The Wrangell-Petersburg-Kake Resource Advisory Committee met last Tuesday evening, June 2, to consider multiple projects to recommend funding for. Among these was a plan for a culture camp, presented by Wrangellite Virginia Oliver on behalf of the Wrangell Cooperative Association.
The "Kaatslitaan Culture Camp," as the project was named, is designed to be an adult camp for people to learn about traditional native values and the subsistence lifestyle from cultural bearers of the native community. According to the project's outline, the camp will try to bring together elders from Wrangell, Petersburg, Kake, and Juneau, for a camp held at Old Town on Wrangell Island. The camp was originally being planned for this summer. However, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, they are prepared to meet either in the fall of 2020 or the spring of 2021. The total estimated cost for the camp, also according to the project outline, is $22,200. Oliver came before the RAC that evening to argue for $8,200 of that money, the requested Title II contribution.
"It is private land, but it is in the middle of the Tongass Forest," Oliver said. "The land belongs to Sealaska, however it was originally my grandparents' land. They had gotten the land before they were able to own land, so they never registered it. However, it is registered somewhere because the U.S. Forest Service has it plotted at 6.8 acres, mostly underwater ... I'm still there, my grandparents' cabin is there, although I built a more modern one behind it and have a garden there."
According to the project details, the Kaatslitaan Culture Camp would teach native culture and traditions in a variety of ways. This would include discussions about sustainability, how fish and seal meat are treated and processed, learning how to make medicinal salves and traditional paints, historic site recognition, learning traditional songs and stories, among other projects.
"I think that if the project does a good job of articulating the national forest resources, for example involving the Forest Service archeologist, and I forget the details," Linda Slaght, with the Forest Service, said. "That's the next question that would be asked, running through the grant process. How does this benefit a national forest resource?"
"Time is ticking," Oliver also said. "Some of our elders are in their eighties and older, and they don't hear very well ... We're wanting to be able to speak to our elders. It's imperative that these things are done quickly and timely."
There was some discussion amongst the RAC members, but eventually they agreed to recommend the culture camp for funding.
There were other Wrangell projects discussed in the meeting. For example, the RAC recommended $27,500 for repairs to the Nemo Saltwater Trail. They also recommended $14,500 for shelter repairs along the Rainbow Falls trail system.
Other items that were recommended for funding include invasive plant control projects in several locations across the RAC's area. One such project was in the Petersburg Borough, where Joni Johnson wanted to develop and build interpretive signs to educate people on preventing the spread of invasive species of plants. These would be placed along launch points for the Stikine River on Mitkof Island, and along Raven Trail. Funding requested from the RAC was set at $2,350.
The RAC also recommended funding for interpretive signage along Sandy Beach in Petersburg and restoration work along East Ohmer Creek, among other projects.
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