The passion at the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) retreat in Sitka was palpable; passion for community, collaboration and conservation.
The retreat brought together more than 100 people from agencies around the state, from federal and tribal partners to non-profit and community-based organizations. Spruce Root, an Indigenous-led Community Development Financial Institution, provides support and coordination for the Sustainable Southeast Partnership.
“We envision a future in which seven generations from now continue to exist in this place and that the work we do today is setting the stage for that to be possible,” said Spruce Root Executive Director Alana Peterson.
Over the course of the three-day retreat, participants broke into groups to discuss projects like landslide mitigation, food security, funding challenges and healing. The event brought a wide variety of people from different backgrounds together to not only share their expertise but also learn how traditional ecological knowledge plays a role in research.
“The clans that have resided here, they have stories and oral histories that have so much good, important information that we need to learn from to inform the decisions we’re making,” said Peterson. “Let’s be informed by the people who have been here the longest, who know the most, who have the best working knowledge of this place and how we should operate in it.”
For Tlingit & Haida’s Environmental team, the retreat is a chance to hear from community members about their concerns about the changing landscape.
“Whether they’re worried about geohazards, landslides and coastal erosion, or extreme weather events, we’re getting different perspectives on how to address the big issue of climate change.”
Each morning the retreat opened with a portion of a story told by SSP Program Director Marina Anderson, who then shared the friendship song at the end of the day.
The storytelling is an important component of the retreat that keeps the work grounded on the values of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people who call Southeast Alaska home.
Peterson said it’s those same traditional values that should guide the ways we use and protect the land.
“Someone told a story about how we often say we take care of the land but the truth is the land takes care of us. What we really all want in this network is for that to continue to be true for our grandchildren and our grandchildren’s grandchildren,” she said.
The mission of addressing environmental and economic challenges comes through building relationships. The retreat provided the network the opportunity to drive initiatives they’ll use to shape the future for all Alaskans.