| AWEN is a program of
the National Wildlife Federation. NWF is commited
to empowering women and help them become more effective
leaders in their own communities, and on the state and
national level as well.
AWEN has eleven field
offices nationwide, including the Alaska Field Office.
In March 2003 Chignik Tribal
Council participated in the AWEN Bi-Annual Conference
regarding Cross-Cultural Communication. After the
conference, AWEN contacted the community participants,
including Jeanette Carlson and Debbie Daugherty of
Chignik Bay, to get their opinions on the conference and
to discuss ideas for future collaborative efforts. It
was from this conversation, Jeanette and Debbie
articulated their interest in bringing The Alaska
Women’s Environmental Network (AWEN) to their community
to help them develop better communication internally and
regionally so they can be more proactive and better
respond to environmental threats. AWEN held two
in-person planning meetings to identify regional
community needs, and develop a working agenda for a
Community Visioning gathering that included the
surrounding villages of Chignik Lake, Chignik Lagoon,
Perryville, Port Heiden, Egegik, Ugashik and Pilot
Point. The planning meetings were coordinated by the
Rural Outreach Coordinator and the AWEN Manager during
Alaska Native Health Board and Alaska Forum on the
Environment statewide conferences. Many
representatives were in Anchorage for these conferences.
The overall objective
of the meeting was to identify the shared values that
define the way of life in these communities and how they
connect to one another. This involves, identifying
concerns and challenges that individual communities, and
the area as a whole, will face in the next 1-3 years,
identifying current and future projects planned for the
area, and the environmental and economic impacts of
those projects lifestyle and community values. The
group produced a lengthy list of shared likes, dislikes
and historical values.
Once the participants
agreed on their priority values and the history of the
value, there was a brief discussion regarding the
relationship values have in the decision making process.
Values can be the criteria for decision making on issues
and projects that affect the life of the people in the
community. This discussion set the framework to
begin reviewing current and potential development
projects throughout the region. Each participant
was asked to update the group on the various projects
they were working on or in the process of developing.
Chignik Bay - Current
and Future Projects
Solid Waste Management
Plan, Developing Policy and Procedures for the Tribal
Council, Creating a comprehensive community plan
Sub-Regional Clinic, Road Development, Emergency
Response Plans to address safety and hazardous waste
issues, Developing a Wetlands Protecting Plan,
Conducting a Hazwopper Training, EMT Training, CDL and
Highway Equipment Trainings, Completing the Boat Harbor
and Dock, building a Tribally Operated Garage and Shop
for vehicles.
The goal of the
community visioning was to allow for the communities to
begin communicating. AWEN was able to provide for
the beginning of a long-term process that would ideally
evolve into a much more structured and continual means
for the neighboring communities to coordinate projects,
discuss future development and to collectively review
potential immpacts to their values. |
