Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Project at the Tanana Chiefs Conference has promoted food sovereignty and security in the region for 31 years with the current Project Director serving for 17 years. Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) is a regional native nonprofit consortium of 37 Interior Alaska Tribes. This project aims to provide outreach primarily in the TCC region while dedicating 15% of effort to the other 192 Tribes in Alaska. Broadening outreach beyond Interior Alaska is needed, cost-effective, and commonplace, given the changes that COVID-19 has brought. Many of these villages are small, off-road, and remote. Food, especially fresh, healthy food, is very expensive. Climate change is disrupting traditional subsistence activities in many ways. This Project promotes Tribal food sovereignty and security throughout Alaska, with a particular focus on Interior Alaska Tribes that are part of the Tanana Chiefs Conference Tribal Consortium. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Advancing Health Equity Through Culture-Centered Dietary Interventions to Address Chronic Diseases, organized by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in collaboration with other Institutes and Offices at the National Institutes of Health and federal partners, 9/28-29/2023 Alaska Food and Farm Festival, Anchorage, Alaska, 11/10-12/23 Fundamentals of Safe Food Preservation, Preserving Alaska's Bounty Series, Virtual, 1/7/24-2/4/24 Ecofarm Conference, Monterey, CA, 1/18/24-1/20/24 Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Annual Civil Rights Training, Virtual, May 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Articles have been written forThe Council (Tanana Chiefs' Conference Newsletter) and The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer, the It Grows in Alaska blog (https://itgrowsinalaska.community.uaf.edu/). There were 50,000 views during this reporting period on the blog. Viewers came from Alaska communities of Anchorage, Palmer, Sitka, Juneau, Wasilla, Kotzebue, Fairbanks, Seward, Ketchikan, College, Valdez, Soldotna, Cordova, Delta Junction, Nome, Homer, Kenai, North Pole, Gustavus, Kodiak, Unalaska, Knik-Fairview, Nikiski, Eielson Air Force Base, Bethel, Wrangell, Haines, Craig, Petersburg, Skagway, Tok, Utqiagvik, Dillingham, Healy, Glennallen, and Hoonah. These are views from the whole blog. Many of the posts were written with funds from this grant or previous FRTEP awards. YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWtWLZ3yhSE&list=PLaq6r5nsLDdfGTX5DsZEEdg90iJCo_z5a). There were 31, 045 views on the PD's videos on YouTube. Many of these videos were funded by this grant project, past FRTEP jobs, and other grant projects. Information about workshops, grants, and other opportunities are regularly shared with Tanana Chiefs Conference's communications department, on their list serve, and on their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TananaChiefsConference/) with 13,000 followers. We gave workshops (virtual and in-person) as well as arranged for others to do workshops including Traditional Knowledge bearers (listed in Other Products) and spoke at a number of conferences--particularly with a focus on letting other Tribes know about the FRTE Program and what a great opportunity it is. Additionally, we have used a variety of other communication means to target subsets of this target audience, including Constant Contact. The Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program Website is also an important way that I disseminate information: www.uaf.edu/ces/tribes. This year quite a bit of work was put into redesigning this website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue all of the activities during this reporting period as well as to focus on finishing and delivering the MOOC focused on Growing your own food. We plan to create more YouTube videos and articles, as well as continue delivering workshops throughout the region. We are planning the second annual Tanana Chiefs Conference food security summit August 22 & 23, 2024 in Fairbanks and plan to build off of this summit to deliver a series to improve Traditional food access for urban indigenous people through leveraging additional funding.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This report covers the period since the last progress report: 6/9/2023-6/3/2024 This project provided education and outreach in the Tanana Chiefs Conference region and statewide to help Alaska Natives improve food security, resiliency, and economic diversity through gardening, farming, and subsistence activities. Because of the remote and widely dispersed audience, We use a variety of outreach methods to reach Tribes--particularly in Interior Alaska but also throughout the state. We have continued to use the funding from the US Department of Agriculture, Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, 2501 Program ($730,579) to expand Tribes Extension Outreach to Tribes statewide. In addition, the PD was the search committee chair to hire a new Tribes Extension Agent serving the Aleutian Pribilof Island Region with funding from the Sovereign Equity Fund. We are serving Tribes as a team through the Alaska Tribes Extension Program. We were able to offer 67 other workshops statewide with this funding. In addition, with the RuAL CAP subaward of this grant, a series of 9 webinars called the GROW series was delivered (all were recorded and posted on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RurALCAP/videos). Furthermore, a monthly newsletter was distributed to over 1000 people by RurAL CAP and the Alaska Tribes Extension Program sharing funding opportunities, training opportunities, and information relevant to Tribes and rural communities in the areas of food security and sovereignty. This grant has served as the foundation for expanding outreach to Tribes statewide through additional grant funds, partners, Tribes Extension agents, and Traditional knowledge holders. This year, we distributed seeds to 22 TCC villages for 440 gardeners (funded by BIA Agriculture funds). An estimated 67 people started gardening for the first time after receiving seeds. 81% of villages who received seeds said that the seed distribution project was very important to their community, noting that "this is a very refined, reliable program that my tribe appreciates each year. " and "Your company is doing so much to help our community." 59% of villages that requested seeds also requested we come to their community for a face-to-face workshop. Additional funding was leveraged to travel to Arctic Village, Fort Yukon, and Birch Creek for workshops from the 2501 Program to deliver workshops in the Tanana Chiefs Conference Region. As requested, we traveled to many rural communities to deliver education workshops around the topic of food security. We continued to partner with Traditional Knowledge holder Molly Cerridwen who traveled as an educator for some of our workshops. We conducted 15 workshops in five communities (Northway, Tetlin, Healy Lake, Ruby, Galena; 8 workshops with adults and 7 with youth in the schools). Surveys were distributed right after giving workshops to adults. We used these surveys to assess needs of the target audience, and make improvements to our workshops. These surveys were voluntary and as a result the number of completed surveys received is much lower than the number of workshop attendants. Here are results from the surveys we received. Please answer the following questions about what you learned in the workshop: Was this your first time doing the activity (s) taught in the workshop? (21, yes; 14, no) Do you plan to share the information you learned today with others? (34, yes; 1, no) Will the information you learned improve your self-sufficiency? (35, yes; 0, no) Do you feel confident in using the skills you learned on your own? (34, yes; 1, no) Do you plan to use the skills taught in the workshop within a year? (34, yes; 1, no) If you plan to use the skills taught in the workshop, please give an example. Hopefully my plants do well so I can cook with them. We will plant our herbs Ensure correct spacing is followed Check seed bags for zones 1-3 Eating what I grow and enjoy it Plant marigolds & calendula for pests Yes, help with trying new ways to start that's easier for shipping in remote (peat pellets vs soil) Wait till the last frost share with family I will use it at our headstart and personally Help others plant seeds to grow in the greenhouse Buying a moisture meter When to start and harvest Started seeds-will use them in my garden Canning food I want to pickle and pressure can my wild game and garden veggies Please share any thoughts about the workshop: The instructors did an awesome job Liked the drumming I liked transplanting parsley, thyme and sage plants It was very informational I loved all the knowledge on how to plant at certain times and seeds that are planted in correct zones Great information Loved the instructors, very knowledgeable, and helpful I loved the hands on I liked the resources shared and being able to start seeds Everything, the seed planting and talking about when to start certain seeds The handouts on how to preserve foods Liked the variety of seeds As seen through our survey results, participants are gaining knowledge and skills to feel more confident growing their own food. Furthermore, most participants said they plan to use the information they learned and share it with others. This knowledge will help tribes, and rural Alaskans, become more self-sufficient and promote growth on the issue of food security.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wrote articles for The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer and posted them on a blog called It Grows in Alaska (https://itgrowsinalaska.community.uaf.edu/) and submitted them to Tanana Chiefs Conference to be published in The Council Newsletter.
Bump up your Strawberry Production (7/9/2023)
More rhubarb means more ways to make use the prolific plant (8/13/2023)
How does your garden grow? Through the seasons in an Alaska garden (9/17/2023)
Adventures in Pre-season Seed starting (5/12/2024)
What should you grow this summer? (5/26/2024)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Alaska Food Policy Council Conference: Never, ever gardened before? Here are some things you should know, Anchorage, 11/11/2023
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Project at the Tanana Chiefs Conference has promoted food sovereignty and security in the region for 30 years with the current Project Director serving for 16years. Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) is a regional native nonprofit consortium of 37 Interior Alaska Tribes. This project aims to provide outreach primarily in the TCC region while dedicating 15% of effort to the other 192 Tribes in Alaska. Broadening outreach beyond Interior Alaska is needed, cost-effective, and commonplace, given the changes that COVID-19 has brought. Many of these villages are small, off-road, and remote. Food, especially fresh, healthy food, is very expensive. Climate change is disrupting traditional subsistence activities in many ways. This Project promotes Tribal food sovereignty and security throughout Alaska, with a particular focus on Interior Alaska Tribes that are part of the Tanana Chiefs Conference Tribal Consortium. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?5/23/2023, TCC Food Security Summit, Fairbanks, AK 2/6-2/8/23, Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Project Directors Meeting, Fort Lauderdale How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared in The Council (Tanana Chiefs' Conference Newsletter) and The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer, the It Grows in Alaska blog (https://itgrowsinalaska.community.uaf.edu/), and on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWtWLZ3yhSE&list=PLaq6r5nsLDdfGTX5DsZEEdg90iJCo_z5a). Information about workshops, grants, and other opportunities are regularly shared with Tanana Chiefs Conference's communications department, on their list serve, and on their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TananaChiefsConference/) with 12,000 followers. I gave workshops (virtual and in-person) as well as arranged for others to do workshops including Traditional Knowledge bearers (listed in Other Products) and spoke at a number of conferences--particularly with a focus on letting other Tribes know about the FRTE Program and what a great opportunity it is. Additionally, I have used a variety of other communication means to target subsets of this target audience, including Constant Contact. The Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program Website is also an important way that I disseminate information: www.uaf.edu/ces/tribes. This year quite a bit of work was put into redesigning this website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue all of the activities during this reporting period as well as to focus on developing a MOOC focused on Northern gardening and food security, work on more YouTube videos and articles, as well as continue delivering workshops throughout the region.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project provided education and outreach in the Tanana Chiefs Conference region and statewide to help Alaska Natives improve food security, resiliency, and economic diversity through gardening, farming, and subsistence activities. Because of the remote and widely dispersed audience, I use a variety of outreach methods to reach Tribes--particularly in Interior Alaska but also throughout the state. During this reporting period I partnered with Traditional Knowledge holder Molly Cerridwen who traveled throughout the region delivering workshops in the Tanana Chiefs Conference region with us as well as virtual workshops (with the 2501 program funding). When we plan workshops, we ask if there are any Traditional Knowledge holders we can work with in each community as well. Twenty-seven hands-on workshops were delivered by the PD, Nutrition Educator, Program Assistant, and Traditional Knowledge holders, often in partnership. I secured funding from the US Department of Agriculture, Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, 2501 Program $730,579) to expand Tribes Extension Outreach to Tribes statewide. This includes a subaward and will also fund travel and time for other Extension staff and faculty to serve Tribes statewide! I also secured continued funding for the Tribes Extension Program serving Interior Alaska as well as Tribes statewide (15% of effort). I applied for funding for a new Extension Agent in the Aleutian Pribilof Island Association region for FRTEP as well as to the Native American Agriculture fund and was awarded the funding for this position (although it has not been received yet). The Tanana Chiefs Conference FRTE program has served as the springboard for this additional programming and has allowed the PD to gain the knowledge and experience of working with Tribes in this capacity and to share that knowledge out with other Extension agents and partners serving Tribes. With this leveraged funding, a series of 12 webinars called the GROW series was delivered relevant to Tribes. Additionally the webinars were put on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@RurALCAP/videos With leveraged funding, a monthly newsletter was also delivered by RurAL CAP and the Alaska Tribes Extension Program with funding opportunities, training opportunities, and information relevant to Tribes and rural communities in the areas of food security and sovereignty. This was delivered to 600 recipients. One YouTube video was filmed and will be posted on "In the Alaska Garden with Heidi Rader". (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaq6r5nsLDdfGTX5DsZEEdg90iJCo_z5a). Three articles were published in The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and the It Grows in Alaska Blog (It Grows in Alaska (https://itgrowsinalaska.community.uaf.edu/) receives over 1,000 page views a month.) and submitted to The Council newsletter for publication. The PD co-chaired the Indigenous Foods Working Group as part of the Alaska Food Policy Council to help guide program activities. Tribes and individuals received timely and effective answers to questions related to food and agriculture; they receive technical assistance on food and agriculture projects The website for the Tribes Extension Program (https://www.uaf.edu/ces/districts/Tribes/) is updated regularly with timely information about programs and services. On an ongoing basis, we evaluated workshops and assessed needs of target audience. I served as Governing Board member of the Alaska Food Policy Council, co-chair of the Alaska Food Policy Council Indigenous Foods Working group, and planning committee member of the Alaska Food Policy Council conference planning working group. This is an important partnership that helps spread the word about the Alaska Tribes Extension Program, helps us address policy issues relevant to food sovereignty and security in the region, and helps us hear about important programs in the region. I helped plan and present at the first annual Tanana Chiefs Conference Food Security Summit held in Fairbanks in May 2023. I provided consultations by phone, email, office, and on-site for Tribes and individuals in the Tanana Chiefs Conference region on issues relating to Food Security, Youth, Family, and Community, Health, and Economic Development. Another important service of this Project is providing direct support. I take seed requests and order seeds to be shipped out to rural villages. This year, I distributed seeds to 23 TCC villages for 448 gardeners (funded by BIA Agriculture funds). 85% of villages who received seeds said that the seed distribution project was very important to their community. An estimated 65 people starting gardening for the first time after receiving seeds. 46% of villages also requested we come to their community for a face-to-face workshop. People said about the program, "This is a great resource, thank you!" and "Awesome service." ? Surveys were distributed right after giving workshops to adults. There are many more participants in workshops than surveys received. Here are results from the surveys we received. Knowledge change was quantified in five different areas for each workshop. The mean increased from about 2 to about 4 in these five areas after each workshop, on a scale of 1 (least knowledge) to 5 (most knowledge). We also asked participants the following questions: Was this your first time doing the activity (s) taught in the workshop? (24, yes; 14, no) Do you plan to share the information you learned today with others? (38, yes; 0, no) Will the information you learned improve your self-sufficiency? (37, yes; 1, no) Do you feel confident in using the skills you learned on your own? (34, yes; 3, no) Do you plan to use the skills taught in the workshop within a year? (38, yes; 0, no) If you plan to use the skills taught in the workshop, please give an example. Gardening workshops: Have one small and one medium garden down below my house. starters will really help. 1st year starting early Teach my grandkids Helps me grow my garden better Yes in greenhouse I'm going to teach the skills to my teenagers Plant on time. How to use the herbs. teach my boys to plant I have box gardens and will use them again this year. I learned about soil nutrients. I will start my own seeds with then expanding dirt things Loved creating the salad bowl I will teach my kids to grow Teach my daughter Food preservation workshops: Fun class learned lots! Make jam with my sisters Planting herbs at home fermenting vegetables and wild plants I will know how to use my carrots from my garden and how to preserve them Use sugar so the jarred food doesn't get moldy and try your best I would probably do this again if we did and someone came here About the workshops, participants said, I liked the hands on experience I loved it Everything went well w/ a good crowd and thank you very much Very helpful. Would like to see more workshops Its fun everything was simple and fun I got a lot of good information, instructors were very helpful with sharing information. Would love to have them back sometime and more people show up.
Publications
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