What if Our learning reaffirmed Our connection to the land and water?

Our youth will learn on the land.

I think for me, it's the place to be, no matter the changes. Even though there's changes, I'm still out there…my older girl, her friends are always with us. I'm always taking them out on the land. It's so exciting for me cause you know, they get to be raised on the land more than I ever did. So it's so exciting to be out there and have other kids out there. So it's definitely the place to be.
Jerica Leavitt, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Jerica Leavitt, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our youth will learn on the land.

I always appreciate the smell. You're out on the nuna all day and then you go inside and you're like, I smell like outside. The nuna is the tundra. And so when you come home, your hair smells like the grass or the tundra and you got dirt in your nails and you're dusty, like real stiff ‘cause the dust, you know, but you know, you get into bed at the end of the night and you could just smell, you know, the being outside and being at the beach or on the, you know, the tundra and you could just live those memories of, you know, we're almost giving our kids the same thing we had growing up, but on a bigger level because, you know, I was raised to pick greens too. And so I try to teach my kids the same because you know, to the naked eye, you look out on the tundra and they're like, “oh, there's nothing out there.” But there really is, you know, and you show these kids, you know, we took a bunch of middle school kids out onto the tundra and we showed them what you pick and how you use them. And they, after that, like we had a mom tell us they went out like after the camp and they made like 26 jars of the jelly that we showed them how to make. And they just started handing it out to Elders. And so we just kind of give back to the people that gave to us,. And so I think that that's also important too, is you know, even if you're not Iñupiaq, you still learn what we do up here and of course Justina, you know, talking about it, you know, she says, "I wasn't, you know, Iñupiaq, but I was in maklak," or "I learned how to do this." You know, she now does whaling and you know, so we're, we're inclusive and we welcome everybody, you know, it doesn't matter where you're from. I think that's important for people to understand is we're very open.
Tenna Judkins & Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Tenna Judkins & Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our youth will learn on the land.

We have a strong connection to the land and water, especially where I'm from, that's like our source of food and our source of surviving. There's this type of teaching that I learned that's called place based learning, where based on where your students are from, you integrate that learning into the classroom. And that's including food systems, land, water, things that they are already aware of and things that they have experienced and interacted with. I envision just like a science classroom, just learning everything that they know already. Just the land, the animals, the sea, the water. And why are these food that we gather so important to our culture? And learn like the vitamins, minerals that blueberries have or that seal is so rich in iron.
Sonni Shavings, Fairbanks kalaka
Sonni Shavings, Fairbanks kalaka

Our learning will happen everywhere.

I remember summer mostly because we would be outside all day like everybody was saying, all day. And I grew up in a house, near the middle lagoon. There were no houses in front of us. It was the lagoon. It was the tundra. And so that's like really that was our playground.
Jerica Leavitt, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Jerica Leavitt, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our learning will happen everywhere.

So in the summertime we do plants, traditional plants class with our students. And so what you'll see in the containers back there are the things that both Jerica and I picked or she picked on her own, on her own time off, or things that our students have picked as well. And so what we do is we pick up the greens and the plants and the stuff that we use up here, and we show the students how to use them and what ways you can use them and what they're good for. So we use the materials all year. So what, what Jerica picks, or we collectively pick at the camps that we host we use them throughout the year. And so she'll show them how to make salves and she'll make different, you know, meals out of them or different uses out of them.
Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our learning will happen everywhere.

I think anytime that you are in an area that fosters unexpected learning adventures…the wilderness is an excellent tool and it presents curriculum that you can never write on a piece of paper.
Carson Tortorige, Glennallen kalaka
Carson Tortorige, Glennallen kalaka

Our lands and waters will be a part of Our identity and learning.

When my auntie came back home, to live with my daughter, we said, “Do you wanna go see the mountain auntie? “Nah, I saw that lots of times already!” She used to live in California and she's been gone and away, but she didn't wanna come and just go look at that. So it's real, but you still bring it with you. That's part of who you are. And that's part of what I think in your education, because you're taking yourself back, your real self, your, your spirit, you know.
Clare Swan, Kenai kalaka
Clare Swan, Kenai kalaka

Our lands and waters will be a part of Our identity and learning.

I love how kids get outdoors. They just get curious, they get happy, they get goofy. It's like they shed some of their social hangups. They just…it just makes them happy.
Robin Mayo, Glennallen kalaka
Robin Mayo, Glennallen kalaka

Our lands and waters will be a part of Our identity and learning.

I think everyone would just know where they are better. You know that's one of the discrepancies that we see a lot when we go into the school. There's kids who can name every river and there's kids who can't name any rivers. And I think that if it was just part of school when we talk about a river, we talk about the Copper River and where it goes. It would give children roots.
Robin Mayo, Glennallen kalaka
Robin Mayo, Glennallen kalaka

Our lands and waters will be acknowledged and honored.

I think it's important to keep in mind that we’re on Iñupiaq country and the school system should acknowledge that and honor that.
Igluguq Okleasik, Nome kalaka
Igluguq Okleasik, Nome kalaka

Our lands and waters will be acknowledged and honored.

I think the coming generations would have a lot more respect for the land and the water and the animals because I feel like, for a lot of people, and like I saw this growing up in the village too, a lot of people kind of had that disconnect cause before we were all one game. Like the animals, the land and the humans, like we all coexisted. We were all, we were all equal. No one thing was above another…I feel like by integrating like our teachings about our land and our water and our animals, that could help preserve those things for future generations. And I feel like if we were to teach it in the classroom it will spark like a want to learn. Like a want to learn how to cut fish. I want to learn how to hunt moose. I want to learn how to pick these berries and what to do with them afterwards. Like teaching those in the classroom, you know, like the science of them. And then also teaching them the traditions of why.
Robin Masterman & Sonni Shavings, Fairbanks kalaka
Robin Masterman & Sonni Shavings, Fairbanks kalaka

Our lands and waters will be called by their original names.

I guess education is about how you feel in a place, what do you remember, the names you put on things.
Clare Swan, Kenai kalaka
Clare Swan, Kenai kalaka

Our lands and waters will be called by their original names.

Something that I think is exciting as well is when you drive to UAF and you see Welcome to Troth Yeddha. I think every time that I drive up there now I'm like, oh it's happening. And just seeing some of the work and the efforts that individuals have been putting towards that visibility and within the program is super important. It's a Lower Tanana word. It means potato hill.
Brianna Gray & Dewey Hoffman, Fairbanks kalaka
Brianna Gray & Dewey Hoffman, Fairbanks kalaka

Our youth will have survival skills.

Our kiddos, if they - the electricity went out, there was no water supply, no running water. I don't think any of them would survive, especially in 50 below weather. That's another thing that a lot of these kids are missing. I was fortunate enough when I was a kid to grow up in a dry - I didn't have, you know, toiletries and stuff like that. I was able to, I learned how to pack water from the river to my house and using an outhouse or whatever, you know - like those things are necessary. I think especially if you are an Alaskan resident, they have to experience those things.
Ashley Hicks, Glennallen kalaka
Ashley Hicks, Glennallen kalaka

Our youth will be prepared for climate change.

If more of our students learn about navigating our lands and waters, then they'd be more able to adapt to climate change. They would also have stronger mental health, greater food security.
Dewey Hoffman, Fairbanks kalaka
Dewey Hoffman, Fairbanks kalaka

Our communities will work together.

So whenever I think of atautchikun, I think of Nalukataq. When they’re doing the blanket toss, sometimes the person that’s on the blanket will tell everybody - they’ll yell out, atautchikun! - you know, if they need more hands or more people to help with the blanket toss. Like that’s what, that’s like a memory that I think of when I hear that word. Which is a really relevant celebration cause that’s our celebration of successful spring whaling. And I would say that’s how our people work together to survive…one person can’t make a boat, one person can’t catch a whale. It takes an entire crew or group or all of us to work together to survive. And that was relevant back, you know, pre-contact and it’s relevant now. Mine’s the same…so when I hear atautchimuk- atautchikun for me…because whaling is the center of our community…when I heard atautchikun, I always think of: when it’s spring whaling and they’re trying to pull up the whale on the ice and everybody has to work together. You know, you can’t just be standing there. And when they say atautchikun, everybody has to help pull the tow line to bring the whale in. And so for me, that’s what I thought was it takes everybody together to work to pull the whale up on the ice…and when you catch a whale, you don’t do it by yourself. Justina’s husband doesn’t do it by himself. He’s got his, you know, sons and he’s got his nephews and his cousins and his uncles and you know, and it takes an entire family of people. And so for us, that’s almost a cause to action for working together as one because you can’t do it by yourself.
Tenna Judkins, Robyn Burke & Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Tenna Judkins, Robyn Burke & Natasha Itta, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our communities will come together through tradition.

…my husband is a whaling captain. We've had our crew since 2007. It's so great to just have that opportunity to be with the community. It just hypes us up as our family and the kids when it's whaling season. And we all get to gather and just laugh and have fun and be super tired and sore. But the fun tired and sore.
Justina Wilhelm, Utqiaġvik kalaka
Justina Wilhelm, Utqiaġvik kalaka

Our values will be included in tourism practices.

I think that the tourism culture has come a long way because in the years that I've been doing it, ecologically sound with our practices has been a new thing in the last 20 years...But we also knew that the other component was cultural tourism. That was another component to the environment was to understand your history. There's another organization that gives you a certification for your ability to be ecologically sustainable in your company. One of the components is to understand the cultural artifacts and permanence of your area. So I think what I'm saying is just like companies have been working on the quality of their systems, they want to work on this as well. And having the Native values posted even, if we made it available, that would be something that we could go around and hand it out. Say, “Hey, we printed these off in case you wanted to post these.” I mean, that's very simple but that is really something. If everybody could know those and start thinking about it. Cause it's not even on their trajectory. It hasn't been taught to so many people, you know.
Susan Swiderski, Seward kalaka
Susan Swiderski, Seward kalaka

Our cultures will be shared with tourists.

What you're saying about tourism reflecting on our values and Native ways. I would teach, or show, them how I sharpen an ulu. How to use an ulu. That would be something where maybe some people would be interested in knowing how we sharpened our ulu many years ago. We didn't us a knife sharpener. From the beach we got a rock. The way we sharpened our ulus was going back and forth. We had to do it with your wrist. Tilting it to where you would sharpen one side and then turn it around and sharpen the other side. And that's how we use rocks way back then.
Laura Perri, Seward kalaka
Laura Perri, Seward kalaka

Our communities will connect with our teachers.

Model classrooms…I worked for the school district, we had teachers that did get it. There was language. I mean we were cooking and baking at least once or twice a week. Or if the berries were out, we would literally go out and we would pick berries. I mean, it was very inclusive to everything in everyday life that they had seen. I mean the one year I got to take half a class out and go clam digging. And they'd never, you know, some of those kids had never gone and they loved it and they were hooked after that. And then it turned into science fair projects from that. So some of those model classrooms that you have teachers willing to learn that model. Cause you know, a teacher is meant to go in and grasp that classroom and make it their own and work really hard to, you know, match what the kids need. But if you don't exactly know what those students need either and you're coming from someplace that is so outside of an Alaska realm, it's tough without a model to go to.
Amy Peterson, Kodiak kalaka
Amy Peterson, Kodiak kalaka

Our youth will feel confident in Our ways.

…every kid has their own checklist, the things that they have to do in order to graduate high school, the checklist could include…learning to butcher a seal and to build a qayaq.
Igluguq Okleasik, Nome kalaka
Igluguq Okleasik, Nome kalaka

Our education will reconnect us.

I didn't grow up in a village. I grew up in Kodiak, so I didn't have a lot of connection. So I feel like if this were something to have in that connection. Dig Afognak, a youth camp that's on Afognak Island where my family's from. And I remember that week being out there, learning subsistence and learning how, you know, my Ancestors were, that connection was just something I couldn't get out of any textbook or any enclosed, four walled building. So the word connection just really sticks out to me.
Lynda Lorenson, Kodiak kalaka
Lynda Lorenson, Kodiak kalaka