Arthur Larsen checks on salmon in his smokehouse, which was built by the Wrangell Cooperative Association as part of its effort to assist tribal citizens during the pandemic, while encouraging food sustainability.
The Wrangell Cooperative Association put its logo on the front of the smokehouses it built for tribal citizens. WCA built 70 smokehouses and provided smaller electric units for people who did not have room for the freestanding wooden structures.
From building smokehouses and gardens to assisting with utility and food bills, the Wrangell Cooperative Association has been working to help its tribal citizens make it through the financial and emotional stress of the pandemic.
"We took a hard look at what the WCA citizens were facing with the pandemic," said Esther Ashton, tribal administrator. That included financial needs and helping to build food self-sufficiency, she said.
The eight-member elected tribal council last year considered how best to use the federal aid allocated under the CARES Act, and then this year looked at providing additional help with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
WCA has 855 tribal citizens, Ashton said, though many do not live in Wrangell.
Federal pandemic aid directed to the tribe has so far totaled about $7.5 million.
CARES Act funding was used to provide each household with a $1,000 food card to either of Wrangell's two grocery stores, in addition to $1,000 per household in financial assistance toward electricity bills, Ashton said. The WCA is repeating both programs this year with American Rescue Plan money. The aid is available only to tribal citizens living in Wrangell, and people must apply and show financial need, she said.
The federal deadline under the American Rescue Plan allows tribes - along with municipalities and states - to use the funds through 2024. Ashton said the WCA tribal council has not yet decided on its entire spending plan for the money.
The borough's share of federal pandemic relief funds last year and this year will total about $5 million, including money shared by the state with Wrangell, with much of it going toward community grants, assistance programs and municipal costs of dealing with the pandemic.
The Wrangell School District allocation under the two federal programs totals more than $1 million.
In addition, Wrangell businesses and nonprofits received about $8 million in CARES Act funds, separate from any borough money.
And just as the state is using $1 million of its federal aid to run a lottery of weekly $49,000 prizes to entice residents of the 49th state to get vaccinated against COVID-19, so too is the WCA using some of its money to encourage more of its tribal citizens to get vaccinated.
Unvaccinated citizens are eligible for a $1,000 payment if they get the shot and apply by Oct. 29, Ashton said. "If people have been on the fences" about vaccination, maybe the financial boost will get them off the fence and into the medical office for a shot.
Much of the WCA's work during the pandemic has been focused on providing people with the skills and opportunities to grow and prepare more of their own foods, particularly traditional foods.
Everyone should have the ability to smoke fish, Ashton said. To reach that goal, the council used its funds to hire tribal citizens to design and build 70 smokehouses for Wrangell households.
For those who did not have room for a smokehouse, the council purchased 126 Big Chief electric smokers, the large size. The tribe made one change to the smokers, Ashton said. Big Chief removed its American Indian logo from the units and replaced it with the WCA logo.
In addition to promoting more smoked fish, the tribe wanted to encourage more gardening of healthy foods. It has put in 160 gardens for every citizen in town who wanted one, the administrator said.
The WCA, working with its Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP), put together an instructive video on "lasagna gardening," which teaches layering of compost, seaweed and high-quality soil for better results.
Staff participated in a master-gardener program through the University of Alaska Fairbanks to learn and bring back skills to the community, Ashton said. And the WCA is putting together a workshop on fish processing, teaching how to safely use a pressure cooker and how to brine seafood.
The tribe has purchased pressure cookers and jars, and will be distributing them to its citizens.
Promoting growing, harvesting and preparing foods "is an opportunity" to return to traditional ways, Ashton said. "It's definitely an opportunity to reignite."
In addition to programs aimed at its citizens, the WCA has used some of its federal money to help the overall community, including a $86,520 grant to the Wrangell Fire Department for new equipment that makes it easier - and safer - to move patients in and out of ambulances, Ashton said.
The tribe gave $2,000 to radio station KSTK to broadcast educational material about COVID-19, and each year grants funds to the Wrangell Senior Center and library.
The newest program soon to get underway at WCA will be a Tlingit language class for adults, Ashton said. The tribe recently was notified of an $86,000 grant from the federal Administration for Native Americans.
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