Southeast Alaska is known for its close-knit communities. Organized villages, fishing towns, beloved neighborhoods, remote islands, and Alaska’s capital city create a region distinct from the rest of the state, country, even world. At SEACC, advocating for these communities, cultures, and ways of life is literally part of our mission. Yet, as with countless others, we were cut off from our Southeast Alaska communities and one another for more than two years.
But beginning in spring 2022, the SEACC team — some old, many new — started traveling again. We hopped ferries and seaplanes to commercial airliners and catamarans to get back into Southeast communities. Our travel season kicked off by holding a town hall and coffeeshop hours in Ketchikan, followed in quick succession with trips to Prince of Wales, Petersburg, and Wrangell.
Armed with our event agendas, factsheets, free tide books and Ravencall issues, and some gear for sale, we were finally seeing our supporters — current and prospective — in person again.
In Juneau, we reinstated our summer bonfire series, meeting and snacking together in places like the Yéil/Raven Shelter at Auke Rec and Sandy Beach. In Haines, a group of SEACCers camped in the rain to talk with Southeast Alaska State Fair-goers while another set jetted back to Ketchikan for Blueberry Fest. We talked with Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the Little Norway Festival, Senator Jesse Kiehl in the Chilkat Valley, and citizens of Angoon following an organized landfill cleanup.
Now we are finally — though often from behind a mask — physically talking with Indigenous community leaders as well as fishermen, hunters, scientists, small saw-millers, hikers, paddlers, business owners, and straight-up residents of Southeast about issues important to them.
Sometimes the best way to tell the story of a summer’s worth of travel and time spent in the community is not through words, but images. Here’s what the 2022 SEACC summer looked like.
Lauren Cusimano is SEACC’s Communications Lead
