By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Pacific High School gardening class received the 2019 Volunteers and Service Cultural Diversity Award Wednesday night.
The U.S. Forest Service presented the national award in recognition of STA’s and Pacific High’s Tlingit potato gardening project. The event took place during the Tribal Council’s bimonthly meeting, with representatives of STA, Pacific High, and the USFS attending the virtual ceremony.
Since its start in 2017, the Tlingit potato project has included the planting and harvesting of hundreds of pounds of the potatos, a traditional locally-grown food source for Sitka-area Natives.
The harvested potatoes have been donated to STA’s traditional foods program and been distributed to Tribal citizens.
It is in this manner that the project has brought together cultural education and food security. All three organizations expressed gratitude in being able to work with each other.
“This is such a unique opportunity to connect students to culture, history, science, and local subsistence,” said Pacific High Principal Mandy Summer. “Growing food and teaching others to grow their own food is an act of empowerment. And for many of our students, the Tlingit potato project is a learning experience that provides a deeper understanding of their heritage and culture.”
Tribal Charman KathyHope Erickson agreed.
“We are truly grateful to our neighbors in the Forest Service for recognizing the need to perpetuate this important link to our past,” she said during the ceremony. “I truly appreciate that (USFS is) recognizing these efforts of our school district and of our resource protection department.”
Erickson commented that some local residents were cultivating the Tlingit potato before the project began, but that the capacity of production has increased.
“There have been local people throughout the years continuing this tradition of native horticulture, but the extra effort and outreach by the collaborators has breathed new life into this practice,” she said. “For this we are grateful to our partners.”
U.S. Forest Service Chief Victoria Christansen was not present for the Zoom call but addressed both Summer and STA Cultural Coordinator Tammy Young in written statements.
“Our partnership is making a difference by forging common ground, serving the community, promoting cultural connections and hopefully incubating lifelong gardening habits and future stewards,” Christiansen wrote.
In a normal year, Christiansen would have addressed the award recipients in person in Washington, D. C., but the pandemic interrupted in-person plans.
David Schmid, Regional Forester for the USFS’s Northern Region, spoke in place of Christiansen at the Zoom ceremony.
“Relationships are absolutely essential to achieving shared goals and strengthening our communities, especially during these tough times we’re facing here with COVID-19,” he said. “This project is one example of the strong, collaborative relationships between the ... Forest Service, the Tribe, and many other community organizations.”
