The Alaska Conservation Foundation Award for Alaska Native Writers or Storytellers on the Environment
This award recognizes Native authors who write or use the spoken word to convey the importance of Alaska’s natural environment in their lives and culture. It recognizes writers and storytellers who use their literary prowess to reflect the need for sustaining Alaska’s ecosystems. Written or oral literary work that celebrates the deep connections between Alaska Native heritage and the environment should be submitted. Nominations in all genres are accepted, with a general limit of 7,000 words for essays or fiction. The award is accompanied by a cash prize to the recipient, and the winning piece may be published in a periodical. This award is made possible by a generous gift from Susan Cohn of New York.
No award was made in 2007 or 2008.
2006 Award Recipient
Dr. Phyllis Fast
Dr. Phyllis A. Fast, a Koyukon Athabascan artist originally from Anchorage, Alaska, is writer, educator and visual artist. Fast has earned degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Anchorage, and a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. Fast has taught as a member of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Native Studies program, and currently is a member of the English Department at University of Alaska Anchorage. In “Of Tadpoles and Spruce Pitch,” Dr. Fast takes the reader through her memories and experiences as an urban Native who is walking the complicated path between the fast paced professional world she lives in and the kinship relationship she feels to the world around her as an Alaskan native.
2005 Award Recipient
James Angaiak
A Yupik Native, James’ essay poignantly describes the connection between the Creator, nature, and an Elder’s connection to the land. “Get only what you need and teach your children respect for God, for family and others, and the land that they live in, so that the land can provide for you as long as it can.”
2004 Award Recipient
Larry Merculieff
Larry Merculieff is an Aleut, born and raised in the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. He serves as the coordinator of the Bering Sea Council of Elders and is a strong advocate for the protection of the Bering Sea ecosystem and the viability of the coastal and river cultures on which it is dependent. Larry is a co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples Council for Marine Mammals, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, the International Bering Sea Forum, and the Alaska Oceans Program. Larry’s advocacy work at the Federal level has helped pass legislation such as the 1994 Marine Mammal Protection Act amendments and creation of the Pribilof Island Marine Refuge.
Elders’ knowledge about the land and sea is the central theme of his work submitted for the Alaska Native Writers on the Environment Award. The two pieces, The Bering Sea and Me and The Heart of the Halibut: A Rite of Passage of an Aleut Boy, paint vivid pictures of the relationship between Alaska Natives and the Bering Sea. In addition to Bering Sea issues, Larry is been increasingly active on issues related to the impacts of climate change on traditional lifestyles.
