Prominent former Alaska legislators Fran Ulmer, Gail Phillips, Rick Halford and Mike Navarre discuss the state’s fiscal future with Alaska journalists.
Forum@360
Southeast Alaska by the Numbers
On behalf of Southeast Conference, Meilani Schijvens presents critical insights into current and past Southeast Alaska economic and socioeconomic trends, and tells the story of changes that are taking place in the areas of population and employment. Key drivers of the economy are explored, including the public sector and the visitor, seafood, mining, construction, and health care industries. Statewide trends in these areas are compared to the region.
Recorded November 4, 2015.
Filipinos in Alaska
Filipinos were part of waves of foreign-born laborers coming for the salmon canning industry and mining booms in the early 20th century.
Since the 1990s, the Philippines has been the most common country of origin among Alaska’s foreign-born population, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Alaska’s Filipino population at more than 26,000, one of the state’s largest ethnic groups.
Prominent Filipino-Alaskans Loy Maturan, Dante Reyes, and Raffy Castanos share their stories and experiences. Hosted by Jeremy Hsieh.
100 Years of the Alaska Native Sisterhood
The Alaska Native Sisterhood celebrated its 100th anniversary in October 2015. The Sisterhood began as an auxillary of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, which had been founded three years earlier in 1912. However, women’s organizations did exist in Southeast previous to the founding of the ANS, but many of them eventually organized under the Sisterhood, establishing their own camps.
It was an ANS member, Elizabeth Peratrovich, who famously admonished a territorial senator who spoke disparagingly of Alaska Natives. Peratrovich worked tirelessly to see Alaska’s Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 passed, nearly 20 years before the United States passed its own civil rights legislation.
Members of the ANS are also responsible for organizing and fundraising to establish Juneau’s Filipino Community Hall, which also celebrates its 100th anniversary in October.
The women of the Alaska Native Sisterhood have worked to advance conversations and action on issues such as racism, subsistence, land rights and education. In this forum, members Selina Everson, Freda Westman and Marie Olson discuss what the Sisterhood has achieved and plans for the future.
Moderator:
Jennifer Canfield
Panelists:
- Freda Westman
- Selena Everson
- Ethel Lund
How Toxics are Tainting the Subsistence Food Web, our Homes and our Bodies
From the bowhead whales harvested in Barrow to the fire resistant cushions in our living rooms, industrial chemicals linked to cancer and developmental problems have found their way to Alaska.
Panelists include: Pam Miller, a biologist and the executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Tony Stefani, a retired San Francisco Fire Department captain and founder of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, and Vi Waghiyi, from the Native village of Savoonga and ACAT’s coordinator for community-based research on St. Lawrence Island.
[Read more…] about How Toxics are Tainting the Subsistence Food Web, our Homes and our Bodies
The Raising of Alaska
Our brains develop the most during infancy. During that crucial stage, research has shown what happens – or what doesn’t – can ripple across a lifetime.
This Forum@360 features a discussion with early childhood experts from around Alaska. Lisa Phu hosts.
Panelists include economic analyst Jim Calvin with McDowell Group; Joy Lyon, Executive Director of Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC), Southeast; Patrick Sidmore, planner with the Alaska Mental Health Board and Steve SueWing, Dad and family advocate.