Name: Tides of Tradition
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Legacy of the Land

Kanesia McGlashan-Price (Unalaska, Alaska) - Communities like the Unangax̂ rely on traditional foodways in lieu of customary, expensive grocery suppliers. Following the journey of a local subsistence hunter, we learn the realities of food access in the changing Arctic and the values that inform their harvest.

Following a local Unangax̂ hunter, hear the realities of food access in the changing Arctic.

Tides of Tradition

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation

GBH Climate and Environment Fund

Communities like the Unangax̂ rely on traditional foodways in lieu of customary, expensive grocery suppliers. Following the journey of a local subsistence hunter, we learn the realities of food access in the changing Arctic and the values that inform their harvest.

Following a local Unangax̂ hunter, hear the realities of food access in the changing Arctic.

Nature

Tides of TraditionPublished: September 13, 2024Trevor Schliebe: You'd be able to go out on pretty much any waterfront and you could hear the sea lions roaring like motorcycles out on the front beach or pretty much anywhere you went.Nowadays for sea lions, I mean, you can go pretty much all the coastline within the Bay Area and go without saying a single sea lion. Back when I first started learning how to hunt, it wasn't a problem.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 meant setting crab pots and setting long lines and going out halibut fishing by pole and then just slowly waiting for each species of fish to come out throughout the months. And, I mean, that's just basically my calendar.My name is Trevor Schliebe. 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 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 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 too.Marie Schliebe: When they say [inaudible 00:02:43] birds, fish plants, berries, tidal foods, it's something we can eat throughout the year if we preserve it right. Subsistence is so important to me.Here's the parts of the birds. They learn about. Cute, huh? And there's another color-by-number color guide.My name is Marie Schliebe. I'm from Unalaska. I'm from here, raised here. I'm the Head Start lead teacher here for the full-day program.I have three boys. Trevor, he's my middle son.Trevor Schliebe: Yeah, we've had three of them running at the same time.Marie Schliebe: We teach three to five year olds and it's basically, the way I think about it is like family style, like anything they're doing at home, we're teaching them here.... coloring the birds. Oh, look it, here's the Unangax̂- Qamgaangix̂ Emperor goose. Lagix̂ is a Canadian geese. So this is what they've learned this last week. The different birds.And then here we go over this poster. This is the Qaqamiigux̂ unit. And then the nutrients. Here's what I was talking about, comparing the chicken in the wild duck.Well, I like to fish and hunt. For instance, during the wintertime, we love to hunt ptarmigan and cook it up. Like I said, we just did the bird unit here in the classroom.So these were already cleaned. They're the breasts of the bird, and we just got them just this last month. Okay, so where are we going to set up?Trevor Schliebe: Ptarmigan are just, in the wintertime, they're these little birds that I'd say are like the size of pigeons. In comparison, I guess you can say they're just like grouse.Yeah, the bottom one?And it's a pretty simple process for cleaning them. It's just split right down the middle. I'll let it soak overnight in salt water.After we soak it, I'll freeze the whole breastplate and then once we're ready to cook them up, basically filleting off of the bone and getting as much meat off there as you can.Marie Schliebe: So this is a good [inaudible 00:05:17]Trevor Schliebe: Every time you drop off something, you always hear a story of how they miss it and what they used to do and where they used to go, and those are the moments you try to cherish and remember.The number one complaint that I always hear is, "When are you going to get a sea lion?" And that's just the hardest to come by because they're not as abundant in numbers anymore. And so that's my number one question is, "When are you going to get me a sea lion or a qawax̂.Vince Tutiakoff Sr.: For the last maybe five years, I've seen the population drop in sea lion. And they're not getting the nutrition that they need, for one thing. We're losing the ice in the Bering Sea. Climate has a lot to do with it. Sea temperature. And that changes the whole idea of where the food for them is at. It's moving north, and it's going to be that way until we find a way to cool down the water. I don't know if that could happen.It means to me, it means we have to continue to teach our young people the importance of taking care of the environment. It's about life, culture, and a way of living. We honor that fish, we honor that seal, that halibut. Pretty much gave itself up for you to survive, so you got to take care of it and teach that value.Trevor came up through the system at Camp Q and over the years has been curious about hunting, fishing, and he understands the value of taking care of a subsistence life. Just take what you need. Don't take any more than that. If you're going to share it, then take what you're going to share and make sure you deliver it.Trevor Schliebe: Anytime that I can be on the water, I'll be out on my boat. It's just a calming sense to be on the water and out there practicing your traditional ways.Now being one of the main hunters, my job is basically selecting a student and passing on the knowledge. It's definitely rewarding just knowing that I'm able to pass on knowledge from my mentors and now I'm in that position where I can be viewed as a mentor.Vince Tutiakoff Sr.: I think there's only maybe one or two my age that actually go hunting anymore. With Trevor, it's been, been watching his growth as a hunter and a fisherman. His value will be that if he trains and moves it on to younger people.Speaker 4: Okay, you were doing it last time?Speaker 5: Yeah.Speaker 4: Okay. We're trying to keep most of this blubber off.No, we used to watch the elders do it, and then we didn't do it for a long time. They wouldn't let us touch it because they put holes in it. Holes in the eye, so...

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Tides of Tradition

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