of a system that now exists in both world views, but it is muted where its full spiritual “energy” aspects are not accepted. Likewise herbal healing is seen only for its pharmacological aspects in the West, and not for the spiritual “energy” that particular plants provide to those in the East. Therefore to have “adequate” exchange between the groups there may need to be other interpretive systems in place.)

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PART TWO – INVESTIGATION FINDINGS

DIMENSIONS OF THE SITUATION

A chain of reference search of sources has lead to many repositories of Alaska Native LTK materials in a variety of conditions and spread throughout the world. Library of Congress classifications are tedious, and not reflective of materials which contain a diverse collection of information. UAF Rasmuson Library oral history collection has gone to a numeric system reflecting when a tape is entered into the collection, which then needs a separate key to understand what it really contains. The 8,000 hours of recordings are reviewed for content and checked for key words. The key words can be searched by computer and tapes sent out on inter-library loan. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) collection contains 1,900 one-hour audio tapes and associated materials. At this time the materials can be identified by who did the interview, who was interviewed, the date of the interview, and site in question. Tapes are integrally linked to maps, drawings, and photographs in the collection and so it is really a multi-media collection which to retain its worth must be kept as a unit. Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) is using “Library Works” and the National Library of Medicine for cataloging their 310 video tapes. NSB is using “Microsoft Access” for their 1,500 audio tapes most of which are translated and transcribed as well, while their videos are located elsewhere. Alaska Federation of Natives and University of Alaska Fairbanks (AFN/UAF) in their Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) program are using “Filemaker Pro” on a Macintosh format to collect and record LTK on their Alaska Native Knowledge Network computer web site (http://www.uaf.edu/ankn). This site has a Macintosh server that allows for PC access once on the web. The Alaska Yukon Library, with its collection of materials on indigenous peoples, is putting its collection on “Filemaker Pro” as part of the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. The owner would like to donate the collection to a Tribal College, however if one is not formed then it is unclear as to the deposition of the materials. The Environmental and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) has used and supports the use of “ProCite” so that materials can be linked to existing library collections and electronic networks. It is becoming a popular format for northern libraries. Others are using other software packages and it is unclear if any or all can interface with each other. It is unknown what the final objective of the collection of LTK will be: to have it identified as a complete bibliography for library use; to have it placed on the internet either in part or in its entirety; to have it carefully archived for maximum protection and durability. One private collection estimates having 5,000 – 6,000 hours of video tapes on Alaska Native land ownership discussions covering the entire time span from pre- ANCSA (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act - 1971) to present.

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Another private collection contains photographs of Alaska Natives that are over 120 years old and some of which are in a stereo format that requires a special viewer to see the images in three dimensions. Individual researchers have their own field notes and tapes that may not be logged, and may have restrictions on use due to content and location. Tapes may not have appropriate release forms and therefore should not be used until such approval is obtained from the person or a relative. There may be collections for which such releases are not possible to secure or there is a desire to keep the circulation of the materials limited. Some materials state that they have restrictions on any form of duplication without the previous written permission of organizations that no longer exist or exist in a new structure. The Alaska Humanities Forum has a list of videos and publications they have supported, (see attached) but do not have a lending repository of all the items, albeit most have been provided to the University Consortium Library. They do not have the reports or recordings their grant awardees have made as part of the numerous conferences and workshops which they have supported. In addition they have a speakers Bureau that is a reference list in itself. Some materials have gone to the University Consortium Library to be archived, albeit the listings, for example of three RurAL tapes, only state that there are videos on “environmental issues” which is not specific enough for research efforts. Some elders have voiced a concern that they do not wish to be interviewed repeatedly and yet there is no current way to know who has been interviewed on what topics. Some communities have been asked to begin to note when elders are interviewed and on what topics to gain some control over this issue. There are regional efforts underway that are not coordinated nor being conducted in a fashion in which they can be specifically linked in the future. The review, logging, cataloging, collecting, and stewardship of such materials is a large, costly, and long-term commitment. Local efforts bring great understanding to the collections and their review, but little long-term stability to assuring the protection of the materials for many generations of use. Large efforts bring stability and funding as resource repositories, but may not be as responsive to local concerns of student access or application of the information. Many of the magnetic tapes used to record audio and video degrade after twenty or so years. They may last longer if they have been appropriately stored. However collections have been known to freeze as well as be overheated. Few of the uncataloged magnetic materials have ever been duplicated for protection or preservation. Maps are often large and have been used to facilitate discussions. These must be kept with tapes or notes from the actual discussions to maximize their value. Photographs, negatives, and slides need to be associated with the other materials with which they were collected. In addition, over time they too degrade and need to be preserved. In addition they may need special equipment for viewing. The proper preservation environment for one type of medium may not be the best for another, and so separate storage areas may been needed, albeit they need to be in

6 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild proximity to each other so the materials can be reviewed together with the appropriate play back equipment. Very few of the uncataloged materials have been logged for exact content or screened for key words so that they have an index for access. The volume of the material that needs detailed review to assess its condition and worth is enormous. The amount of work is great while the number of trained library science and culturally sensitive workers is small. In addition the amount of funding required is very large. It is estimated that a one-hour audio tape requires twenty hours to transcribe and catalog it if it is in English, and such services run about $30.00 per hour. This works out to $600 per hour of English tape, more if it must be translated first. This time can be reduced if the transcriber is familiar with local place names, cultures, terms, and cataloging processes. There are concerns about where the materials will be placed in repository, how they will be protected, and who will be able to use them. There is a general desire that the materials be in a stable, secure, structured institution, such as the University’s libraries’ archives. The intent is how best to preserve the materials for future generations and that is a role of institutional structures.

FORMAT

Media variability and play back ability – Photographs (black and white, color, slides, glass plate, tin type, stereopticon, some with various negative formats and compositions, with associated viewers or projectors). Films (8, super 8, 16, 35mm with and without sound projectors). Videos (1, ¾, ½ inch, cassette or reel-to-reel players with counters). Vinyl phonograph records (33.3, 45, 98 rpm, wax cylinders, and the turn tables and amplifiers to play them). Audio tapes (cassette, reel-to-reel, varying speeds and duel language tracks players with counters). Computer electronic tapes (varying width and speed players). Microfilm and microfiche (reels and cards, positive and negative formats and associated viewers). Computer disks (9, 5.25, 3.5 inch, floppy or hard, and associated hard and soft ware). Compact disks (audio, video, data, and associated laser, hard and soft ware, and projection equipment). Computer based programs such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) of maps that require specific hard and soft ware as well as technicians to run the programs.

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In addition there are other traditional media formats which should be considered - Stone (building remains, monuments, markers [Inukshuk], petroglyphs, tools). Wood (building remains, monuments, totem poles, fishing and whaling weirs, hunting and trapping devices, boat frames, snow , ). Bone (building remains, monuments, markers, tools, ceremonial objects). Ivory and other hard body parts (tools, burial goods, decorations, ceremonial objects). Skin (tools; warm, waterproof, decorative, ceremonial clothing; vessel coverings). Spiritual sites (for harvesting plants, observing nature, ceremonies). Artifacts which demonstrate an understanding of the environment or animal behavior (halibut hooks, , eye surgery knives). Language (words reflect the cultural world view and understanding of the environment). Dance and music (movements, rhythms, tones, tunes, lyrics). Recreation (juggling, games, blanket toss movements). Healing (physical – manipulation/surgery, chemical – herbal/animal, psychological – behavioral/mental, spiritual – energy balance/ceremonies).

There are also more modern multi-media collections - The entire workshop with tools of a world famous Alaska Native birch wood violin (fiddle) maker. The repair and maintenance as well as associated tools required for the modified Yankee shoulder and lance whale bomb guns. The building, repair, modification, and maintenance of boats, sleds and other objects that reflect the knowledge of the region of use as well as the blending of traditionally understood materials and modern technologies.

Each media requires a variety of pieces of equipment and software to run them or the human hand, eye, and mind to interpret them. Many of the older versions cannot be readily accessed due to the physical problems of just running the material or seeing them first hand as they are located in distant museums. Keeping a collection of running equipment in operation will become a separate, but not a minor, problem of itself. Keeping a listing of the location of Alaska Native materials is itself a large project.

In “Parade” magazine for 15 February 1998 there was a report on “Endangered Sites” from a list of 100 worldwide complied by the World Monuments Watch. Each was selected due to being threatened by neglect, housing developments, mining or other industry. Five were in the . Only one, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has people actively practicing a sub-culture, the Amish and Mennonite farmers. The other four are abandoned sites that are “artifacts” of a previous day.

The generation of a data base of Alaska Native LTK is a similar situation to creating a data base of Amish farming. They too have been observed but in order to know their culture you must live among them, and that only occurs if you are accepted as

8 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild a member. Many neighbors can watch and document, but there is no Amish based repository of information in electronic format, as they do not believe in using electricity. Attached find a copy of a web page on the Amish. This is clearly not a page put forth by the Amish but by a “culture broker” who will seek answers to questions the public may have. It is also not fully representative of the Amish as there is no in depth discussion of their beliefs that are central to their existence. As an example it is stated that men do not wear mustaches as an observed fact, but it is not stated that this is a very visual protest against the military, which at the time of the formation of the Amish belief systems, required all solders to wear mustaches. This is an open sign of their religious protest as they are pacifists at all costs. The observed fact does not reflect the cultural framework upon which it is based nor is there an attempt to put forth an understanding.

Closer to Alaska there is one of the islands in the state of Hawaii where people live a traditional life and do not accept researchers, nor aid, from outside of their community. They have isolated themselves to live their culture. This is not easy, but as the Amish have isolated themselves for protection, they are now faced with urban sprawl covering their plain farms. The Hawaiians are a bit more fortunate in having an island but as the ocean changes they too may feel the growing impact of a changing world no matter how well they may have distanced themselves.

Alaska Natives have accepted electricity, and computers and the latest of all technologies. At the same time there is concern about placing all of what they know and believe in a format that anyone may visit and take away what pieces they desire without knowing the context from which the original materials were derived. How to share Alaska Native LTK so that it is appropriately utilized and stewarded needs to be clarified before any media or format can be applied.

ASSETS

Others have done similar computerization projects of diverse collections of materials and much can be learned from their experiences (The National Park Service in the Pacific Northwest, the Institute of American Indian Studies, the Rasmuson Library Oral History Program, AFN/UAF Rural Systemic Initiative - Alaska Native Knowledge Network (ANKN), Museum in Kodiak).

Others have started Alaska Native LTK collection cataloging and so their efforts can be utilized and potentially linked (North Slope Borough, Denakkanaaga, SEAlaska Heritage Foundation, Maniilaq, ENRI, Rasmuson Library Oral History Program, Alaska Yukon Library, Mineral Management Services, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Subsistence Division, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council).

Efforts to collect artifacts and ethnographic information by others have occurred for over a century in all regions of Alaska (The American Museum of Natural History is celebrating the centennial of the work of Morris K. Jesup who lead a five-year anthropological survey of Siberian, , and Northwest Coast Indian peoples between

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1897 and 1902; “Crossroads of the Continents” and “Agayuliyararput: Our way of making Prayer” are other recent efforts to provide the public with some exposure to these early materials collected in Alaska [see attached Nancy Yaw Davis list of Ethnologies]).

There are existing protocols for logging, cataloging, collecting, and stewarding the full spectrum of materials.

There are excellent limited edition publications of ethnographic materials, such as those produced by the Alaska Humanities Forum (see attached lists).

There are new interactive CD-ROM materials which allow flexibility in access to LTK (the collections of the ANKN are to be put on CDs for distribution to schools).

The Internet offers new ways to access information. (The American Museum of Natural History is having the Jesup collection digitally imaged so it may be shared over the Internet. The ANKN web site is operational, as are several others on Native Americans.) Hawaiian http://www.pixi.com/~huimalam/ American Indian http://www.usd.edu/iais/oralhit/ohc.html Native http://www.nativeweb.org/ 4th World http://www.halcyon.com:80/FWDP/fwdp.html Indigenous http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/who.html Traditional Medicine http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/medicine/tep.html Alaska Native http://www.uaf.edu/ankn

Computerized library systems offer expanded searches for information, which is linked to networks. (An example is Robert Fortuine’s “The Use of Medicinal Plants by the Alaska Natives” from “Alaska Medicine” Vol. 30, No. 6, November, December 1988 which has an excellent bibliography of many hard to find materials [see attached]).

Groups, such as Greenpeace, have agreed to provide copies to the ANSC, of the audio and video tapes with transcripts they have (1997) and are planning (1998) to make of Alaska Natives’ comments on the changing environment.

Due to United Nations’ meetings there is a growing demand for Alaska Native LTK from governmental agencies and researchers who now are charged to review and include the wisdom of indigenous populations.

The National Science Foundation has indicated in its Arctic Systems Science programs that utilizing LTK is desired.

The official Federal position on the relationship between the national and tribal governments has improved to the point of formal policy statements on the inclusion of tribal representatives and traditional knowledge in planning and policy processes.

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Alaska Native communities are alive and the LTK that has preserved their cultures is dynamic.

COLLECTIONS OF ALASKA NATIVE LTK MATERIALS

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division has the most comprehensive information in regards to the EVOS impact area. Harbor Seal and Steller Sea Lion interview information has been entered into a word searchable data base in an AskSAM softwear program. The BIA 14(h)1 set aside tapes for this region are being logged at this time. There is a program to actively engage communities through a TEK project. There has been a request from a number of people who are working or have worked in this region to provide a summary of their LTK materials. This effort is in need of greater coordination, but has been built like a quilt, from a number of pieces and with a great deal of care and expertise.

The Alaska Federation of Natives with the University of Alaska Fairbanks is currently working on the Rural Systemic Initiative to collect LTK and place it into curricula for primary school grades. This effort is placing such information before students and needs to be assured that those source materials are protected and accessible for future efforts. This project is seen by many around the state as the most comprehensive and accessible effort to date. Their web site, the Alaska Native Knowledge Network (ANKN), offers easy access to the materials they have collected. They are now working with others who have collections to have the materials entered on “Filemaker Pro.” This will allow direct uploading of external holdings with instructions on how to visit the collection.

The Alaska Native Science Commission has been given the research files from Bill Richards M.D. and Steve McNabb Ph.D. So it too is now a noted collection of Alaska Native LTK. The ANSC is now also well positioned to take on the task of establishing the process for all Alaska groups which may wish to conduct their own local efforts to collect materials. This could include recommendations on standards for collection, cataloging, logging, access, and preservation. There could also be recommendations on linkages and referral networks to make the collections comparable and cross-referenced.

Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) is working on collecting LTK. Unalaska has produced a report, and Atka and Akutan produced audio taped interviews in 1996 as part of a State Department Man and the Biosphere project with the Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP). APIA has a written summary report, as does RurAL CAP. The respective communities have the tapes and Carl M. Hild has duplicate for safe keeping in Anchorage, AK.

The BIA 14 (h)(1) set aside land documentation materials consist of audio taped interviews, interview notes, maps, drawings, and photographs. These must be kept together as one collection as they depend upon each other for value. There are 1,900

11 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild tapes. Since 1985 the materials were coded for value toward preparation of the BIA reports on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the top for priority. Many people who were interviewed about a location no longer lived near that spot but had grown up there and had learned the history. It is important to note that the location of current residence does not make one an expert in that community. The tapes have been put into a computer data base which lists the site, the date of interview, who was interviewed and by whom. They are cross-referenced with the other materials. They have not been computerized for key word searching and it is felt that this should be kept to a relatively short list of key words or a Lamarckian system that would get an interested investigator to the topic of concern in a few short steps. A number of tapes have been transcribed. All have been duplicated and each set is stored separately. These materials can be used by the public at this time and have actually been available for use for some time.

Ernest (Tiger) S. Burch Jr. has a large personal collection of material, primarily of northwestern Alaska, in his home in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. “My will provides that all of my research materials, professional correspondence, etc., will go to the archives a the University of Alaska Fairbanks after my death. Once they get there, there will be no restrictions on access except to one fairly sizeable set of notes containing very personal information. They constituted the basis of my kinship book (1975). Those particular notes, which are clearly identified both in my will and in the files, will not be accessible to anyone until 20 years after my death. If I die tomorrow, they will become available 50 years after the information was collected.” “In the meantime, my research materials are kept in fairly good physical circumstances, and I have copies of the most important stuff located in a separate building. Since my handwriting is barely legible even to me, I typed most of the original notes. The original notes are on 8 ½” x 11” paper, 3x5 cards, and 5x8 cards. As funds have permitted over the last couple of years, I have been getting the textual material scanned or transcribed into a computer, whence they can be printed out in a variety of formats. Diagrams, sketches, maps, genealogies, photographs, etc. are much more expensive to computerize, and probably never will make it into the machine. As the archivist measure such things, my original field notes would probably occupy five linear feet of shelf space. Several dozen maps and large genealogical charts and thirty-six 4” reel to reel tapes would be extra. “In general, my field notes are not accessible to anyone but me….I am sometimes willing to share selected portions of my notes with graduate students or colleagues, but I need to know personally, and trust, the individuals involved, and I am the one who fishes out the relevant material….In the meantime, the material is not and will not be accessible by the general public.” [It would be terrific if every person who had a collection of material had such a clear understanding of its size, content, restrictions, and plans for long-term deposition. He has prepared a paper advising others on how to treat their anthropological collections. A copy of “The Future of Hunter-Gatherer Research” is attached.]

Nancy Yaw Davis - Cultural Dynamics has a south-central Alaska focus, two reel-to-reel narratives, Gulkana folk dancing and songs from 1964, a filing cabinet drawer of photographs of communities pre-earthquake to present, eight filing cabinets of

12 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild community notes and reports dealing with response to the earthquake – economic change – EVOS. A list of selected Alaskan ethnographies from field research initiated between 1929 and 1969 has been prepared and is attached.

Doyon Limited has materials that were collected during the BIA 14(h))(1) efforts as well as subsequently with private funds to document land interests. Three reports have been prepared with the materials: Lower and Mid Yukon and Kantishna region, a specific site with the National Park Service, and Koyukuk River drainage area. The materials that were collected with Doyon funds are not available to the public, while those collected with federal funds are. The collection also contains maps and diagrams. The tapes are being duplicated and the intent is to digitalize them and place the material on CDs.

Ann Fienup-Riordan, 100 audiotapes on Yup’ik masks, plus a large collection of other materials mostly from the Yukon-Kuskokwim area.

Robert Fortuine has prepared a number of excellent collections of existing published materials on traditional medicinal plant use throughout Alaska, as well as a bibliography of works on the health of the north American Inuit and other topics relating to Alaska Natives. His work is thorough and should be a starting point for may research endeavors.

Kaweak – 1,000 audiotapes, 400 transcribed and translated, 150 videos, 7,000 slides, 400 historic photos. The Department of Education is assisting with duplication of language tapes. Duplicates of tapes have been made but they are not in a separate location. Collection is being computerized now. It will not be available for the public’s use for about two years.

Robert King has photographs and stereopticons of Alaska Natives going back over a century are part of a private collection. He will allow them to be viewed on a case-by-case request.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has just awarded Utkiavik Inupiat Corporation and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium a grant to collect the LTK of the Beaufort Sea. It is the intention of that group to begin a process that will be a model to be replicated throughout Alaska in regards to how materials are located, reviewed, logged, cataloged, put into a useable and protected format, utilized, and stewarded. This effort is just beginning and has not produced any agreements or processes to date. In addition MMS has a number of reports on “Social Indicators” of a number of communities over the past twenty years. They also have a Library of materials located in their Anchorage office. They have stored twenty years of transcripts of meetings and a number of affidavits, some from elders, expressing concerns about habitats and the environment. Materials for the Beaufort Sea area have been put on to a CD database as part of the “North Star” joint Environmental Impact Statement process.

North Slope Borough, Commission on Inupiat History, Language and Culture. Web site is under development. There are summaries of some tapes. Most recent elders’

13 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild conference publication is underway. 1,500 audiotapes, most are translated and transcribed. Using Microsoft Access for keyword searching. Have photograph catalog. Videos are at the Public Information Office and television station.

The Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP) at the direction of the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals (IPCoMM) produced three proposals for the National Science Foundation between 1993 and 1995. None were funded, albeit the NSF encouraged their submittal and indicated support would be forth coming for the last. The first was to conduct a state-wide inventory of LTK and develop a process for its review. This three-year, $1.7 million dollar effort was seen by NSF as too big. The second version was for three years and $700,000. This also was seen as too large. The third version was submitted as a pilot project for $100,000 as had been directed by NSF. It too was not funded, but this time the concern was one of needing greater Native direction. With that information RurAL CAP did not reapply but began to work with other Alaska Native groups to have them apply for such work. RurAL CAP did apply to the Department of State’s Man and the Biosphere Program and secured a $10,000 grant that was distributed to several communities with the coordination and collaboration of the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association. This resulted in two communities producing tapes of environmental knowledge, one community producing a written report on natural resource utilization, and one community purchasing video equipment to record future elders gatherings. These efforts were designed and conducted by the communities. RurAL CAP has a Library in which there are a number of videos of community meetings and workshop discussions addressing Alaska Native LTK. Older materials have been moved to the UAA Consortium Library for archiving. Supposed videotapes of mid-wifery conference in Bethel from a number of years ago have not been located. In addition the RurAL CAP newsletter “Village Voices” has documented LTK in the past in some articles.

Schools and school districts around the state have had a number of community and student projects recorded and placed in their libraries, which generally are not logged for content other than the general topic of the entire piece. Copies are often limited to the individual school, schools in the immediate area, or perhaps the school district, but rarely are such materials distributed widely.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has produced numerous reports which have utilized key informant interviews. Susanne Kalxdorff has prepare a paper on her experience in collecting and utilizing Alaska Native LTK in the production of the Polar Bear Habitat Strategy. There are a number of people in their various research divisions and within their Subsistence Division who have years of experience working in Alaska and many of whom value LTK and their working relationships with Alaska Natives. There are repositories of information in field notes and on tape at a number of Federal offices, but they are not generally available for public review, as they have been used to prepare reports that are public information.

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CONTACTS

Alaska Native Language Center – UAF – 907-474-7874 Wendy Arundale – Interior Anthropologist – 907-479-8406 Ray Barnhardt – UAF/ANKN – 907-474-6431 Ellen Bielawski – Keepers of the Treasures - 258-2844 Juli Braund-Allen – UAA, ENRI - 257-2733 Stephen Braund – Stephen Braund and Associates – 276-8222 Taylor Brelsford – USFWS Subsistence Division (SD) - 786-3888 Michael Burwell – Minerals Management Services – 271-6681 Rick Caulfield – UAF, Rural Development – 907-474-6663 Donald Clark – Canadian Museum of Civilization – 613-828-1642 Fred Clark – U.S. Forest Service – 907-586-8890 Helen Corbett – Ahmik Institute, Korman, Alberta, – 403-678-5027 Aron Crowell - Smithsonian, Arctic Studies Program - 343-6162 Jens Dal – International Workgroup for Indigenous Affairs, – [email protected] Nancy Yaw Davis – Cultural Dynamics – 258-6680 Robert Drozda – UAF, Anthropologist – 907-474-7579 Kerry Feldman – UAA, Anthropology - 786-6849 Ann Fienup-Riordan – Anthropologist - 346-2952 Nick Flanders – Dartmouth College, Cultural Ecologist – 603-646-1278 Patrick Frank - Traditional Healer – 563-6933 Jean Gamache – EPA, Alaska Tribal Office – 271-5083 Matt Ganley – Individual Researcher – 907-457-1920 Jean Graves – Alaska Yukon Library - 272-6647 Glenn Gray – Governor’s Office – 907-465-8792 Ann Gurling – Alaska Native Medical Center Library – 729-2944 Jana Harcharek and Arlene Glenn, North Slope Borough Commission on Inupiat History, Language and Culture (NSB IHLC)– 852-2611 ex 270 Gary Harrison – Chickaloon Tribe – 745-0707 Candyce Henkelman – Southcentral Foundation Traditional Healing Program – 265-4911 Sue Hills – UAF, Institute of Marine Science – 907-474-5106 Human Studies Film Archives - 202-357-3356 Henry Huntington – Huntington Consulting – 696-3564 Chuck Imig – Imig Videos – 272-4250 Cathy Ipalook – Denakkanaaga – 456-5827 Sherie Jenson – SEAlaska Heritage Foundation – 907-463-4844 Lori Johnsons – Chugachmiut, Language preservation program - 562-4155 Susanne Kalxdorff – US FWS Marine Mammals Management (MMM) – 786-3828 Barbara Kohee – Maniilaq Health Librarian – 907- 442-7175 Maggie Kowchee – Kawerak – 907-443-5231 Robert Kraus – University of Kentucky - 606-323-6021 ex 271 Ted Krieg – Bristol Bay Native Association – 800-478-5257 Jack Kruse – UAA, Institute of Social and Economic Research – (786-7710 message) Liisa Kurppa – Arctic Centre – Finland [email protected] Steve Langdon – UAA, Anthropology - 786-6848

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Dorothy Larson – AFN/ANKN – 274-3611 Gary Lee – Doyon Limited – 907-452-4755 Susan Means – Alyeska Pipeline Service Library – 762-1513 Thomas Merculief – Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association - 276-2700 ex 137 Larry Merculieff – Bering Sea Coalition – 688-2226 Craig Mishler – Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) SD – 267-2357 Rita Miraglia – ADFG SD – 267-2358 Phillis Morrow- UAF, Anthropology – 474-6608 National Anthropological Archives - 202-357-1986 Rick Neckt – Unalaska Museum – 907-581-1297 Oral History Search Page of Rasmuson Library Collection – http://www.elmer.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/osearch.html – 907-474-6672 Marilyn Ostergren – National Parks Service - 415-487-6263 Frank Peterson – Kodiak, Avakulik Inc. – 907-486-4349 Paul Polechia – UAF, Bethel – 907-543-4594 Ken Pratt – BIA – 271-3695 Gordon Pullar – UAA, Alaska Native Rural Development Program – 279-2706 Caleb Pungowiyi – Kawerak – 907-442-3549 Rudolph Ryser – Center for World Indigenous Studies – http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/who.html Peter Schweitzer – UAF, Anthropology – 907-474-5015 Jody Seitz – Prince William Sound Science Center – 907-424-5800 Jean Shay – Glacier Bay/Hoonah Place name project – 907-257-2663, 907-687-2232 Glenn Sheehan – Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) – 907-852-4881 Sue Sherman – Ahtna – 907-822-3476 Bill Simeone – ADFG SD – 267-2309 SLED – http://sled.alaska.edu Tony Smith – Alaska Native Medical Center Video Office – 729-2934 Smithsonian Archives – 202-357-1420 Joe Spaeder – University of California, Anthropology – 916-756-2168 Mike Spindler – Galena, KIYU/KUAK radio spots - 907-656-1231 Amy Steffian – Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak – 907-486-7004 Steve Stringham – Independent Researcher – 907-594-6332 Francine Taylor – Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association – 279-8433 John Trent – ADFG - 267-2179 Ann Vick – Roger Lang Clearinghouse, Boston MA – [email protected] Gale Vick – Alaska Inter-Tribal Council (AITC) – 248-4264 Cathy Vitale – Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) - 272-7547 Dennis Walle – UAA, Library Archivist - 786-1867 Polly Wheeler – Polly Wheeler and Associates – 907-457-1920 Robert White – UAF/Institute of Arctic Biology – 907-474-4640 Bob Wolfe – ADFG SD – 907-465-4147 Chris Wooley – Chumis Cultural Resources Services - 563-3202 Bill Workman – UAA, Anthropology - 786-6842 Linda Yarborough – U.S. Forest Service – 271-2511 George Yaska – Tanana Chiefs Conference – 542-8251 David Yesner – UAA, Anthropology – 786-6845

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RESOURCES

Unpublished, uncataloged, hard to find

Ahmik Institute of Korman, Alberta, Canada has audiotapes collected on the Pribilofs.

Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK is to be an interactive center for sharing LTK with the public through demonstration. Their collection of LTK is likely to be focused within the people who demonstrate skills and work with the public. They are just getting organized and hiring a Director of Development, with a planned opening date of 1999.

Association of Village Council Presidents, Goose Ecology study based on LTK with tapes and transcripts. Bethel, AK.

Ellen Bielawski. “Inuit indigenous knowledge and science in the arctic.” Paper presented at the AAAS annual meeting, Washington D.C. Feb 14-19, 1991.

Ellen Bielawski. “Inuit indigenous knowledge and science in the arctic. “ Arctic Institute of North America – Essays in Anthropology of Science edited by Laura Nader, January 1993.

Ellen Bielawski. “The Northern Heritage Society: A Case Study in Developing science with Northerners.” Paper

Ernest S. Burch Jr. “Studies of Native History as a Contribution to Alaska’s Future.” Special Lecture, 25 August 1981, 32 Alaska Science Conference, Fairbanks, AK. Copywritten. Later published as “From Skeptic to Believer: The Making of an Oral Historian” in “Alaska History” Vol. 6 No. 1, Spring 1991. Pp.1-16.

Marie Adams Carroll – Alaska and Invialuit Beluga Whale Committee. “Comments for the Alaska Native Traditional Knowledge and Ways of Knowing workshop.” 4 pages, 9 September 1994

Norman Chance and Elena N. Andreeva. “Sustainability, Equity, and Natural Resource Development in Northwest and Arctic Alaska.” Presented at the American Anthropological Association meeting in Washington D.C. 1993.

Fred P. Clark “A Protocol for Acquiring, Using, and Disseminating Traditional Environmental Knowledge for Region 10, Alaska” 10 October 1996 draft. U.S. Forest Service, Southeast Alaska.

Linda Clarkson, Vern Morrissette and Gabriel Regallet. International Institute for Sustainable Development. “Our Responsibility to the Seventh Generation Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development.”

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Rachel Craig. “Inupiaq Concepts of the Progression of Development in Young Children” Presentation at the 45th AAAS Arctic Science Conference. Anchorage, AK. 25 August 1994.

Department of Interior memo of 4 September 1990 to the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the ownership of ANCSA 14(h)(1) materials.

Dalee Sambo Dorough “Minimum Standards and Fundamental Principles for “Co-Management” Regimes with Alaska Natives” Draft for future publication. July 1994.

“Draft Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the International Society of Ethnobiology September 1996. Darrell Posey, Programme for Traditional Resource Rights. Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society, University of Oxford, UK.

Syma A. Ebbin. “Property Rights and Cultural Responsibilities: Examining Cooperative Salmon Management Institutions in Alaska and Washington.” Presented at the 6th Annual International Association for the Study of Common Property meeting. June 1996.

“Greenpeace 1997 Cruise” 15 audiotapes, 30 interviews on climate change, ANSC will get logged copies. A similar recording effort is planned for 1998.

Carl M. Hild. “Cadmium Contamination in Alaska Native Food Chain” for RurAL CAP, August 1994.

Carl M. Hild. “A Community’s Approach to Solving its Major Health Problem.” 1981. North Slope Borough Health Department, Barrow AK. Unabridged review of an alcohol study. With additional commentary in 1989 by William Richards MD. All located at Carl M. Hild, Anchorage, AK.

Carl M. Hild. “Contaminants in Alaska Local Foods: Community Concerns and Cross-Cultural Communications” presentation for the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Environmental Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs hearing. 13 August 1996.

Carl M. Hild. “Correspondence and personal notes of the discussions surrounding the discovery of the frozen bodies in Barrow, Alaska.” 1981, Located at Carl M. Hild, Anchorage, AK.

Carl M. Hild. “Discussion notes, draft reports, newsletters, photographs, stereopticons, audio and video tapes for traditional Arctic survival and health issues among the Inupiat.” 1971 - 72, 1978 – 1984. Located at Carl M. Hild, Anchorage, AK.

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Carl M. Hild. “Discussion paper on TKW” prepared for members of the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals at the Rural Alaska Community Action Program, 3 February 1997.

Carl M. Hild. “Native to Alaska’s North Slope” North Slope Borough Health Department, Barrow, AK July 1980.

Carl M. Hild. “Tatqiaq (Snowgoggles)” Chapter prepared for the book “Arctic Sports Medicine and Cold Weather Exertion” which was never produced. 1993.

Imig Video, 5,000 - 6,000 hours of unedited video of hearings and meetings on land ownership from pre- ANSCA to present. Anchorage, AK.

“International Health and Alternative Medicine Conference” 9-10 October 1995. Alaska Indigenous Community Development and Research, P.O. Box 143, Sterling AK. 99672.

Inuit Circumpolar Conference. “Report from the Environmental Panel” during the 6th General Assembly. 21 July 1992.

Susi Kalzdorff. “Collection of Traditional Knowledge: Summary to Date.” For Polar Bear Habitat Conservation Strategy by US FWS. 5 August 1994. Pp4.

Keepers of the Treasurers – Alaska. “Our Knowledge, Our Wisdom, Our Rights, In Honor of our Elders.” Cultural Heritage Workshop report from Cultural Resources Training Initiative, Fairbanks, AK, 16-18 September 1993.

Julie Kitka. Presentation at RurAL CAP Subsistence Conference, Anchorage, AK 15 February 1997. Pp11.

Larry Merculieff. Alaska Biodiversity Conference presentation, 1992.

Larry Merculieff. “Animal Protectionist and the Pribilofs 1969-1986.” January 1987.

Larry Merculieff. “Animal Rights and Aboriginal Peoples” presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 19 Feb 1990. Pp 11.

Larry Merculieff. “The Bering Sea: Research/Management Challenges and Recommendations. December 1992.

Larry Merculieff. Commissioner’s speech at Sixth Annual Assembly of Indigenous Survival International, 23 August 1990. Pp 12.

Larry Merculieff. “A Discussion Paper on Alaska Coastal Peoples and Marine Research, Management and Policy Making.

19 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild

Larry Merculieff. “Establishing Rapport Between Indigenous Coastal Cultures and the Western Scientific Community.” Presented at the 4th International Symposium on the Conference of Asia and Pan-Pacific University Presidents.

Larry Merculieff. “Let Goodness Take Its Place” Presentation at 17th Annual Shareholder Meeting , in Gana-A’Yoo, Limited Newsletter Vol.3 No.2, Galena, AK.

Larry Merculieff. “Pickled Seal Flipper (Lusta) and Western Science” Mineral Management Services Information Transfer Meeting. January 1993.

Larry Merculieff. Presentation at Center for Marine Conservation Conference on Bering Sea Ecosystem, 6 October 1997.

Larry Merculieff. RurAL CAP interview of 9 July 1992.

Larry Merculieff. “Western Resource Management Systems and the Role of Native Peoples of the Bering Sea.

Larry Merculieff. “Western Science and Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom: A Working Proposal for Cross-Cultural and Multi Disciplinary Bering Sea Research” Bering Sea Ecosystem Workshop presentation. 4 December 1997.

Larry Merculieff. “Western Society’s Linear Systems and Aboriginal Cultures: The need for two-way Exchanges for the Sake of Survival.” Address presented a the Sixth International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies, Fairbanks, AK, 30 May 1990.

Craig Mishler “Splitting down the middle: Subsistence hunting of marine mammals and commercial fisheries in coastal Alaska.” Presented to the First International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences. Quebec, 29 October 1992.

Harold Napoleon. “Yu’ya’raq The Way of the Human Being.” Hooper Bay.

David Peat. “Dialogues between Indigenous and Western Scientists.” Fetzer Institute program. May 1992. Kalamazoo, MI. Pp 167.

David Peat. “Second Dialogue Between Indigenous and Western Scientists.” Fetzer Institute program. 4-6 December 1992. Pp 156.

Gordon Pullar. “Bridging the Gap between Alaska Natives and Western Scientists.”

Gordon Pullar. “The Qikertarmiut and the Scientist: Fifty Years of Clashing Worldviews.” Presented at the American Anthropological Association Meeting. San Francisco, CA 3 December 1992.

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Gleb Raygorodetsky. “Gwich’in Environmental Knowledge Project Progress Report. Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board, Inuvik, NWT, Canada. September 1996.

Karen Samuelson. “Testimony before the Committee on the Bering Sea Ecosystem.” Association of Village Council Presidents. 1995.

James Schwarber. “An Alaska Grass-Roots Example of Gathering Customary and Traditional Hunting Knowledge by Elders.” Native American Fish and Wildlife Society – Alaska Office. 12 September 1994.

Bill Simeone. “Ethical Guidelines or Principles; Protocols; Research Methods for the Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the Exxon Valdez Restoration Process. AK F&G SD. 8 April 1996.

Mike Spindler. “Description of Raven’s Story Project – KIYU-AM, Galena.”

Stephen F. Stringham. “Journeys of Discovery to Other Continents By Ancient Native Americans.”

“Report to the CAFF Working Group on the Seminar on Integration of Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge.” March 1995.

Burton Rexford, Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. 9 September 1994 Statement on the U.S. Russia Simultaneous Oil and Gas Lease Sale in the Chukchi Sea.

RurAL CAP Proposal Summary: “Sharing and Integration of Traditional and Western Scientific Knowledge of Marine Mammals.” 1993.

Saint Marys has elders video tapes in school.

Selawik has videotapes on healing

Robert Wolfe. “Subsistence Food Harvest in Rural Alaska. And Food Safety Issues” Presented to the National Academy of Science, Institutes of Medicine, Committee on Environmental Justice. 13 August 1996. AK FG SD.

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Limited copies

“Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc, Resolution 93-77 Rural Awareness of Health of Animal Species used for Subsistence, Toxic Waste Testing, Establishment of a Native Science Commission.”

“Alaska Native People’s Caucus” Prepared statement delivered by Caleb Pungowiyi at the 1994 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee meeting on Contaminants in the Arctic, Anchorage, AK.

“Alaska Native Traditional Knowledge and Ways of Knowing Workshop” 13-14 September 1994 summary report 20 pages edited by Carl Hild. RurAL CAP also has 4 90 min video tapes of the meeting.

“Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy Seminar on Integration of Indigenous Peoples Knowledge” Reykjavik, Iceland. September 20-23, 1994.

James Balsiger. “Report of the Alaska native Working Group” pp 18-22 of the Workshop Report of the Bering Sea Ecosystem Study held in Anchorage, AK 2-3 November 1995. National Marine Fisheries Service. Seattle, WA.

Samuel R. Cook. “What is Indian Self-Determination?” in “Red Ink” Volume Three Spring 1994 pp 23-26.

Tina DeLapp and Elizabeth Ward. “Traditional Inupiat Health Practices” 1981. North Slope Borough Health Department. Translated by Molly Pederson and Loretta Kenton, pp 81.

Joanna Endter-Wada, Lynn A. Robbins, Douglas W. Levine. “Subsistence Practices in the Bristol Bay Region of Alaska” in Arctic Research of the United States Vol 6, Fall 1992. Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. National Science Foundation, Washington D.C.

Alan Fehr and Williman Hurst. “A Seminar On Two Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge” Summary report prepared by Aurora Research Institute, Aurora College, Inuvik, NWT, Canada. Seminar held on 15-17 November 1996.

Lee Guemple, Ed. “Alliance in Eskimo Society; Proceedings of American Ethnological Society, November 18 – 21, 1971” 1971 Supplement.

George Guthridge. “ Solve the Future” 1986? In “Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact.” pp. 64-75.

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Carl M. Hild “Inuit (Eskimo) Ways” Chapter 6 of “The Iditarod Arctic Sports Medicine/Human Performance Guide” produced by American College of Sports Medicine, Alaska Regional Chapter, Anchorage, AK. 1989

Carl M. Hild. “New Lessons from Old Ways” In “Arctic Sports Medicine; Proceedings of the First Alaska Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.” University of Alaska Anchorage. 1989.

Henry P. Huntington and Nikolai I. Myrin. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Beluga Whales – An Indigenous Knowledge Pilot Project in the Chukchi and Northern Bering Seas” Final Report September 1996, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Anchorage, AK.

Henry P. Huntington. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Beluga Whales – An Indigenous Knowledge Pilot Project in the Chukchi and Northern Bering Seas” Report in English, Inupiaq, and Yupik. May 1997. Translated by Rachel Craig, Clara and Alex Sookiayak, Sheldon Nagaruk, Muriel Hopson, and Emily Wilson. Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Anchorage,AK.

Inuit Circumpolar Conference May 1995 newsletter - “Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Beluga Whales: An Indigenous Knowledge Pilot Project in the Chukchi and Northern Bering Seas”

“Land is Life” slide and tape presentation prepared by the Area Office of the Alaska Native Medical Center prior to 1975. The narrative exists the slides have been disbursed.

Larry Merculieff “One Alaska Native’s Perspective on Marine Contamination.” in “Greenpeace Alaska Call to Action” newsletter, 1996

Northwest Arctic Borough School District has video on elders and audiotapes of stories for language classes.

“Qiniqtuagaksrat Utuqqannat Inuuniagninisiqun; Traditional Land Use Inventory of the Mid-Beaufort Sea. Vol 1.” 1980 North Slope Borough Commission on History and Culture. Barrow, AK 99723

“Point Barrow Conference on Native Rights” Section 35 of “Alaska Historical Documents Since 1867” as compiled by Ronald Lautaret, McFarland & Company Inc. Jefferson, NC. 1989.

Caleb Pungowiyi. “Traditional and Ecological Knowledge of Seabirds of St. Lawrence Island” In Arctic Research of the United States Vol. 11, Spring/Summer 1997, Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, National Science Foundation, Washington D.C. pp 38 – 40.

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“A Selective and Annotated Bibliography Vol 2” The Participation of Indigenous Peoples and the Application of their Environmental and Ecological Knowledge in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. Prepared by the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. August 1993.

“Taking Control; The story of Self Determination in the Arctic.” 1993. Bill Hess, North Slope Borough, Barrow AK.

“Timimun Mamirrutit” (Traditional ‘Body Healers’) 1976, Mauneluk Cultural Heritage Program, Kotzebue, AK. (1,000 copies and no reproduction without prior written permission)

Barbara Boyle Torrey. “Slaves of the Harvest” 1978, 1983. TDX Corporation, St. Paul, Alaska. pp191.

Edith Turner. “From Shamans to Healers: The survival of an Inupiaq Eskimo Skill” 1989 In “Anthropolgica XXXI(1989)3-24.” . “Uiniq – The Open Lead” newsletter produced by the North Slope Borough in the 1970s and 80s. Barrow, AK.

“Words of Wisdom” 1983 Maniilaq Publication, Kotzebue, AK pp 22.

Other General

Alaska Anthropological Society publications Alaska Humanities Forum - Anchorage Alaska Native Heritage Center – Anchorage (planned) Allutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository – Kodiak Anchorage Museum of History and Fine Art (Photography collection) British Colombia Archives Chugach Native Heritage Center - Seward Institute of , Danish Archives, Copenhagen Inupiat Heritage Center, Barrow Koontznoowoo Cultural and Educational Foundation - Angoon Loussac Library, Anchorage - Vertical Files in Alaska Room Maniilaq – Health Education Library – photos, cultural publications. Stories are used on tape on KOTZ radio. Simon Paneak Memorial Museum – Anaktuvuk Pass SEAlaska Heritage Foundation – Clan information, family albums, photos, note on family research. Togiak Center, Togiak University of Wisconsin Archives Yupiit Piciryarait Culture Center, Bethel

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Specific

Alaska Federation of Natives and UAF have established the Alaska Native Knowledge Network at http://www.uaf.edu/ankn They are using “Filemaker Pro” on a Macatosh computer for their database so that it interfaces with primary school systems. The access on the web site will accommodate any computer as the servers make the language equivocal.

Alaska Moving Images Preservation Association in Anchorage, AK has the equipment and a climate controlled room to duplicate, archive, and store audio and video images. They already have a sizable collection. This site should be reviewed and collaborated with if any audio visual work is planned.

Alaska Native Medical Center Library has 310 videos and uses “Library Works” computer system for application of the National Library of Medicine coding system. In addition the video office has a great deal of other footage that can be used.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill restoration project on Traditional Ecological Knowledge is building a database for the impacted area. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division is preparing the materials.

Johan Adrian Jacobsen. 1882-1883 Yup’ik collection of unrecorded and unpublished artifacts. Located in Berlin, Germany.

Helge Larsen’s 1940s Point Hope collection of Iputaq culture artifacts. Danish Museum of Ethnology, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, PA has a large collection of Alaska Native photographs, largely of southeast Alaska.

Roger Lang Clearinghouse, Boston MA. Holds a collection of Alaska Native educational materials.

Southcentral Foundation, Candyce Henkelman is the Traditional Healing Program Coordinator. They are working with the Alaska Natural Heritage Program and Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies to collect materials on traditional use of medicinal plants.

“We Alaskans” weekly magazine of the Anchorage Daily news. Has had numerous editions and articles on Alaska Natives and their knowledge. Examples include, 12 Jan 97, 20 Apr, 97, 27 Feb 94.

Wenger Anthropological Eskimo Data Base – Via SLED, User I.D. “user” Password “aaaaaa” This collection is on CD-ROM and contains accounts of early contact with Alaskan and North American Arctic Natives which have been scanned and digitally recorded.

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PART THREE - CONCLUSION

“Science Frontiers” is a bimonthly collection of digests of scientific anomalies in the current literature. The Sourcebook Project publishes this newsletter. Several years ago the person who complies this journal was contacted about how such an effort would work in collecting Alaska Native LTK, particularly observations of environmental change.

The Sourcebook Project produces books on a variety of topics in which anomalies are recorded. Each book is of a particular topic area, i.e. Archeology, Astronomy, Biology, Humans, etc. (http://www.knowledge.co.uk/frontiers) From the sale of the books, it creates the cash needed to maintain the ever-growing collection of citations. This is pretty much the work of one individual, who appears to be retired, but is still energetic enough to compile such a database. It is likely, when the collator stops this work, that there may not be anyone to pick up the effort.

A parallel structure, it was thought, could be put into place for the compilation of Alaska Native observations of change. A monthly or bimonthly newsletter could be prepared. Subscriptions could offset some of the costs. An 800 line could be used to gather the information. It could be sorted by zip code, or GPS if available, and topical area for both reference and mapping purposes. Individuals providing the information could be cited or not depending on the individual’s wishes but would need to be identified for the entry to be published.

The Alaska Health Project kept a record of every telephone call it received requesting information on occupational and environmental concerns. This was later computerized. This information was helpful in a number of ways. It gave staff an insight as to the general public’s understandings of newly developed laws, regulations, or guidelines. It gave an indication of where there were problems or concerns. It gave solid numbers to include in grant proposals on the accessibility of information via a telephone response service. It gave an indication for budgeting on how much time was required to respond to inquiries if they could not be addressed at the time of the call.

This process could be replicated under the ANSC. It would require an 800 line to increase use throughout the state. It would require informing all Alaska Natives that they may call in and report what they observer, so some kind of advertising or awareness campaign would be needed. It would require staff to answer the telephone and enter the information in a coded format for manipulation. It would require the production of a regular newsletter to get the information back out to communities and interested parties. It could then be compiled into larger books or reports of topical or geographical areas of interest, i.e. the Bering Sea, Weather Phenomena. These materials could then be sold.

If such a service were established then it could also be used to answer questions. This would then require more staff or consultation with others. The focus could be on any investigation, research effort, collaboration of knowledge for greater understanding,

26 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild i.e. any activities in which the ANSC is involved. This then goes back to the comments in the first section of this report in which a cadre of broadly educated Alaska Natives would respond to inquiries from the Native community as well as responding to inquiries from the academic or agency research community.

This structure then requires that the ANSC staff have access to the Alaska Native LTK materials that are identified and appropriate. Such an infrastructure is one that would require regular, on-going support. An endowment would allow a small organization to focus on this service without the need to constantly be seeking external funding and be limited to what it secures. If this process is to be a stable resource to Alaska Natives, and a regular source of Alaska Native LTK, then it needs consistent funding.

The information that this report has uncovered is that there is a great deal of information that has been collected on Alaska Native Local and Traditional Knowledge. Much of it is in forms that do not allow efficient or effective access. Alaska Natives continue to make observations daily about their world and how it is changing and why they know it is changing. It is a dynamic system. A static database cannot adequately address access to this information. There is a growing need from Alaska Native communities as well as from academic and agency researchers to know about this information.

How to best deal with this information will require discussions. The Alaska Native Science Commission is in a position to facilitate those discussions and to then assist in the action that is desired and determined.

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PART FOUR – DISCUSSION

Alaska Native Local and Traditional Knowledge Discussion Paper

Alaska Native Local and Traditional Knowledge works well at seeing patterns. Some patterns change, and are expected to change in a known way (like the changing seasons or the freezing and thawing of ice). Some patterns stay the same, and are expected to be one way (like the pattern of stars, the smell of fresh meat, or the taste of a ripe berry).

When the known patterns do not follow their expected course then decisions must be made (to stay longer at a hunting area when animals which were expected do not appear). Those decisions are based on previous personal experience, what one has been taught and cultural information. Alaska Native Local and Traditional Knowledge has kept communities strong and flexible. It is an important part of Alaska Native cultures.

In the past when the animals have changed their migration patterns, Alaska Natives moved with them. When the weather changed throughout the year people moved with the seasons to new locations and new activities. When bad events occurred people would move away for a time and then return when it was right to do so. When hunters have gone onto the ice in search for seals and found none, they have had to make a decision and hunt someplace else and sometimes for other species. In each of these situations people have observed change and taken some action.

When a hunter goes out and takes a caribou and is butchering it he may find that it has something that is not quite right. Something does not look the same. Something does not smell the same. Based on his observations he makes a decision to use the animal or to determine that it is not well and should not be used. What did that hunter look for? How did he know that something was different?

When a woman who sews finds that when she makes caribou sinew thread it does not run smooth and then snaps much too often, what does she do? If she is making the soles of and the crimped edges do not stay crimped, what does she do? Based on her work and what she was taught she knows something has changed. What did she look for? How does she know that something is different?

In each of these situations people have observed change and had to make a decision based on their knowledge.

When out gathering berries people have noticed that the areas where they have gone in the past may no longer have as many plants, while other areas that never had berries are now the prime areas to pick. What has changed? What areas are different?

When out hunting moose people have noticed that the areas where they have gone in the past may no longer have as many moose, while other areas now have willows and

28 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild moose. Sometimes they are higher in the mountains than before. Sometimes they are further from the new beaver dams. What has changed? What areas are different?

Here are some examples of changes that have been noted by Alaska Natives.

The color of Eskimo (Labrador) Tea plants is not as green and the color of the sky not as blue. These observations were later shown to be an indication of Arctic air pollution.

The ability to forecast the weather for three days is no longer possible as it changes faster now than in the past.

The thickness of seal skins has changed. You can see light through seal skins now. Skins crimped for mukluks do not hold the crimp. soles take longer to dry and do not get as hard.

Seal oil use to be clear. Now it is yellowish and sometimes is even amber colored. Seal blubber does not render as completely to oil as it did before. A seal does not make as much oil now.

Meat from a polar bear was found with a greenish “bruise” mark and it tasted different and yet there is no indication that the animal had been recently tagged or radio collared.

Ice is forming later and melting earlier. Sea ice is not as strong. Ice is dirty.

Ice cellars are not keeping meat frozen hard. Ice cellars are “sweating.”

There are new species of animals (birds, fish, shellfish, and marine mammals) being seen. Some species that were common are disappearing.

Tumors, lumps, or sores have been found in birds, fish, marine mammals, and land mammals.

Misshapen plants, insects, frogs, fish, shellfish, birds, and marine mammals have been found. Fireweed is seen more often with multiple stalks rather than just one. Frogs with missing or multiple parts were reported in the newspapers. A whale was found to have two reproductive tracks. Birds with misshapen beaks are reported.

Erosion is occurring at a faster rate along rivers and the coasts. This has been reported at several of the annual Village Participation Conferences in Juneau.

There are concerns that a community in Southwest Alaska appears to be sinking.

Animals are too weak to do their normal activities.

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Animals are doing things that have not been seen before, or doing odd behaviors. Owls flying onto stair railings on homes or chasing children. Shore birds swimming in small circles and not flying away when approached.

Some plants or bushes are growing at higher elevations. When willows grow higher on the mountains then moose follow, and that makes hunting more difficult.

Some areas have gotten wetter and so the plants have changed and animals have changed. Some areas have gotten dryer. Some areas have less snow. Some glaciers are disappearing and new plants are appearing.

Beavers are effecting salmon spawning steams and the numbers that return.

Beavers are effecting moose habitat.

Sharks are being seen more often and further north.

Killer whales are being seen further up inlets and river mouths. They have been seen eating animals that are not typically consumed.

Beluga whales are being seen further up rivers.

River otters and Sea Otters have been seen much further north, outside their normal range.

Examples of how observations are being collected.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Marine Mammal Management will response to materials that are found to be different and sent to them. They identified a shark bite in walrus flipper that was brought in by a hunter.

Under the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill restoration program the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Subsistence Division prepared an Abnormality Study and training. This instructed individuals from each of the PrinceWilliam Sound impacted communities on how to take and preserve samples of anything that appeared odd. Sampling equipment was left in each community and community members were encouraged to bring in anything that appeared different (plant, fish, shell fish, bird, mammal).

Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission has had a Biosampling program linking students who record and ship samples, with hunters and women who clean and butcher while they teach. This provides technical assessment of each animal sampled and information on contaminants.

St. Paul School students are interviewing their family elders for skills and stories. At the same time the Governor’s Office is supporting a pilot program to produce a

30 Alaska Native LTK Project 2/98 - Hild computerized list server of LTK information collected on changes that people are noticing on St. Paul. A number of other school programs are having their students collect information from their elders and community leaders. There is also an interest to tele- link Alaskan students to other schools throughout the U.S. and the world in a project called GLOBE that tracks weather changes and the movement of migratory animals. The new Bering Sea Coalition is attempting to link dozens of Native U.S. and Russian community observations of change to better understand what is occurring in that region.

Alaska Federation of Natives/University of Alaska Fairbanks is running the Rural Systemic Initiative Program to collect Alaska Native LTK and make it available for primary school education. They have established a web site to make the materials available. They are also working with other resources to make their collections available via computer linkages.

The Aleutian/Pribilof Island Association was a collaborator with the Rural Alaska Community Action Program for a Department of State funded Man and the Biosphere program to have communities design and collect their own LTK and begin to build their own collections. Two communities did taped interviews, one prepared a report on changing levels of subsistence harvest, and one purchased video equipment to document future discussions.

Southeast Alaska Heritage Program is collecting materials oriented around the clans. Photos, family trees, recordings, and other documentation is being gathered.

Danakkanaaga is an Athapaskan program to collect and steward LTK in Fairbanks.

Elders’ conferences throughout the state have been recorded and some have been translated and transcribed. Often this are associated with place name identification, related stories, and observations. The National Parks Service has had a number of programs documenting place names and traditional use areas.

In light of the above examples:

Are these methods working? Do they collect the observations of change that are the most important? How is change documented? How do others, including researchers and governmental officials, hear about what people are observing? Is there some way to link all of the Alaska Native observations together to get a sense of a larger picture?

What is needed? How to put it in place? Who should be involved?

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