Resources: Our Communities
How do systems of transportation, health care, law enforcement, governance, economics, and education for rural Alaska affect the sustainability of remote Alaskan villages?
The Alaska Center’s mission is to “engage, empower and elect Alaskans to stand up for our clean air and water, healthy communities, and a strong democracy.” From their website: “We are Alaskans working to make our home the best place to live. . . . We work across the state to protect the resources that sustain our families, cultures, and communities, while ensuring that Alaskans have a voice in the decisions impacting our future.” Recent emphases have included salmon habitat preservation, advancement of clean energy solutions as a way to address climate change and to help diversify Alaska’s economy. As part of the Center’s work, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action hosts an annual Youth Organizer Summit to help youth develop community organizing skills.
The Alaska Community Health Aide Program provides training for the front line health care providers in rural Alaska. Project Jukebox documents some of the history of this program.
Alaska Native Knowledge Network is a UAF comprehensive website that serves “as a resource for compiling and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing. It has been established to assist Native people, government agencies, educators and the general public in gaining access to the knowledge base that Alaska Natives have acquired through cumulative experience over millennia.” This site provides a variety of information and curriculum resources, as well as links to statewide Alaska Native language resources, and links to information about indigenous knowledge systems. The index of links is vast.
Alaska Native Language Center documents, cultivates, and promotes Alaska Native Languages. Their website lists a variety of publications.
Dinak’i Upper Kuskokwim site provides links pertinent to the preservation of the Athabaskan language, culture, and environment of the region west of Denali, Alaska.
First Alaskans Institute “works to advance Alaska Natives through community engagement, information and research, collaboration, and leadership development.” They have a robust links page with further state, national, and international resources.
History and Culture Publications published by the NPS at Lake Clark, AK, some excellent resources.
Indivisible works at a grassroots level across the nation to promote democracy and civic action.
She Should Run is a non partisan non-profit “expanding the talent pool of future elected female leaders.”
For those in Anchorage, the municipality recently unveiled a ‘data portal’ for information. There is information here on crime statistics and homelessless, among other things.
49 Moons “provides a forum for Alaskans to respond to the frightening turn our country has taken with committed and compassionate action to preserve wilderness, foster tolerance and diversity, and advance progressive values.” Their community page lists current actionable items.