The oral histories of 24 elders in the Koyukon region of western Interior Alaska are now available for use by researchers, educators and the public. The University of Alaska Oral History Program has made it possible for internet users to hear the voices of elders on their home or office computers. Dr. William Schneider, Curator of Oral History at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Rasmuson Library, said "The elders and professional researchers cooperated at many levels so that these stories could live on and be shared with a wider audience.?
The project began in 1995 when a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist stationed in Galena, Mike Spindler, decided to investigate traditional knowledge as part of a wildlife study to determine why the white-fronted goose population had declined along the Koyukuk. Spindler asked elders to recall and describe goose abundance and habitat conditions, information which was not available from other sources because no formal waterfowl studies had occurred in the area before the 1950s. Spindler later expanded the project by interviewing elders who were known as subsistence experts in each of the villages along the lower Koyukuk and middle Yukon Rivers. Between 1995 and 2003, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff interviewed these elders about their subsistence use of wildlife and fish species using a standardized questionnaire, but the elders had more to offer: "Most of the elders really wanted to share their stories. This program has developed into a model of how people can work together to combine western science and traditional knowledge to better our understanding of subsistence," said Spindler.
Happily, the project also coincided with a need for locally-originated programming at the regional public radio station, KIYU, in Galena. Working together, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and KIYU used the 24 elders? interviews to produce 371 episodes of Raven's Story, a continuing series of short stories tailor-made to air on KIYU and several other public radio stations in Alaska. Ravens Story documents elders? stories, observations, and experiences relating to wildlife, fish and subsistence in the Koyukon Region. KIYU General Manager Shadow Steel lauded the program: "Its truly priceless. Ravens Story is an invaluable resource for KIYU, and all Community Radio of Alaska stations, in our efforts to keep Alaska Native stories and knowledge alive and on the airwaves.?
Schneider's Oral History Collections staff recently cooperated with KIYU public radio and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete the final stage of the project to archive the original tapes and provide for Internet distribution of the sound recordings. Schneider said "Oral history projects often just end when the tape recorder is shut off. We don't want oral history tapes just to sit on a shelf and deteriorate. Raven's Story found a way to extend the elders accounts. Thanks to this collaborative effort initiated by the Fish and Wildlife Service, we now can preserve these accounts and make them accessible in ways that easily reach folks where they live and work.? To hear the Raven's Story interviews, simply go to the UAF Rasmuson Library's ?project jukebox? website http://www.uaf.edu/library/jukebox and select "Projects Currently Online.? Copies of the recordings are also available at the Alaska and Polar Regions Department, Elmer Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For assistance on internet access, contact Marla Statscewich at (907) 474-6672, and for copies contact Robyn Russell at (907) 474-6773.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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