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Bridging Miles and Cultures With Alaska Tribal Training Program
Thoughts about distance learning conjure-up notions of miles and miles separating teachers from students.
That's all well and good. But the issues, and the challenges, really
get interesting when it's not just geographical distances that must be
successfully spanned, but also different cultures. 
That's the case in an ongoing initiative teaming scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) with Tribal Governments and leaders in Alaska and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Tribal Governments bring to the table a wealth of familiarity and understanding of the natural resources and environment. Many are committed to maintaining and enhancing the self-sufficiency of their villages, they seek to build on their existing stewardship and monitoring of fish and wildlife, and they yearn to expand the employment opportunities their people have available in effectively managing their resources. Theirs is a body of knowledge they accumulate over the decades, centuries even, and it's something each generation takes pride in passing down to the next.
Some might call it a version of “street smarts.” And when it comes to protecting and managing their marine and fisheries resources, few question that they have plenty of them.
What they often don't have, however, is that piece of parchment on the wall. That certificate, or degree or diploma symbolizing their having officially acquired that body of knowledge through an accredited institution of higher education.
And that's the issue at the heart of the Tribal Traditional Natural Resource Education initiative that began some seven years ago in the Chugach Region of Southcentral Alaska , from the Copper River Delta to Kachemak Bay. With the help of a tribal nonprofit group, the Chugach Regional Resoources Commission (CRRC), and with initial funding from the Administration for Native Americans and recent support from NOAA, several Tribes have joined together to take on natural resources and environmental issues of concern to them all.
Their shared goal is to combine their own traditional ecological knowledge
and know-how with the kinds of rigorous science practiced throughout the
U.S. to effectively manage marine and coastal fisheries and other resources. 
CRRC is comprised of seven member Tribes:
- the Tatitlek Village Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) Council;
- the Chenaga Bay IRA Council;
- the Nanwalek IRA Council,
- the Port Graham Village Council,
- the Native Village of Eyak,
- the Valdez Native Tribe; and
- the Qutekcak Native Tribe.
The tribes have developed programs addressing environmental and natural resources issues, and they are eager to expand education and capacity building efforts so they can become more meaningfully involved in fish and wildlife management, research, and monitoring. In the Chugach Region, several of the Tribes, for instance, have developed fisheries research, monitoring, and enhancement projects. The Tatitlek Council is working in Billy's Hole on red salmon and working in Boulder Bay, along with the Solomon Gulch Hatchery in Valdez, to try to enhance the Coho salmon run. The Nanwalek IRA Council is conducting enhancement efforts on red salmon in Lower Cook Inlet, and the Native Village of Eyak is doing fisheries research and monitoring on the Copper River.
But then again, there's the issue of the formal degrees and certifications. Or, better said, the lack of those formal credentials.
“The fundamental challenge that we face,” says Tatitlek Village Chief Gary Kompkoff, “is that western science in many ways doesn't really respect and understand the traditional knowledge that the tribes and fishers have.” Kompkoff tells of times when scientists studying the impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill would forego opportunities to learn from Tribes, instead opting to spend thousands of dollars to gain insights that the Tribes literally have at their finger tips.
“We don't have the certificates or the diplomas that they have,” he elaborates. “They will spend thousands and thousands of dollars, where as if they had just come to us and asked us..”
To Kompkoff and others working on the project, the challenges of successfully mounting those cross-cultural issues are just that — challenges to be overcome — and not, in the end absolute obstacles.
“If we get off on the right foot, I don't think it will be insurmountable,” Kompkoff says of the tribes' efforts to overcome those hurdles. “We've been working with the federal agencies for quite a time, and I certainly think it's do-able.”
The kinds of research and management educational opportunities available
to the Tribes and their members vary:
- Federal Subsistence Board-funded research projects related to subsistence;
- Tribal wildlife management grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
- Ecosystem monitoring programs funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council;
- Programs under the North Pacific Research Board;
- Collaborative research programs under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Migratory Bird Act; and
- Federal and state agency projects involving Tribes' traditional use areas.
The approach being taken seeks to address the Tribes' needs in ways that allow participating students to transfer credits to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, continuing on to getting a Bachelors degree if they wish. Kompkoff says he is optimistic with the progress the program has been making in this regard.
Thinking about the program's activities and successes so far, Kompkoff is optimistic but also philosophical. “Our job isn't done until we've taught our children not only what our parents and grandparents taught us,” he says, “but also what we've managed to learn along the way.
“The world is always changing. Sometimes our culture even changes with it. But our values, our basic traditional values, will always remain the same. Always.”
