ECCI
CLARA
LEFT :
MELISSA
Clara Barton with Susan Malutin at Dig Afognak culture camp. RIGHT: Melissa Silugngataanit’sqaq Borton.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2018 ,
Melissa Silugngataanit’sqaq Borton and Clara Barton met at a summer camp at Dig Afognak, where tribal members, youth, and visitors can be immersed in the Alutiiq culture. The women struck up a friendship. Melissa, who now works as Indigenous Advancement Director at First Alaskans Institute, was, at the time, the Tribal Administrator for the Native Village of Afognak and camp director. Clara, who works for the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Russian Jack Elementary School, attended camp as a participant in the Forum-sponsored Educator Cross-Cultural Immersion program. They recently reflected on the unexpected connections they discovered through the experience.
CLARA: Two summers ago, I was deeply honored to have the opportunity to go to an Alutiiq language and immersion camp at Dig Afognak. I remember, as the weeks led up to camp, I was nervous as could be. As a Deaf person going to “their” language and music immersion camp, I wasn’t sure how I would fit in and I also wanted to be able to show respect to their culture and to their people.
“Something so simple, to make sure we were communicating in a respectful way with her, made all of the difference.” -- Melissa
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A L A S K A H U M A N I T I E S F O R U M S U M M E R 2020
MELISSA: In the summer of 2018, I received a call from the
Alaska Humanities Forum regarding a unique opportunity to host a Deaf teacher from Anchorage at camp. Remote camps that are situated far from towns and cities have limited modern conveniences; evaluating risk when bringing in new people is always a concern. However, Dig Afognak is known for being an inclusive camp, celebrating our people, educating our youth, and striving towards an equitable future for Alaska Native youth. We welcomed Clara with open arms and worked through the challenges to ensure she would be safe and benefit from the experience. To be honest, there was a bit of apprehension from all of the staff in having Clara join us, mostly because the camp is on an active bear trail and our method of identifying danger is through sound. Our primary goal is keeping campers safe—if they can’t hear the horn when there’s a bear in the area that could put them in danger. Thankfully, Clara was accompanied by an interpreter and we made sure they were together when necessary.
