Arts & Culture

Instead of the usual businesswear worn in the Alaska State Capitol, many female legislators are wearing kuspuks, the traditional and comfortable Inupiat-Yupik garment not often seen in boardrooms. It’s also being adopted by some men in the capitol.

On this particular Friday, Senate Secretary Liz Clark’s kuspuk is getting a lot of attention.

Somebody told me the fabric is called Fairy Frost so it’s sort of a turquoise blue and it’s got the Fairy Frost trim with some red ric-rak over top. It also has the multi-colored cat heads lining the hood and the pocket. It’s more a dress length with a ruffle. It feels like a mumu to wear so it couldn’t be more comfortable.”

Clark owns five kuspuks. She and other legislative staff easily joined what’s become a tradition among legislators, who started wearing kuspuks to work on Friday about a decade ago.
Anchorage Senator Lesil McGuire credits the idea to former representative Mary Kapsner, an Alaska Native from Bethel.

Back when she was in the House of Representatives serving, she had an aide named Katie Real and they started wearing kuspuks every Friday.”

When Real passed away from an illness, Kapsner and other women in the House of Representatives continued wearing kuspuks to honor her legacy.

Kuspuk Friday soon spread to the Senate where now it’s part of the Friday uniform for the pages. The Senate Secretaries, the Sergeant-At-Arms, and her assistant also take part in the tradition. Three of these kuspuk-clad individuals on the Senate floor are men. Senate McGuire would like to see every more males embrace kuspuk Friday.

Part of what we’re trying to do is get more masculine fabrics introduced. Our assistant Sergeant-At-Arms Andy Higgins has come out with a really bold black one with some gold piping so it would be nice to get the Senate President and the Majority Leader wearing a kuspuk as well.”

Eagle River Senator Anna Fairclough served with Mary Kapsner. Most Fridays, Fairclough can be seen wearing a kuspuk. While she enjoys the functional purposes of the garment, like the big pockets, Fairclough says Kuspuk Friday means something more.

It’s the solidarity per se with the women around Alaska that we know where our roots are at. We know there are traditional values in all cultures across Alaska that need to be respected and it’s our way of embracing that.”

While a kuspuk is a traditional Alaska Native garment, Senator McGuire notes most of those wearing kuspuks on Friday in the Capitol Building are not Native.

Non-Native Alaskans take pride in celebrating the Alaskan Native Heritage and I think that’s something that I have really enjoyed seeing grow in this building in my thirteen years here. It’s something that I would not say was immediately a part of the culture but it’s certainly become a part of it.”

Wrangell Representative Peggy Wilson owns four kuspuks.

I love wearing it because it’s so much more comfortable than anything else I wear.”

Freshman Representative Harriot Drummond of Anchorage borrowed a kuspuk from a friend for Kuspuk Fridays. She says it fits her normal, outside-the-capitol style.

I like wearing hoodies in my off hours and this is an appropriate type of hoodie to wear to work.”

In the usual sea of dark suits and stiff collars in a state capitol, Kuspuk Friday adds a touch of fun, color, and comfort to the work week. It’s also a symbol of Alaska’s diversity of cultures and people.

The Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is happening in Juneau this week. More than 20 teams from Metlakatla to Yakutat are competing in three brackets.

But it’s more than a sports event.

Link to tournament results.

See Gold Medal photo slideshows.

Learn more about the event.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has a new proposal for defining handicrafts made out of sea otter pelts. The agency sets rules for hunting of sea otters and other protected marine mammals.

Its rules allow coastal Natives to hunt otters for traditional and subsistence use. And it permits pelts to be sold to non-Natives after they’re significantly altered.

But part of the rules are hard to decipher. And different interpretations have led to citations, fines and other legal action.

Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl is part of a region-wide effort to expand the otter business.

“Our desire is to move away from the vague language that we’ve had that has resulted in some consternation with the hunters and with the craftspeople in not knowing what’s legally acceptable,” she says.

The Fish & Wildlife Service has released new wording and is taking comments through May 17th.

It defines “substantially altered” as weaving, carving, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, painting and some other methods.

Fish and Wildlife’s Bruce Woods says artisans can make mittens, hats, gloves, purses and scarves. But it prohibits some larger items.

“If someone simply drew a picture on the back of a tanned sea otter hide and attempted to sell that as significantly altered, someone who was running a souvenir factory conceivably could buy those hides and turn them into a whole series of little otter dolls and sell them in competition (with) people who are doing the work as a handicraft,” Woods says.

Woods says Native craftspeople could work in cooperatives or other groups. But they could not use extensive mechanization or divide tasks in anything like an assembly line.

He says the new rules include input from hunters and other groups.

“So the service has been meeting with some handicrafter groups and other interested parties in an attempt to refine that definition and sort of take some of the angst out of the community of crafters who may not be certain that what they’re manufacturing is legal,” he says.

Some craftspeople are not happy with the proposed rules.

Worl says crafters worked with the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals and other organizations to come up with their own, more flexible proposal. But that’s not the Fish and Wildlife Service draft.

“All of us are busy studying it right now, but there’s a lot of unhappiness that it came out of the blue. So it’s like we’re back to the drawing board,” Worl says. (Hear a report from the last round of otter handicraft proposals.)

The heritage institute is training tribal members to sew otter pelts to help build a cottage industry, especially in economically depressed villages.

Worl says the workshops have waiting lists and more are planned.

The effort comes as hunters, lawmakers and scientists debate the impacts of rapid otter population growth in Southeast and some other parts of the state. Bills in the House and Senate would subsidize hunting with a $100-per-pelt bounty.

 

 

 

A major Southeast Alaska environmental organization has endorsed the latest Sealaska land-selection legislation. But a group of communities on or near Prince of Wales Island continues to strongly oppose the measure.

The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council opposed the Sealaska bill from the start.

It negotiated with the regional Native corporation, but actively lobbied against the measure in Southeast and Washington, D.C., as well as online.

Now, it’s endorsed revised legislation proposed by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

“This wasn’t an easy decision,” says Buck Lindekugel, a SEACC attorney who’s been active in timber issues.

(Read SEACC’s explanation of its decision.)

“We tried to be realistic about our chances of stopping the bill or the opportunities available to continue to try to influence decision-makers as the bill moves forward,” he says.

Murkowski’s bill would transfer about 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska ownership.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act required the corporation to choose property from within boxes surrounding communities with large numbers of shareholders.

Murkowski’s bill allows selections from other parts of the Tongass.

“We’ve also got to remember that Sealaska has received 290,000 acres already around the villages. And those lands have been heavily hammered,” he says.

SEACC wants further changes to the bill, such as dropping added acreage at Calder, on northwest Prince of Wales Island.

But Lindekugel says the new measure removes some very sensitive watersheds.

“It drops nearly 30,000 acres of incredibly productive lands on north Prince of Wales from selection. And it dropped another 4,000 acres of high-value karst lands on Kosciusko Island,” he says.

While SEACC changed its stand, others did not.

Nine Tongass communities near the proposed selections are actively opposing Murkowski’s new bill. (Read a letter critiquing the bill.)

“Greetings from your neighbors on north Prince of Wales Island. We, the residents of Point Baker and Port Protection, are asking you to join our voices in opposition to the latest Sealaska lands bill,” says one of the  residents of the towns’ residents on a radio commentary. (Hear or read  the full commentary.)

That’s the beginning of a radio commentary voiced by 20-plus residents.

Point Baker’s Andrea Hernandez says the people in the recording speak as a group and didn’t want to put names to specific statements. She did provide a list of those who spoke.

The commentary points to Sealaska’s agreement to a Native claims settlement act amendment limiting selections to areas around Native villages. And they say they’ve built their lives and communities around the guarantee that they’ll be able to hunt, fish and log on nearby Tongass lands.

“Now the corporation wants to exchange the land from their designated areas to areas around our towns. How fair is this?”

They particularly oppose a provision transferring additional land from part of the northwest coast.

“Calder Creek is a highly productive salmon stream. And some of the highest volume of old-growth left on the north end of Prince of Wales Island is on Calder Bay. Sealaska will most assuredly clear-cut every last bit of it, leaving the entire watershed bare, with inadequate protection to the streams,” another voice on the commentary says.

Thorne Bay, Hollis, Naukati, Whale Pass, Kupreanof, Edna Bay and Cape Pole are the other communities in the group of nine.

Sealaska says the legislation has undergone many changes since it was first proposed in 2007. (Hear or read an earlier report on the bill.)

“We can prove that we’ve listened to people and that we’ve been able to go in and make changes that try to remove the rough edges off this bill,” says Vice President Rick Harris.

He says the latest version reflects most critics’ concerns: “Nobody’s going to be happy with every aspect of it. But if you go compare what we could select inside the boxes versus this selection we think we end up with a much better result.” (Link to Sealaska’s statement on the new bill.)

“We see it as a bill that would just make a lot of rich people within Sealaska richer,” says Dominic Salvato, a shareholder living in Anchorage. He runs Sealaska Shareholders Underground, a Facebook page with 800 “likes” that’s critical of the corporation.

He says past practice shows the corporation is not environmentally responsible.

“It’s a man-made tsunami that went through Kake and went through Hoonah, and it’s just promising to be more of the same. It’s got to stop somewhere. The Tongass has given enough,” he says.

Salvato says shareholders will not get much of a benefit from land selections or timber operations.

“They’re looking at the land like, ‘How can we convert it to cash?’ They don’t look at it for its beauty and scenery. They’re looking at it for how they can convert it to long-term … bonuses for executives,” he says.

Other Native activists support the bill.

Richard Peterson is president of the tribal government of Kasaan, a Haida village on Prince of Wales Island.

“Sealaska has so far been good stewards and they’ve been coming and meeting with our community and working with us and engaging us in that process. So it’s a deal that needs to be closed,” Peterson says.

Murkowski’s land selection bill has not yet been heard by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she’s the ranking Republican member.

Spokesman Robert Dillon says this is about as good as it’s going to get.

“We believe that we’ve addressed the majority of their legitimate concerns and we would hope that would take a hard look at that. Because the land selections have got to be finalized one way or another. And as SEACC pointed out, this bill is better than letting them select out of their original boxes,” he says.

The Alaska Forest Association, an industry group, supports the bill, though it says the measure has undergone too many changes.

The U.S. Forest Service has not taken a formal position. The agency was critical of earlier bills.

A similar measure with fewer compromises was introduced in the House by Representative Don Young. While his measure passed the House last year, most involved say the Senate bill is the most likely to get attention.

One hundred years ago this week, the first territorial legislature gathered in Juneau. Last weekend and earlier this week, legislators past and present have been celebrating that event, and reflecting on Alaska’s history since the inaugural meeting.

It’s well into Sunday evening, and members of the Alaska legislature are spread around a cavernous room. Giant American flags are hanging from the walls, and the place is abuzz. That is, until someone strikes the gavel.

The House will return to order. Our next order of business is the second reading of bills, resolutions, and memorials. Mr. Chief Clerk.” “House Bill 2, by Rep. Shoup, entitled an act to extend the elective franchise to women.”

Those two aren’t real political figures — they’re actors recreating the inaugural meeting of Alaska’s first elected body. And the true-to-life legislators sitting before them are just there for a bit of dinner theatre as part of the Centennial Commission’s anniversary celebration.

The commission spent six months planning for the celebration, but the reenactment only came together in the last few weeks. The men — and one woman — cast had just a couple of rehearsals to develop their characters and to learn about one of the territorial legislature’s first acts: granting women the right to vote. Odin Brudie plays Rep. Charles Ingersoll of Ketchikan, and he says it’s been a little crazy trying to get the whole performance together.

Fortunately we have a well prepared script, and none of us are totally off book. Which would be next to impossible to accomplish in short order. But it works pretty we’re situated at desks and sort of orating from our materials, so it works pretty well.”

He says it’s a trip to be able to reenact the proceedings in Juneau’s old Elks Club, where the first legislature met. Even the floors are still the same. And Brudie says it’s been a fun learning experience.

I really didn’t know anything about this inaugural territorial legislature and the import of their first order of business, taking up the right of women to vote. So, it’s been fascinating.”

The audience seems to enjoy it as much as the actors do. Sen. Gary Stevens is the chair of the centennial commission, and when I catch up with him, he’s beaming.

Well, this is such fun. I mean, for a retired history professor, it doesn’t really get any better than this, you know, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the territorial and state legislature.”

Stevens says the centennial has also been a good time for him to reflect on where Alaska was and where it is now.

The first speech made by the speaker of the House was against federal oversight — federal overreach and taking too much control away from Alaska. And the speaker was talking about how, in 1913, how important it was that Alaska get its fair share. Which is exactly what we’re talking about today. So, things haven’t changed a lot, have they?”

And if there’s one thing that definitely hasn’t changed, it’s that there’s always work to be done. About halfway through the reenactment, all of the members of the House of Representatives in the audience get up from their seats and head to the door for an 8pm floor session. They have some gaveling in to do themselves.

As part of the week’s Centennial events, lawmakers gathered on the last day on Tuesday discuss the Legislatures’ accomplishments and failures. Some of the former lawmakers who participated included Sam Cotton, Willie Hensley, Gail Phillips, Randy Phillips, and Clem Tillion.

Previous stories on the Alaska Legislative Centennial:

Alaska’s Capital City changes with the times
Alaska Legislature celebrates Centennial

For more information, you can go to 100years.akleg.gov

 

Legislation proposing sea-otter bounties will get its first hearing next week. It’s already drawing opposition from environmental groups and the federal marine mammal protection agency.

Fishermen harvesting Dungeness crab, geoduck clams and some other ocean-floor species have been coming up empty in recent years.

The reason is the rapid expansion of the sea otter population. The marine mammals mostly eat clams. But as they bring their voracious appetites into new areas, they clear out many of the shellfish sought by commercial, subsistence and personal-use divers and fishermen.

“So what we’re trying to do is come up with some assistance for the folks in the area that want to go out and harvest them to afford to be able to do so,” says Sitka Republican Senator Bert Stedman. He represents Kake, Prince of Wales Island and other coastal Southeast communities where otters have moved in.

He’s authored a bill that would give Alaska Natives – the only people who can legally hunt marine mammals – a $100 reward for each pelt they take.

“You’ve got your costs of your fuel and other items you need. Also, there’s tanning cost issues. We’re just trying to assist in the harvest,” he says.

Otters were once widespread along the West Coast from California out to the Aleutians. Russian and American hunters virtually wiped them out, except for a few remote areas.

They were reintroduced to Southeast about 50 years ago. Recent studies say their numbers have grown by as much as 12 percent a year in southern Southeast and 4 percent in the north.

Federal legislation protects otters, only allowing Alaska Natives to harvest them for traditional purposes.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods says states can’t impose bounties.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits any state from enforcing a law that affects the take of a marine mammal without first soliciting and receiving management authority for that species from the Secretary of the Interior,” Woods says.

The agency is working with Native hunters and craftspeople to better define the legal use of pelts. That could increase the overall harvest.

But Woods says Stedman’s legislation, and a similar bill in the House, are trumped by federal rules.

“We’ve got nothing to say about whether the law could be passed or not. But if the law were enforced, at least by an initial reading of the MMPA, that enforcement would be illegal,” he says.

Opposition to the bill is growing among some of the same organizations that campaigned against wolf control. They say otter population growth is a good thing.

“They’re a keystone species,” says Tina Brown, president of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.

She points out that otters eat sea urchins, which eat kelp, allowing coastal Southeast to return to its natural balance.

“When you have the kelp forest, you have nurseries for finfish and it’s thought that the kelp forest can increase herring populations and salmon populations. Another benefit is they reduce CO2 emissions and slow ocean acidification,” she says.

Brown says the alliance is talking with other groups, as well as legislators and attorneys, about the bounty bill’s impacts.

“I can’t say whether it makes a difference in the numbers of sea otters. I can say that it makes a difference on the way Alaska appears before the rest of the country and the world,” Brown says.

And what about the hunters?

Tlingit-Haida Central Council Economic Development Director Carrie Sykes has been working on the issue. She says tribal members have mixed feelings.

“Some people think that it would be a good idea, in that it could offset the cost of hunting and tanning,” she says. “The others are worried about what the perception will be from different organizations, like Defenders of Wildlife. And we’re not sure how it would really work.

Sykes says local tribes have more influence on the issue than the regional Central Council.

Stedman, the Senate bill’s author, says it should be considered a first draft. He expects changes as it’s considered by the Legislature.

“Maybe we end up having this just a Southeast program and we exclude areas where the sea otters are elsewhere, out in the Aleutians and other places,” he says. “We’re not trying to eradicate, but we’re trying to control the growth.”

He also expects organized opposition.

“And I recognize that there are a lot of citizens outside of Southeast Alaska that might just think this is a ghastly thing to do. But I can assure you we’re better prepared to take care of our own backyard than people in San Francisco and Florida are,” Stedman says.

His legislation comes before the Senate Resources Committee on March 13. The House version, introduced by Anchorage Republican Representative Charisse Millett, is not yet scheduled.