Eating Alaska

I love to eat and I like most things related to the food process. I try to incorporate food into all of my classes at least once every quarter. Food is often the tie that binds communities together and is a huge part of most cultures. It sustains us and our culture. Cooking allows time for people to learn from one another and work in a team to accomplish a goal. Eating allows for time to sit down with people and get to know them in a more intimate manner. When talking about PBE or Place Based Education, food and natural resources are the first things that jump to my mind when thinking about our connection to a place.

Ellen Frankenstein brought her film "Eating Alaska" to our school last year. This film showed the possibilities of living off the land, a traditional way of living for many Native Alaskans but something urban dwellers tend to neglect. We were all enthralled with it, students and teachers alike. Many of our students grew up hunting and fishing or using berries to make a variety of things with their families but most do not partake in those activities anymore. They seemed to enjoy the film because they could relate to the harvesting of food and they thought it was funny to see an outsider to that culture attempting to live it.

This past year I was working with students on a service project to clean up a trail in Cope Park. I noticed some fiddleheads while we were working and very enthusiastically pointed them out to students. They had never heard of fiddleheads before! I was shocked and began to explain all the different ways you can eat fiddleheads. They were interested and I remembered Ellen's movie from last year and realized this was missing in our school. I decided in that moment foraging and cooking would be a part of my class next year and the planning process began. From the Marie Drake building we will go and collect fiddleheads to harvest, cook, eat and preserve next spring in conjunction with the Health class.

For more information about harvesting wild edibles:
Eating Alaska
Sealaska Curriculum
Fiddlehead Pesto

What's the point of Harbor Haunts?

I teach at Yaakoosge Daakahidi. Our school lies directly between Harris Harbor and Evergreen Cemetery. As I walked the halls this year, I was reminded of the people who had gone before me in this place and space--whether from inexplicable feelings from the halls or interactions with their legacies in our students.

During the Place Based Education-Summer Institute, Alaska teachers had an opportunity to collaborate and learn more about PBE. It was exciting to be a part of the positive energy that was coming out of this institute. A passion for the environment, education and community development was clearly had by all. Throughout the institute I was inspired and rejuvenated to implement new project and community based curriculum in my classroom.

I also thought about the school where I work, Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School. Our name means the "house of knowledge" and was given to us by Tlingit Elders in 1995. It reminds me daily of the place in which I live, the cultural context that must be merged with our curriculum and an appreciation for the diverse community I am a part of.

This blog will serve as a tool for Alaska History from Yaakoosge Daakahidi and the sundry pasts that have passed through it.