Tlingit & Haida’s Alaska Youth Stewards (AYS) program is more than offering kids a summer job; it’s about raising the next generation of community and cultural leaders.

For the second year, AYS crews from Angoon, Hoonah, Kake and Prince of Wales Island came together for an all-crew training, this time in Glacier Bay. The week-long training gives the youth a chance to build camaraderie with their peers.

“It makes it easier to connect with people our age and explore different communities and see what they do,” said Angoon crew member Nadine Demmert.

Josiah Jackson from Kake, Alaska is going into his fourth year with the program. “You’re building relationships, you’re building trust and respect. It also helps you figure out what the community needs, and how you can improve it more often,” he said.

The youth also get the chance to job shadow staff from the U.S. National Park Service.

“It’s a good chance to see what kind of job opportunities are around where the students and youth can stay nearby, stay local which is a big goal of Alaska Youth Stewards’ workforce development so they can stay in their backyard and stay in their homeland,” said Josh Orem with the Angoon crew.

Youth learned about working in archaeology, built an accessible trail through the Glacier Bay campground, identified trees for cultural use, and learned about park interpretation and the importance of maps and signage.

In one of the more unique job shadowing opportunities, the youth used hydrogen peroxide to scrub algae off of Snow, the humpback whale skeleton on display near the visitor center.

“It’s kind of like being giant dentists I think,” Josh joked.  “This is one of the many varied jobs you don’t think about behind the scenes, keeping the bones of the humpback whale clean for the many tourists and visitors that come through.”

In the Glacier Bay campground, they used pulaskis to dig through the moss and dirt to outline the trail, then placed logs and filled the area with gravel. Down the trail, teens paired up, using log tongs to remove heavy sections of downed trees from the campground.

Trail building is another important skill all youth will use during their summer with AYS.

“In Kake we have a bunch of different trails, and the youth are responsible for taking care of those trails for folks who are trying to get out to recreate, Elders who need a clean path,” said Kake crew leader Eloise Peabbles. “We’re using our young labor in one way of stewarding the land and the recreation access around us.”

Eloise is going into her fourth year with the program and has seen the difference AYS can make in the youth’s lives.

“I’ve been able to see the growth of the students and the leaders they’re becoming, both in their communities and out in the forest. It’s a gift to see their growth,” she said.

Nadine said being a part of the Angoon crew has helped her come out of her shell over the past three years.

While all of the youth get the same training, the projects they work on over the summer are tailored to their communities. Nadine said one way her crew gives back is by proxy fishing for Elders.

“It’s my favorite trip. We go out to Basket Bay and bring out a big seine net and we bring in all of the fish,” Nadine said.

AYS allows teens to be active in their villages, working to steward their homelands and giving them the training they’ll need if they want a career that will keep them in their community.

Gunalchéesh, Háw’aa to our partners!