E.United Tribes of Bristol Bay

United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB) Interviewee: Lindsay Layland

1. How did this work come about? And why was it necessary?

The project is part of a larger organizational approach. There was a need for a purely

tribal voice to preserve the environment and resist the mining organizations. There was a need

for someone to give accurate, relevant information to people for policy development and

decision-making. The work that we do is to protect life and creation to and acknowledge that

women play a central role in the project – protecting the Indigenous way of life. Women are

involved at many levels in the project. All of our staff are female, which is five full-time women.

They play an important role and are committed to further work at the institutional and societal

levels. Women are the creators of life. Our work is aimed at keeping women safe and healthy.

2. To accomplish your work, how does your project draw upon the best of the what has been or is in your organization and community?

We work hard to partner with women and children’s shelters; women face difficult

situations and we work to connect them with other groups who can support them. We learn from

the wisdom of the elders and the young people in order to speak to and follow the culture and

tradition. Hundreds of women from the region have signed on to a letter to inform local and state

policy-makers of the strength, resilience, and importance of women’s participation in policy-

making.

3. (a) Why did you get involved and what makes you stay? (b) What is important about what you do and what do you love most about the work?

I got involved to help UTBB bring forward a voice that was needed for the people and is

critical to raising the importance of protecting the traditional way of life. I am personally

connected to the land, salmon, and waters and it really hits home for me. I was born in this

region. My future is here, and I want a place that is healthy for community members. What is

important about what I do is having a connection to the people. I go to the community and

listen, talk, share, and hear stories about the lives of the people, the elders. They speak of their

livelihood and how it depends on a healthy environment. I recall listening to a 75-year-old

woman talk passionately about catching fish as a child, like her grandchildren are doing today.

4. When your organization has been operating at its best what have been the best, most inspiring, and creative moments and accomplishments of your project?

The most inspiring moments have been when the people of Bristol Bay come together,

tracking and attending public hearings and giving comments about policy. It is inspiring to see

when they turn out in record numbers to tell policy makers they will not stand for the destruction

of their lands and waters. There have been important state-wide initiatives that UTBB has led

and supported. Our organization works to encourage people to participate in how to protect

their resources, and they come out in force.

5. (a) Thinking big, outside the circle/box, what is the dream of the organization (What might be)? (b) How might this come about and how would you communicate this dream to others?

The dream is to ensure tribal sovereignty for the tribes in the region and to prevent

violence against the earth and women. The dream is that the tribes are truly sovereign and able

to govern their own way of life; how they see fit. This would be amazing. To keep out major

development projects that work against the interests of the people. This will come about by

listening to our people in regard to what they want and their ability and willingness to effectively

communication it to policy makers

6. What do you appreciate most about those you work with and what do they appreciate about you?

I appreciate my boss, the staff that I work with, and other coalitions that are involved in

this work. I appreciate our executive director, Alannah Hurley, who as the ability to lead, write,

and recognize the importance of the voices of others. She is good and grounds the thoughts and

voices of those we work with. Her communication skills are excellent, and she has been a good

advocate for me. My co-workers see this in her and I as well. Peoples appreciate that I am doing

this work out of true passion and not for paycheck. I am driven by my commitment to what we

are doing.

7. (a). What do you feel are the most important strategies and practices of your project? (b). How do they serve to empower the community? (c). What has your community appreciated most about what you do?

Sharing knowledge of traditional practices, language, and wisdom, and having the ability

to have relationships and to understand and highlight nature based upon traditional knowledge.

Bringing in Yup’ik speakers, dancers and storytellers that can share narratives of overcoming

difficult challenges and adversity. In appreciation for the work we are doing, a woman came into

the office and gave a beautiful quilted piece that was hand sewn. This provided a positive image

of the traditional way of life – there was also an anti-mining image on it.

8 and 9. (a) What positive images do you and your organization envision for the future of your work and the people you serve? (b) What commitments do you and your organization have to make sure you are on the right path that will lead to positive changes in the organization and community?

We have to prepare people and educate them on public participation, so they know what

to say and how to respond to the threats against their lands and lives. We have an annual

traditional feast and the numbers of people attending is growing. At this event, we give updates

on the work we are doing and our efforts to get out the word. There are traditional foods served

at the feast and hundreds of different dishes from different villages. It is a very diverse and

intimate time. People come together to eat, share, and talk. It is a community-oriented time that

unifies all of us and there is a realization that we are all in it together.

The positive image presented is recognizing the sacred role that women play in life. We

want to bring an understanding to the importance of healthy Native women. We want to bring

this vision to the outside, across the state, and across the country to show the importance of

healthy Native women and communities. Our organization has a commitment to act on behalf of

member tribes, but we are guided by their vision; the people know what they want and we listen

to their tribal voices.

Applying the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle

I. Discovery: The Discovery phase is a search to understand the “best of what is” and “what has been.” It begins with a collaborative act of crafting appreciative interview questions and constructing an appreciative interview guide. Appreciative interview questions are written as affirmative probes into an organization’s positive core, in the topic areas selected. They are written to generate stories, to enrich the images and inner dialogue within the organization, and to bring the positive core more fully into focus.

The UTBB believed that Native perspectives would provide the insights, stories, and the

science that was necessary to provide a clear perspective on the detrimental effects that extractive

industries would have on the environment, and that Native women’s voices and contributions

represented the best of what is and has been:

There was a need for a purely tribal voice to preserve the environment and resist the mining organizations. There was a need for someone to give accurate, relevant information to people for policy development and decision-making. The work that we do is to protect life and creation and acknowledge that women play a central role in the project – protecting the Indigenous way of life.

Developing partnerships and creating connections are are critical elements in creating a

healthy, unified community. As noted earlier in this report (see p. 26 ), research on has

demonstrated that “ community cohesiveness, support, connectedness, and mutual trust, are

powerful protective factors against violence:

We work hard to partner with women and children’s shelters; women face difficult situations and we work to connect them with other groups who can support them. We learn from the wisdom of the elders and the young people in order to speak to and follow culture and tradition

Another important protective factor from violence that is generated from community

connectedness is a “willingness to intervene for the common good:

The most inspiring moments have been when the people of Bristol Bay come together, tracking and attending public hearings and giving comments about policy. It is inspiring to see when they turn out in record numbers to tell policy makers they will not stand for the destruction of their lands and waters.

II. Dream: The Dream phase is an energizing exploration of “what might be”: a time for people to explore their hopes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, their organization, and the world at large. It is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. The intent of the Dream phase is to identify and spread generative, affirmative and hopeful images of the future

A key characteristic of the positive core of the dream is the ability to have hope for

positive change and what that may look like. UTBB regards a true tribal sovereignty to be a

means by which violence can be prevented and hopes of transformation realized:

To ensure tribal sovereignty for the tribes in the region and to prevent violence against the earth and women. The dream is that the tribes are truly sovereign and able to govern their own way of life and how they see fit. That would be amazing.

III. Design: The Design phase involves making choices about “what should be” within the organization or system. It is a conscious re-creation or transformation, through which such things as systems, structures, strategies, processes and images will become more fully aligned with the organization’s positive past (Discovery) and highest potential (Dream).

UTBB believes that the present systems is not adequate or highly relevant to the needs of

Native communities. There must be a “conscious re-creation” and implementation of the

cultural ways of knowing and living. This can be done by using the:

Knowledge of traditional practices, language, and wisdom, and having the ability to have relationships and to understand and highlight nature based upon traditional knowledge.[and] bringing in Yup’ik speakers, dancers and storytellers that can share narratives of overcoming difficult challenges and adversity.

IV. Destiny: The Destiny phase initiates a series of inspired actions that support ongoing learning and innovation—or “what will be.” The Destiny phase, however, focuses specifically on personal and organizational commitments and paths forward which result in changes in organizational systems, structure, processes or procedures.

It is clear that the UTBB are committed to continue to build community and strengthen

connections between members and villages. The project acknowledges and uses traditional

Native practices to bring communities together to share food, have conversations, build unity,

and to emphasize the important role that Native women have both locally and globally:

We have an annual traditional feast and the numbers of people attending is growing. At this event, we give updates on the work we are doing, and our efforts to get out the word. There are traditional foods served at the feast and hundreds of different dishes from different villages. It is a community-oriented time that unifies all of us and there is a realization that we are all in it together. The positive image presented is recognizing

the sacred role that women play in life. We want to bring an understanding the importance of healthy Native women. We want to bring this vision to the outside, across the state, and across the country to show the importance of healthy Native women and communities.