Lori Townsend: Hispanics make up a growing share of the population in our state.

And their stories are intertwined with the culture of Alaska.

Unknown: It's a feeling of gratefulness with the land.

Gratefulness, you know, being grateful with the fish.

There's something really sacred about it.

Lori Townsend: How has life changed here for the Hispanic and Latino community through the decades?

We're discussing Hispanic Heritage Month right now on Alaska Insight.

The lives of Latino people in Alaska are being celebrated and highlighted in a new documentary by Anchorage artist Indra Arriaga Delgado.

Indra is producing the documentary for Latino Public Broadcasting and PBS.

She says the film will allow Latinos to talk about their lives here and how their culture and food is being redefined.

Let's watch a short clip.

And then we'll meet the filmmaker and our other guest for a discussion about Latino Alaskans.

Unknown: If Alaska had an official bumper sticker, it might be 'Dipnetting is for lovers.'

Alaskan lovers, that is.

Only Alaskan residents can dipnet for personal use.

My sister dipnets, which is a style of fishing in Alaska.

I got to learn a part of my sister that I didn't know about.

So that's why we're here.

We're here because it's brought us closest together.

She has given birth to a tradition in our family.

I've been dip netting for about 20 years.

And I just, it's like home away from home.

The the water, the waves, the the the tranquility that it brings me.

Traditionally I like to continue to do it.

You know with a little bit of Mexican cuisine.

I mean I can, I can bake it I can deep fry it, you know, coconut salmon.

Salmon quessadillas, a nice seafood soup, with fresh salmon in there.

Salmon tacos.

At first it was intimidating because I never done it before.

I didn't know.

So I went there.

I was just about to quit.

When I felt something that was hitting, like banging on on it and when I went out it was my first fish.

It was a very satisfying feeling that I, I catch my own fish, it's a feeling of, of gratefulness with the land, gratefulness for you know, being grateful with the fish.

It's, there's something really sacred about it.

Lori Townsend: A lot of Alaskans would likely agree with that sentiment.

I look forward to seeing the full documentary.

And now I want to welcome our guests this evening.

Indra Arriaga Delgado, is a Mexican Alaskan artist and the creator of Sabor Artico, Arctic Flavor, Latinos in Alaska, and Mariano Gonzales is a professor of Art and Design at the University of Alaska Anchorage, UAA.

Welcome both of you.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for being here.

Indra, you wrote on your website that you are the first Latinx filmmaker in Alaska to get funding through Latino Public Broadcasting for an Alaska based documentary.

That's exciting in itself.

Talk about how this project came together?

And how did you decide what to focus on here?

Unknown: Well, I've been in Alaska for almost 20 years, and I've seen the growth in the community and I've been really lucky to be part of it.

And one of the things that has come up in conversation repeatedly is all the different nationalities of you know, Latino, who are here, and how we all do different things, you know, from our food to our expressions in our, in our cultural celebrations.

And so, it just came up in conversation one day and we saw the opportunity to apply, so it was very, it was like a no brainer, you know, to be able to, to apply for this project.

Because I feel that we had something to say and we needed the space to be seen.

As, you know, as we grow in the state, and our food is everywhere, we can see our food everywhere.

We are sometimes missing or taken out of the equation by, you know, other factors.

And so it was important for me as a Latina here in Alaska to be able to create that space.

Lori Townsend: And how did you decide really what to focus on?

There would be a lot of different avenues you could have taken.

Unknown: Well, food is something that is essential across Latin America, right?

And across the world.

And especially with immigrant groups, it's our calling card.

It's what we bring, you know, literally to the table and figuratively, and so it's also something that everybody loves, like, it's hard to argue against good food, you know, and it's hard to, to dismiss the the impact that Latino food has had in the United States, you know, from, you know, salsa overtaking ketchup as a condiment, and you see it everywhere you see it in restaurants that are not Latino-owned.

Right?

And so, so it seemed like, the most accessible route to a conversation.

Lori Townsend: You said that this was a community effort, how much has really changed for Latinos here?

How different would this documentary have been 20 years ago, when you first came to Alaska?

And how you see culture being redefined?

Unknown: Well, I don't know that I could have done it 20 years when I got here, because I didn't know.

You know, um, I didn't know that there were other Latinos here.

And that's been part of, I think, a lot of people's experiences.

You know, you come to a new place, and you kind of keep to yourself for a lot of reasons.

And if there are no spaces, if the there are no projects, if there are no celebrations, then you can't really connect because we all live, you know, in very isolated worlds.

And so 20 years ago, I couldn't have made this documentary.

I didn't know, I didn't know enough people and people didn't know me.

I mean, it's, it's when I say to community effort, there's, there's trust, there's you know there's trust there and, and that takes time to build.

Lori Townsend: Both you Indra and Mariano have said that you have mixed feelings about Hispanic Heritage Month.

Indra, what is the emotional conflict for you?

Unknown: Well, I mean, you don't celebrate it unless you're not home.

Right?

Like we don't celebrate Hispanic, Hispanic month in Mexico.

And it feels the terms, you know, Hispanic versus Latino that has its own baggage and its own history.

And so it's, in some ways it feels artificial.

You know, I don't know, I don't know that Hispanics invented Hispanic, you know, Heritage Month.

But it's here.

So it's a space, so let's use it.

Lori Townsend: All right.

Well, thank you, Indra for starting us off.

Mariano, I want to turn to you now.

What are your thoughts about these cultural carve outs for different ethnic recognition throughout the year we have different months to honor different ethnicities?

What are your thoughts about that especially Hispanic Heritage Month?

Unknown: Well, I think it's a good thing.

You know, I think that it's basically meant to raise the consciousness of anyone outside of that that community that's being celebrated if you know what I mean.

You know, I did have some trepidations as, as you mentioned, simply because I've lived in Alaska since it became a state you know, 1959.

And it wasn't until the 80s that I really detected any kind of Hispanic community, right?

I mean, we were Hispanic that came up here we were kind of going to a foreign land basically, you know, I mean, Alaska was very much a foreign land in the sense that there was not too many of my kind here you know, and when I got here you know, there was, I even as a as an eight-year-old I detected a lot of well a difference in attitude and from what I felt from El Paso where I was from, you know, a nice comfortable, warm, warm, you know, sea of brown It was very different up here.

It was cold and you know, people treated me differently and, and I think every other Hispanic and we just, you know, Hispanics that came up here, we're not here to, you know, get into a community or anything like that we were here to, you know, for some opportunity or another.

Although, I never really quite understood why my parents decided to move up here.

I still haven't, you know, oh well, I like the place.

Lori Townsend: Clearly, you must, since you've been here for so long.

You know, it's interesting to hear you say that you didn't really discover any sort of Latino community until the 80s.

Was that because the threshold of population of Latino people reached a certain level?

And so it became more apparent?

Or do you feel like people began to feel more confident in expressing who they are, and had a little more time beyond just focusing on work and what they came here for, so that they could kind of embrace more community?

Unknown: Well, I think it was a mixture of all, all the things that you mentioned.

And but with, with the idea too that, you know, and people who emigrate, shall we say, even though I, you know, I'm a second generation American, you know, still going to Alaska was emigrating, right?

People who emigrate are doing it for the opportunity, or change of location, or whatever, you know, and, you know, they usually end up you know, bringing the relatives first, you know, and then that's, that's the community, but it's a family sort of thing.

And then I think you have to get to a certain threshold before you start realizing or interacting with other folks from your culture, you know?

And again, I just really didn't see it.

I mean, I went to school, you know, elementary, junior high in high school here, and very few Hispanics, you know?

And I, just to be frank, most of the other Hispanic kids that I knew, we kind of avoided each other for some reason, we were not comfortable, you know, weird phenomenon, but you know, and it may be I'm just goofy, you know, but that's what it definitely felt like to me, so.

And again, we didn't, I didn't get to any, you know, sense of solidarity until much later, you know, back.

Yeah, back in the late 70s.

Lori Townsend: Do you think it was sort of a self preservation move to not draw attention to yourself?

Or?

Unknown: It could have been.

Yeah, it could have been something like that, you know.

We didn't want to, you know, attract too much attention, right.

Like, my parents, they did find other, you know, Hispanics, and, you know, and hung out.

As well as my dad worked with members of the Eklutna community, you know, in his job, and so, you know, we we want to Eklutna a few times, and, and hung out with, you know, people that look a lot like us.

It wasn't until much later that I realized that, you know, that DNA testing that, you know, I'm almost 50% Indigenous, you know, and a lot of my Hispanic friends who, you know, take the test, they find out, "Holy mackerel, I'm Indigenous.

I didn't know that!"

You know, everybody told me that, you know, you know, I was an outsider, and that my, you know, back was a little damp, or something, you know, and it was a real revelation.

Lori Townsend: All right.

Well, thank you.

Indra, I want to turn back to you.

What are some of the notable changes you've seen in how the Latino community has made Alaska their own through the years.

You've been here for 20 years now.

What, what kind of changed?

You know, Marianna, was just talking about how in school, they didn't really want to come together to draw any attention to themselves?

That's sad.

What, what have you seen as far as, hopefully progress and expression of self and culture?

Unknown: Well, I mean, I think it's, it's one of the biggest changes is obviously the numbers, you know.

From what 2010 to now you've seen a 35% increase in Latinos in Alaska.

And that's huge.

That comes from, you know, a number of reasons.

But also you have this intergenerational growth, right, you've got now Latinos that, you know, are second and even third generation Alaskans.

And that is huge to the development of community.

And that also means, however, that how the Latinos identify as a community becomes more complicated because you have a lot of young Latinos and who are now adults who have children who have never been to Mexico, have never been to their home, or you know, of origin and, and so then identity becomes something that is passed down like storytelling, or in the food, or through old pictures.

But it's a very different kind of building of culture than when you're immersed in it.

And so I think that having, you know, other Latinos that are visible, like Mariano, you know, like Itzel, like Mariscal, like, you know, just just a lot of other people who are doing all kinds of different things that are visible, it helps us create community, but you need that you need that space.

I think that there are a lot of young Latinos that are mixed race, right and, and navigating through those cultural changes from one race, you know, or one culture to another, it's important.

And also prioritizing them equally as important.

And sometimes that doesn't happen, you know?

We have a lot of colorism within the Latino community, and that is just something that just is sometimes it's just you know blown out of proportion in terms of like, people really just see themselves as white, either mixed, because it's a, it's a, I guess, a more acceptable way of being, a more empowering way of being.

So like, like, you know, Mariano mentioned his Indigenous roots, you know, like, we are Indigenous.

And so learning to create harmony within all our different cultures is really important.

And I see that happening more and more, and that's really possible.

Lori Townsend: All right, thank you.

Mariano, picking up that thread there.

You were talking before Indra about, you know, how much longer you've been here since 1959.

From those earlier days of realizing you are no longer in a fairly cohesive bilingual community to today?

How connected do you see the community now?

And and what do you want to see in the future for younger Latinos, especially as Indra was saying, you know, about being more empowered to be who you are, and, and feel confident in that?

Unknown: Well, I think that, you know, the goal ultimately is to become more, more human, shall we say?

Part of the greater community, not so much to separate ourselves from anybody else, because, you know, that's the root of a lot of problems in our, in our culture.

And, you know, in my own family, you know, we're, you know, have that surname Gonzales, but our bloodline is from all over the world, you know, and I think it's great, you know, including, you know, I have relatives of the paler persuasion as well, so we're all a family.

And it's no longer a shameful thing, you know, as it was when I was young to be Hispanic, right.

So yeah, I think that ultimately, the goal is to just be one people, you know, whatever.

And, and, but at the same time, you know, I, I revel in my heritage, you know, I mean, who wouldn't, right?

So, it's a delicate, it's a delicate sort of balance.

But I never hesitate to remind my students of my Hispanicness, you know, and, and how it's affects the way that I think and the way that I create and so on and so forth.

But at the same time, it's it I see it as an advantage and not as an impediment.

And for my students, whatever their heritage is, should be an advantage and not an impediment.

Lori Townsend: Absolutely, thank you.

Indra, I watched a TEDx talk that you gave in 2013 on choosing a multicultural world, describe what that choosing and acceptance would look like, in the best case scenario from your perspective, what would you like to see there?

Unknown: Um, so, that talk also talked about fear and, and the fear that people have in identifying as, you know, their culture, brown, Hispanic, Latino, whatever.

And the fear on the other side of being, of being hurt, you know, of not being in, in a safe space or being even accosted.

And so, choosing a multicultural world is really about letting go of that fear.

Right?

And once you let go of that fear, then, then you can really be like, all the best things that you are, you know?

Revel in, in your, in your cultural heritage and, you know, in your physicality and in it, I would like to see that I would like to see, you know, everybody, from all cultures just really bring the best that they have, and know that you know, who I am doesn't take anything away from who you are as people, right?

It's a complement.

It's a different way of thinking it's a different flavor.

It's a different sense of humor and all those things make like really great.

That's what it means to me.

You know, in accepting and creating a multicultural world is creating again, going back to the spaces that are safe where, you know, minorities and people can be seen safely and, and can just really thrive.

Lori Townsend: The idea of identification, Hispano, Hispanic, Latino, Latinx, how do you self identify?

And what do you recommend for people who are, you know, concerned about getting it wrong and want to be respectful about how this reference should be made?

Unknown: Well, I think if people have questions they should ask, you know, because I think everybody feels a little bit differently.

How do I identify myself?

I identify myself as Latina.

I also identify myself as queer, you know, and so, so those two things are a big part of who I am.

And so yeah, if you ask, I will tell you.

Lori Townsend: Thanks, Mariano, how about for you?

What what are your thoughts about this?

The differing group categorizations that have become, you know, more prolific Hispanic, as I said, Latino?

Latinx.

How do you self identify?

And what do you want people to do?

If they're wondering how to ask?

Unknown: Well, let me give you an example.

Whenever I go to a form, to a place where I have to fill out a form that's asking me about my race, race and ethnicity.

Under race, I always have to write in human.

That's what my race is, I'm human.

I'm not a cat, a dog, or, you know, an artichoke, none of that.

I'm a human.

As far as my nationality, I'm American you know?

Now all those are the things that they see when they look at my face, you know, that, that darkness, that's for them to deal with, you know, if, if they're positive, you know, they'll deal with it in a very positive way.

If they're negative.

Well, you know, that's kind of their problem.

Unless they have a gun, of course, then it's my problem.

Right?

So I but yeah, I'm a human, you know, and I'm an American, you know, and that's the end of the story.

Lori Townsend: I'm so happy to hear you say that because I've also long felt that we are all the human race.

There's one race of humans.

There are different ethnicities, different cultural traditions, but we're all one race.

There are not different races.

Thank you for that.

In an article about your work Mariano, you said your art is too weird for Alaskans.

That struck me as quite a statement since there is plenty of weird in Alaska.

So why do you say that, why do you think that?

Unknown: Well I think that because I you know, I don't get much traction with my work here.

I have to take it outside, you know, the, you know, to sell or.

I do get some appreciation from my friends you know, I think I've got 50 friends here on Facebook who liked my work, you know.

Other than that, I used I've done a lot of you know, social commentary and political stuff and you know, it kind of goes nowhere.

To give you an example I did an experiment last, at the end of last year to do one new piece, digital piece for, and posted on Facebook one new digital piece a day you know, for a month which I did.

And it was an interesting research project because the stuff that I did you know, that was just you know, really cool, you know, whatever.

I got a lot of likes, right?

But if I did anything that was a little bit political or a social statement or anything like that, it fell to zero you know.

So what did this tell me?

This told me that my people that liked my work were generally you know, liberals and educated, etc, etc.

They were even so very uncomfortable with you know, a political or a social statement.

For what reason?

I'm not sure I've got you know, some ideas but yeah, so I've never really gotten much traction here in Alaska as an artist, not that it stopped me because I you know, I work you know, at the university, you know, I get a paycheck and time to create my own work, and I don't really have to.

If I ever had to make a living at art, I'd probably shoot myself.

Lori Townsend: Oh, dear.

Let's not go there.

Alright.

Let's go back to Indra and Indra in.

We've got about a minute left here.

I wish we had more time.

This has been a great conversation, but who in about 30 seconds or so, who did you want this film to really be for?

Is it for the Latino community?

Is it to educate about the community?

Is it for everyone?

And then also when is the air date?

Unknown: It feels more like a love letter, you know, to to this community, and it's because of the people who participate in it and have really made it their own.

When it airs?

I'm not really sure.

It's going to PBS or to Latino Public Broadcasting at the end of the month, and then they'll put it into their cycle of programming.

I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Lori Townsend: Alright, thank you so much.

It's been wonderful to have you both.

Indra Arriaga Delgado And Mariano Gonzales.

Thank you so much for being with us this evening.

Alaska's state motto "North to the future," is fitting for a state that can boast about the incredible diversity of ethnicities and cultures here.

That rich mix of so many traditions and worldviews is a big strength for Alaska.

More diversity means more creative thought and problem solving for our communities.

Alaskans can lead the rest of the nation to a more harmonious future of less fear and racism and embrace our increasingly blended families and cultures to deepen community connection and respect for all.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight.

Be sure to tune in daily to your local public radio station for Alaska Morning News and Alaska News Nightly every week night.

Be part of important conversations happening on Talk of Alaska every Tuesday morning, and visit our website alaskapublic.org for breaking news and reports from 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.

We'll be back next Friday.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Lori Townsend.

Good night.