Igiugig Village

This project will support the use of conservation easements to permanently protect the subsistence and conservation values of approximately 80,000 acres owned by Igiugig Native Corporation. The acres identified for protection are of both subsistence and cultural significance to the Tribe.

Project Purpose This project retains cultural knowledge and empowers youth with life skills and Yup'ik language classes that increase the sustainability of life in Igiugig Village. The ultimate goal of this project is to revitalize Lake Iliamna Yup’ik by growing new, young speakers, learning from elders, and creating language materials that capture unwritten history, cultural values, and traditional stories.

This project will create a draft caribou monitoring plan to develop a monitoring program, retaining local expertise to enhance the co-management capacity of Igiugig Village with the National Park Service. By leveraging traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) alongside scientific data, this effort will increase our control over crucial decision-making processes.

This project retains cultural knowledge and empowers youth with life skills through flight training, Yup'ik language classes, and a culture camp. It also increases the sustainability of life in Igiugig by connecting youth to specialized land-based knowledge from elders and the subsistence lifestyle which is at risk of being lost.

The ultimate purpose of this project is to 1) increase access to fresh produce and healthy foods in our remote Alaskan village, 2) utilize traditional wild food sources, and 3) improve food security and create systemic change in our Native village, which is currently dependent on airplane grocery suppliers in distant cities.