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Transmission 663: November 2019 Visit us at knom.org

KNOM: Faith, Inspiration, News, and Education for Western Alaska

Dear Friend of KNOM,“Thank you for your service,” is commonly

used today to recognize the sacrifice of our nation’s troops. It acknowledges the commitment to serve, often unconditionally and at great personal cost to a greater good. Their sacrifice is made worthy with a larger long term view.

KNOM recognizes this service in a spot series and features with current and former military.

Western Alaska is home for many, many veterans, who we honor this month. What’s more, the region is bereft with a multitude of others who serve their communities without a uniform, by providing for elders, working for justice and healing, housing, educating, and advocating for long term improvements in Western Alaska.

Jesus said, “Not My will, but Yours be done,” the ultimate humble service. Thank you for helping KNOM express sincere thanksgiving.

Young Providers RecognizedAdelaine “Addy” Ahmasuk of Nome and Trevor

Savetilik of Shaktoolik won the Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) 2019 Young Providers Award. The organization recognized their daily contributions “to the health and well-being of their families, communities and culture.”

Adelaine Ahmasuk, who is a commercial fisherwoman, is an advocate for indigenous people. She formed an Inupiaq speaking club and also helped host an Indigenous Women and Girls’ gathering in conjunction with the Alaska Community Action on Toxics.

She was recognized in honor of the late elder Lela Kiana Oman (Ahyakee) of Noorvik and Nome, who passed away last year at 102. Oman devoted her life to preserving Native culture and was a well-published author and speaker, and active community member.

Trevor Savetilik is a young fisherman from

Shaktoolik. He began fishing with his dad, uncles, and cousins at the age of five and has fished commercially for salmon and crab since the age of ten.

Savetilik received the award in honor of the late Jacob Ahwinona of White Mountain. Ahwinona spent his life as a culture bearer who shared and modeled living life in accordance with Inupiaq values. He was also active in numerous boards and committees in the region.

“You respect your fellow man no matter who it is. You don’t look at the color of the skin. (...) You treat him like yourself. If he’s hungry you feed him, if he needs help, you help him.”

- Jacob Ahwinona, of White Mountain

Addelaine “Addy” Ahmasuk is being recognized as a young provider. Photo: Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC); used with permission.

Every Christian needs a half-hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy, then we need an hour.

- St. Francis de Sales

A pair of wolf head mittens made by Lela Oman, who Guise interviewed in 2008. Photo: Dr. Holly Miowak Guise; used with permission.

Encountering Christ | Embracing Culture

Alaska Native Voices from WWII Are Focus of Historical Project

Most people, Alaskans included, don’t know very much about the role of Alaska Native people in World War II. That’s according to Dr. Holly Miowak Guise, of Unalakleet and Anchorage. She is currently documenting the experiences of Alaska Native elders in a book and digital library.

Dr. Guise says she never heard about the Aleut internment or other struggles Alaska Native people faced during the war when she was a young student. Later, as a historian, she noticed Native voices were often missing from academic archives.

So, Guise began to collect stories. She flew around the state, interviewing over ninety Alaskan veterans and elders, both Native and non-Native, who shared their memories of World War II. Some said they primarily served to protect their communities, either in the armed forces or the Alaska Territorial Guard.

Hearing story after story of displacement from war and internment camps, Guise said she got a picture of rapid change and movement happening for Alaska Native people over a short period of time.

It’s Guise’s hope as a historian that the memories these elders share can help build a more complete record of Alaska history, bridging the gap between oral histories in university and tribal archives.

Many of the wartime stories included violence and great pain. Even though those memories were still present with the elders she interviewed, she found rich stories of Native resilience in the midst of it.

One Aleut elder she interviewed, Alice Petrivelli, told Dr. Guise about life in the internment camps where they didn’t have enough food.

“The only way they survived the internment camps at Killisnoo in Southeast Alaska was from the help of the Tlingit, who would come to the shores of their camp and drop off salmon for them,” she recounts.

Those everyday stories don’t always make history books. Guise says it’s the voices of everyday people that give context to the full moment in history.

Dr. Guise was recently recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, as one of “40 Under 40” Native leaders in the United States who are making significant impacts in their community or the business sector.

Dr. Holly Guise interviews the late Frances Charles at her home in Unalakleet in 2015. Photo: Dr. Holly Guise; used with permission.

Empowering Growth | Engaging the Listener

First Tribal Justice Summit HeldTribes in the Bering Strait region are using traditional values

to restructure the tribal justice system in their communities. Kawerak, the regional tribal consortium for the Bering Strait region, hosted a tribal justice summit to foster discussion and spawn ideas.

“Tribal courts are really our courts. They seek to provide restorative justice to our tribal members” said Rick Garcia with the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP).

Alice Fitka, the tribal President of St. Michael, recalled memories of tribal justice in her childhood home of Mountain Village. As a little girl after doing something wrong, she was brought before a panel of elders who told her she was loved and in need of help, not punishment. She said that traditional cultural values can gently guide solutions to modern problems, with a focus on reinforcing those values in the communities.

Another elder, Delbert Pungowiyi of Savoonga, reminded the group that native communities have long had their own systems of justice.

“Sovereignty is our God-given gift to all of humanity… What we are doing now is getting back to our own identity. Our own roots. And that we will accomplish, I have faith in that.”

Meghan Sigvanna Topkok, the staff-attorney with Kawerak who organized the summit, said some of the emerging ideas are developing a regional tribal court, a sub-regional model, or even an appellate regional court.

“You could pull judges from different communities if you have a conflict of interest, somebody from another community could step in and be a judge, or review a case if it needs to be appealed,” Topkok said.

Commission for Public Safety Formed

“We have a very sick community and we need to try making things turn around and make it a healing community.”

That’s from Carol Piscoya, one of the civilians sworn into Nome’s new Public Safety Advisory Commission.

The commission is grappling with a history of sexual assault cases that have gone without investigation.

As the first of its kind in Alaska, the goal of the commission is two-fold: to create a layer of civilian accountability for the police department and to help the city create a safe environment for its residents, such as looking at helpful ways to address substance abuse in the community.

Tribal representatives from the Bering Strait region gathered in Nome for a summit to discuss tribal justice in their communities.

Three members of Nome’s newly formed public safety commission: from left to right, Carol Piscoya (Deputy Chair), Irvin Barnes (Chair), and Traci McGarry. The commission has a total of nine members.

Being at peace with yourself is the direct result of being at peace with God.

Please consider KNOM in your estate planning.

Counting Western AlaskaPreparations are underway for the 2020

census in the Bering Strait region, which is set to start in the village of Toksook Bay in January. There are several challenges involved with counting every Alaskan, especially in the rural villages and cabins that Western Alaskans call home.

The census data is part of the equation that determines federal funding for Alaska. That number has been estimated to over $3 billion, so it is important to get it right.

In Alaska’s bigger cities, residents can be counted by phone, e-mail, or online. People in other communities will be tallied in-person by enumerators, bringing job opportunities for local residents.

Mary David of Kawerak, the Bering Straits’ regional non-profit corporation, explained the benefits of local participation.

“I think it’s easier when people know the enumerators who are coming to their door to complete the census rather than a stranger from another community or even from out of the region,” David said.

From the GM’s Desk“Service comes in many forms at KNOM. It

is lived out through volunteering time, talent, and treasure to keep the mission strong. It is in the gift of presence over the phone, expressed in letters, and sharing a cup of coffee in the station.

KNOM is a living and breathing mission of God, where giving and receiving are united across the airwaves in the simple moments of every day. Thank you for your service to keep KNOM thriving.”

Margaret A. DeMaioribusGeneral Manager

Celebrating Mass in TellerBishop Chad Zielinski and Nome’s Fr. Kumar brought

KNOM’s lead reporter for a visit to St. Ann Church in Teller, where Fr. Kumar and Bishop Chad celebrated Mass. Teller is approximately 70 miles outside of Nome, and accessible by a dirt road in the summer.

Most bush villages do not have clergy in residence. Bishop Chad says he has come to a deep appreciation for the resilience and faith expressed by Catholics in the rural communities he shepherds.

The bishop is popular among rural congregants, who flock to church when they hear he is visiting. When he comes through Nome, Bishop Chad enjoys visiting KNOM. Listeners regularly hear recordings of his voice, offering prayer and encouragement over the airwaves.

That a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Near East, where diverse religious communities share their lives together.

— Pope Francis’ prayer intention for November 2019