NOTE: Issues range from 1996–2006. Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated. For current information, please contact the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 907-474-1902.
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Joy Means Being Touched by the Elements of the Earth! by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:Think of the time that you were away from the village or the city experiencing the interplay of light, air, snow and soil-just yourself wrapped up in your own thoughts. When first out there, what did you think about? Did your thoughts begin to absorb your immediate environment? What did you begin to notice? Tree, flower, ant, raven, mouse, moss, ptarmigan, ice, stream, hill? Do these things of Mother Earth have a right to be, to have life? Does the tree have a community of life? Yes, it stores water, the roots have bacteria, it nourishes insects, soil, undergrowth, humus-a living community! Does the mouse have a community? It has a house, food storage, spouse, children, connecting tunnels, time for play, protection, shelter-carrying out life as all living creatures do. You see all soil, rivers, mountains, lakes, trees, wolves, bears, amoeba, e. coli, lichen, red squirrels, camp robbers, caigluq, cranberries, salmonberries-they all live with us in a large community. You and I, who go out to be in and with nature, should know how to bond with all forms of life. They have a right to be, to live! All things are like us in many ways-they process energy, grow, reproduce, face dangers and do their best when the conditions of their homes and place are most suited to their needs. To be out in nature is to feel that you are cleansing yourself and getting a joy that can arise from being in touch with natural things, the creations of Ellam Yua. This feeling of family is the most powerful of human bonds! We have to realize that they share our home in the cosmos, eat at our table, share our air and water and play with our children. We are composed of their bodies and they of us. Each of us are here on earth for a very short time. We let others see us for a while then, as other things, we must recycle. We are all related! When we really experience the joy of life we become more polite and kind to all in the vast community. Being with and in nature, we begin to build love and respect for all life. Love is probably the strongest force in our world! Why love? Because love of the world around us causes us to limit the demands we put on Mother Earth, how much we buy and sell, moderating our needs and wants. It is this love that will allow us to give up some things and begin to limit what we have. When we build up this respect, love, kindness and politeness in being with nature, we will not have to rely on alcohol and other things that bend the mind, because we become balanced physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. From such a balance will come joy in life. Have a safe and happy holiday and new year! | |
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Just How Safe is Subsistence Food? by Patricia Longley Cochran:Native scientists and communities will join with researchers in a statewide effort to identify the presence of abnormalities in Alaska's fish and wildlife and share knowledge about the safety of subsistence foods with Native tribes. Patricia Cochran, ANSC's executive director and co-principal investigator of the project, wants villages involved in the research process so they can be active participants in directing the research. Concerns that are a priority to Native communities will be identified at a series of regional meetings to be held throughout Alaska during the next year and at a meeting of Native scientists to be held in March 1998. Studies that document problems in plants or animals may relate issues from the researcher's viewpoint, but that discussion is often not carried through into other research disciplines to examine how these problems affect the health and safety of Native people. Often, the local and traditional knowledge of an area is not included in the discussion. In an Anchorage Daily News article, Cochran said, "Native people are very concerned. We have gotten back responses telling us about the kinds of things they are seeing, from lesions seen in fish livers to differences in the teas people have been picking. There are a lot of things that show some kind of trend. The problem is nobody can say why or what it means." A statewide database containing organic, heavy-metal and radioisotope contaminants data is being prepared from current studies and will be made available in a simple but useful computer database program. For additional information, please contact: Patricia Longley Cochran, Executive Director ANSC UAA-ISER 3211 Providence Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99508 Phone: (907)786-7704 Fax: (907)786-7739 Email: anpac1@uaa.alaska.edu | |
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