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As the climate changes, rural Alaska communities are feeling an outsized impact from the foundations of their homes to how and where they practice subsistence.

And that changes a whole idea of where the food for them is that is moving north.

And it's going to be that way until we find a way to cool down the water.

We speak with indigenous filmmakers telling community stories about the impacts of climate change right now on Alaska Insight.

Good evening.

I'm Madylin Rose, the producer for Alaska Insight in this week for Lori Townsend.

Research shows that Alaska, particularly the Arctic, sees an outsized impact from climate change.

Thawing permafrost deteriorates and erodes the land many communities are built on.

And warming temperatures in the land and sea are causing iconic and important species for subsistence practices to change behavior, lose population, or both.

Many of the communities most affected by these changes are predominantly indigenous rural communities off of the road system.

Tonight, we'll speak with two Alaska Native filmmakers who are telling the stories of their communities.

But before we get to that discussion, here are some of the recent top stories from Alaska Public Media's collaborative statewide news network.

This September has been the deadliest month for fatal vehicle pedestrian collisions in Anchorage for in at least a dozen years.

So far this year, drivers have killed 13 pedestrians in the city.

Anchorage Assembly members have called on state and city leaders to address the underlying issues they say have led to the spike in deaths.

In a resolution passed Tuesday night, the Assembly called for several changes, including installing more lights, lower speed limits, a public information campaign, and increased enforcement of traffic violations from public safety officials.

Senator Lisa Murkowski announced in a social media post earlier this month that the Alaska U.S. Attorney's Office is the subject of a Department of Justice investigation related to a federal judge's misconduct.

Former U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred resigned in early July, ahead of a report by the Ninth Circuit's Judicial Council that he had inappropriate relationships with two federal prosecutors, created a hostile work environment in his office, and lied to the Judicial Council about some of his behavior.

Bloomberg Law reports that the U.S. Attorney's Office was quick to inform the Judicial Council about the complaints against Kindred, but a former law clerk involved in the scandal alleged that she had been retaliate against for acting as a whistleblower.

Both the Department of Justice and the Alaska U.S. Attorney's Office have declined to confirm the existence of this investigation, and two years after the position was first created, America has confirmed its first ambassador at large for the Arctic.

In a 55 to 36 vote, the US Senate confirmed Michael Sfraga of Fairbanks to the position, with nine Republicans joining Democrats to vote yes.

Senator Lisa murkowski was Sfraga's biggest champion in the Senate, referring to him as the go to Arctic expert.

US Senator Dan Sullivan did not vote on the confirmation, but praised his nomination last year.

A staff member said Sullivan was part of a Senate delegation this week to the United Nations.

You can find the full version of these and many more stories on our website.

Alaska Public dot org.

Or by downloading the Alaska Public Media app on your phone.

Now on to our discussion for this evening telling community stories of climate change.

A new six part Nova series called legacy of the land features short films produced by indigenous filmmakers focused on climate issues and solutions in native communities across the country.

Two of those videos tell the stories of Alaskan communities.

The first video released earlier this week, is titled Tides of Tradition and focuses on subsistence practitioners in Unalaska and the changes residents have observed in the species they fish and hunt for.

Let's watch a clip from that video now.

A lot of what I remember as a young kid was basically being in the outdoors, pretty much living a subsistence lifestyle any way we could.

And for us, that men setting crab pods and setting long lines and going out fishing, right.

All.

And then just slowly waiting for each species to fish to come out throughout the months and I mean, that's just basically my calendar.

My name is Trevor.

Sleepy.

I'm from Unalaska or Dutch Harbor, and I am 24 years old.

Anything that I can take from nature and put on the table for the family is what I would consider subsistence.

I would just say it's a good, good source of food security, for us.

And we rely quite a bit on being able to live a subsistence lifestyle.

It's definitely important to the community because there's not a lot of people have access to the resources where we do traditional subsistence hunting or fishing.

So I'm not only fishing or hunting for myself, it's for other community members to.

Joining me tonight to discuss their work on these videos is Kanesia McGlashon-Price, who created the video we just saw.

Kanesia is Unangax originally from Alaska but joins us today from New Mexico, where she just began her studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Kanesia has also worked as a videographer for KUCB in Unalaska, and some of her work was featured on Alaska Insight last season for our show on contaminated former military sites.

I'm also joined in studio by Anna Hoover and is a filmmaker, activist, commercial fisher and a writer.

In addition to the video we're discussing today, Anna has written six episodes of the PBS show Molly of Denali.

She lives in Anchorage now, but spent much of her time as a child in the village of Egegik.

Welcome both of you to the show.

Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, Kanisha, I want to start with you since we just saw a clip of your video.

Tides of tradition.

So the clip we saw, Trevor Slaby, was sort of giving us an overview of subsistence practices.

Why and how he practices that.

Also in the intro, we saw Vince, a senior senior, explaining sort of the observations and changes in ocean temperature and how that's impacting sea lions.

Where does the video go from here, and what do you think are the major takeaways?

I think the major takeaways of Tides of Tradition is highlighting the realities of access to traditional foods and the changing Arctic.

I wanted to highlight how traditional practices like Kakamega like to hunt, fish and gather, practices that we have been holding for generations and have served our community.

Are now under threat.

And through this film, I wanted to highlight Trevor Shelby, who is a subsistence hunter, but also someone who is actively educating our youth about traditional ways of being.

All right.

Well, thank you.

And I want to back up a little bit and discuss, what led you to create this video.

So last winter, you mentioned that there was a call for indigenous filmmakers to work on this series.

What motivated you to apply for this?

Well, one of the big motivators for, applying for this grant was seeing the changes to traditional food access in Unalaska.

That is the biggest change we are seeing around climate impacts.

And, we have been seeing changes in access to our title foods, to our salmon.

Our berries are arriving irregularly.

And so I wanted to share more about how these changes are impacting our traditional ways of being, and I wanted to also incorporate intergenerational knowledge sharing and using traditional ecological knowledge as data.

Thank you.

Yeah, and that intergenerational knowledge sharing is something I want to talk about a little bit later.

But I wanted to address something that you and I spoke about earlier.

It was a really interesting point.

And I want to talk about it a little bit.

You mentioned that historical filmmaking can be an extractive process.

And I wanted to talk about what makes you say that and how you sort of avoided that pitfall with this project.

I think our knowledge keepers and elders are being approached more and more to share their, their knowledge.

And this can be a form of intellectual labor if not done in a good way.

And, I feel really honored to be able to create this film in my community with folks that I have grown up with, folks that I share the same traditional values with.

And so I think, you know, having indigenous people tell stories from within the community can be really powerful knowing that, you know, we all share the same values.

Okay.

And so, it sounds like sort of from the outset, you know, before you even applied for this grant, you knew the story that you wanted to tell.

Yeah.

A part of the application process was pitching our stories.

And so I had run the idea, by Trevor.

As someone who is an educator in our community.

And I, I feel really grateful that he was, on board with collaborating for this piece because some really beautiful moments, happened being able to, like, witness him working on the water and, you know, cooking with his mom in the kitchen.

Was just very, a beautiful thing to witness.

Yeah.

That scene with his mother in the kitchen is really touching.

It just, so much natural chemistry there.

And a really great interaction.

Anna, thank you for your patience.

I want to talk to you for a little bit.

So your video in the series is called The Sands of Time.

We'll play a clip from it in just a minute, but help set the stage.

What is your video about?

Sure.

Thank you.

My film profiles three communities in Bristol Bay, Naknek and Port Heiden.

And, these communities in all different ways.

And really globally, we're facing erosion.

And, so it's it's the most visible change happening in our part of Alaska.

All right.

Well, we are going to watch a clip from that.

Let's go ahead and roll that clip.

I grew up on that lake, Goldfish Lake.

It's paper.

Small boats with boats big enough to float in just a playground.

I could picture it in my head.

The, you know, the whole.

The whole village.

How it used to be.

We're right on ground zero here in Goldfish Lake.

Old power lines here.

And probably some sewer lines.

So there was a road that came down, came through the village, and it was just like you pass through all the houses.

Tide started taking all the way right before our eyes.

We try to keep out all the houses and, like, preserve it as much as possible.

If we didn't take it, you'd be out in the ocean.

Here.

But it's.

It's all gone.

Eventually, the lake drained into the ocean.

That that would eventually moved up towards the airport.

Essentially what we have for home today took decades.

Big things that people talk about is, loss of connection that you have where you were.

And it's a tangible thing.

It's real, and it has an impact.

And, you know, you go to a place for a memory journey, even going to your spot in your head.

But if that spot is gone, you can't even replenish that memory.

But I think that's just the way of life on the East Coast.

Always been very dynamic.

When you hear the power of the waves and you see the wind in, there's the feeling you get.

Now, the full video of that video, The Sands of Time, will be released on Nova's YouTube page on October 13th.

Okay, so, and I want to ask you the same question I asked Kenisha initially, which is what motivated you to tell this particular story?

Sure.

You know, I spent all my summers and since I was a baby.

And so in my four decades watching the changes happen, it's just, you know, it's very dramatic.

There's there's many homes that no longer exist that I grew up with.

And there was this cemetery that we watched start eroding out of the bank.

And, you know, it's just unavoidable.

So, it was a great opportunity for me to learn other stories from my neighboring communities.

Yeah.

And it looks like you did a lot of research for this video.

There's a lot of historical photos and video that, really put the scope of this erosion into perspective.

What was that research process like for you and how did you feel?

Sort of, you know, you've got your own observations from 40 years of, of watching this, but, what was it like kind of kind of getting an understanding for really the dramatic changes there?

You know, I, I also have a wonderful elder in my community who's a voice in my film.

And Paul Borkowski, is nearly 90 years old and he has a beautiful photographic historic register of, of our community and the changes.

And so I think that also really helped influence my understanding of of the changes.

Just from listening to the stories, from the community.

Okay.

And, so two of those communities, Ichika, Kanak, Nick, are ones who've spent quite a bit of time in, the third community, Port Heide.

And you said, in a previous interview was one you've spent less time in.

Were there sort of common threads between all three communities or anything, unique to each one that stood out to you?

You know, the people all really love their, their communities, that's for certain.

You know, we all have a pride being from where we are.

And, and our role in taking care of it into the future.

And so I think that really came through, I and all the communities and I'd also like to mention that the Anchorage Museum, archive has been very helpful to me, in allowing me to just dive deep and, look for early imagery there as well.

I'm curious how much time you spent just looking at old photos.

Probably at least five days full on.

Oh my gosh.

Wow.

Solid.

And, I want to ask you again, sort of the same question that I asked Kenisha at that point about historical filmmaking at times being extractive.

Would you agree with that?

And, yeah.

Do you agree with that?

I think that storytelling often is crafted by whoever's in charge of telling the story.

So, you know, we had the opportunity this time around to acknowledge our elders knowledge when we know, we know it to be true, you know, and we had to sometimes, find scientific Western science to back it up as well, you know, but, there's there's just so much there in all of our places through observation that's been learned.

Okay.

Yeah.

And, I wanted to talk about this.

You know, both your video and kanisha The Tides of Tradition, both prominently feature elder perspectives.

Yeah.

They're, you know, well positioned to describe the changes that they've seen in the land and sea over time.

I'm curious what they thought of your projects.

And I will start with you and then finish.

I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Again, Paul Borkowski, you know, he's the eldest elder in my film.

And, and I think all of them are quite happy just to have an audience to listen to their experiences.

And, you know, we're hopeful that solutions can be found as a result.

And, you know, it felt like community.

So.

Okay.

Thank you.

And Kanisha, your thoughts on sort of the elders you interacted with for the project and their thoughts on your video.

The knowledge keepers that were a part of my video have been, involved in the editing process and the final stages of the film.

And so we've been in tight communication since the beginning, and so it's been great to work with them and hear, you know, what things that they thought were important to be included.

And yeah, I, haven't heard, like, direct feedback from everyone, but we're hoping to have a small premiere in Unalaska this December.

All right.

And, I think we touched on that a little bit here, but, can you share any, sort of hopes or desires from elders about what might come out of this?

That's a great question.

I, I would hope that, you know, we can start having these harder discussions about, how we're treating the land, how we're treating the water.

I want folks to know, and I think our elders want folks to know that our subsistence harbor risks are not what is causing the decline in the sea land population.

It's the result of people not caring for the land.

In the same way, indigenous folks have been stewarding the land for thousands of years.

Yeah.

You know, when we spoke earlier, you made the point that it is not the subsistence hunters who are causing these huge changes in sea lion behavior in population.

Well, so, Anna, any hopes from elders that you spoke with?

For your project and any, sort of outcomes that they had been really hoping for?

I think, you know, awareness is key.

So it's wonderful to be having conversations about these things and to open it up outside of our own region.

Often, you know, we can find solutions borrowing from neighbors, but maybe we can find a solution from Germany or something, you know?

So, I think I think they're hopeful that we can maybe slow down the erosion, but I also don't feel like they feel like it's realistic to stop it.

Yeah.

In your video, you know, one of the interviews mentions that the life out there is always been sort of dynamic.

And there's a lot of talk about sort of moving, villages, in response to the erosion.

Both videos, sort of feature, spend a lot of time sort of laying out the scope of the issues, you know, the impacts of climate change, and sort of leave it open ended in terms of solutions.

But it does still feel like I think both films have a hopeful, sort of theme and nature to them.

How did you sort of balance that, need to help people understand the issues while sort of maintaining that hopeful tone?

It was tricky.

You know, I think even from the project itself, they were, you know, Americans like hopeful endings.

So they, you know, how can we make this hopeful?

They're always looking for that.

Whereas the children in the puppies, you know, where's the visuals that do that?

But in this instance, you know, it could be the tone of a song, you know, can do it.

Okay.

And so I noticed that, just sort of, a somber but sort of energetic music that you picked.

Is that what you were going for?

Yes.

I mean, it is it's a weighty issue.

You know, something to be taken seriously, but but also, you know, we are hopeful.

We we love gathering the foods that we do along those shores.

And we hope to do it for a long time in the future.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And can you share your thoughts there on sort of maintaining a balance of a hopeful tone, but, realistic presentation of the issues?

Yeah.

I wanted to present the issue, but also focus on this aspect of intergenerational knowledge sharing.

And I think that's the hopefulness that comes out through this film is, how we have individuals from multiple generations that are actively teaching our youth.

We are stewards of the land, and we want our youth to be able to, like, harvest the same traditional foods, now and for future generations, like innocent.

All right.

Well, perfect.

Thank you.

And, I, you know, we talked a little bit about sort of what, the folks you worked with were hoping might come out of these videos, but in a, for you personally, what do you want people to take away from the sands of time?

Oh, dear.

Personally, I would hope that if if an audience wasn't aware of this depth of knowledge, that really should always be called upon.

If decisions are being made in these parts of Alaska, the really the the knowledge eggs that exist locally in those places.

And so I hope that the audience will hear the brilliance in, in our local people.

Yeah.

The you know, I think you referred to them in an earlier interview as just, you know, the experts on these subjects.

So sort of a hope that moving forward, as you know, broadly as society, we start to think about solutions that, these folks will be recognized as the experts.

They are.

Precisely.

Okay.

And it sounds like that was sort of a challenge.

At the process, you alluded to that earlier, which is sort of a need to back up what these elders were saying with Western science, as you said.

What, can you talk a little bit more about what that was like?

You know, I heard that a number of the directors in the program, experienced this.

Just an ask for, you know, that they have the legal department, they need to check boxes, and they want to have science to back things up if they're claiming something to be true.

And so there's just different avenues of achieving that.

And we know a different way.

And we know our elders word to be true.

And so it yeah, it was just a a point for us to all learn from one another.

And, we made it through.

And do you think, there was maybe some, some learning, on the end of the folks who were you were working with?

I think certainly, because I think it was feedback that they received on more than one occasion.

Okay.

And so we we just have a little bit of time left.

But, I know there are, four other filmmakers who we, you know, we these two who we're talking with today, Anna and Kenisha.

You're the Alaskans, but, our either of you, have you seen any of the other projects or been in touch with any of the other filmmakers?

Can you share?

If you want to go?

Yeah.

One episode was released last week, but we haven't been able to see each other's film yet, so I have not seen any film yet.

There are other or other episodes that will be released every week throughout this month.

So I will be as surprised as everyone else.

All right.

Well, thank you both for your time today and for the work that you've done on these projects.

I had the chance to see both of them in their entirety, and I think it's some really fantastic work.

So, thank you for your time today, talking about these.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, its effects may differ from community to community.

Climate change is an issue that impacts us all, and the solutions to the challenges it brings.

Need to involve those most directly affected.

There's no silver bullet that will solve every problem, but by listening to community members and elders, we can work towards long term solutions that benefit us all.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight, visit our website.

Alaska public.org for breaking news and reports from our partner stations across the state.

While you're there, sign up for our free daily digest so you won't miss any of Alaska's top stories of the day.

Thank you for joining us this evening.

I'm Madeleine Rose.

Good night.