Alaska Ethnobotany

Alaska Ethnobotany in the Movies

[This page is part of the course EBOT 100/ ANTH 102, Introduction to Ethnobotany]

On this page, you can find a compilation of additional resources containing information about the use of plants in different regions of Alaska. Watching the videos and consulting the websites is not required, but you should at least skim the list and see if you can find information that is relevant for one of your project plants.

Scene from Day in Our Bay

Videos:

DAY IN OUR BAY: Voices and Views from Bristol Bay based on a community-based digital storytelling project.

STORE OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC):

Berry Fruit Leather. Metlakatla. 

Fireweed Tea (Haas). Metlakatla.

Cunulliq. POINT HOPE! (sour dock)

Berry Spritzer: Traditional Foods, Contemporary Chef Southcentral Alaska.

Akutan Berry Compote. Aleutians.

TUNDRA TO TABLE and IÑUPIAT TRADITIONS by Farthest North Films (Sarah Betcher).

Tundra to Table: Quagciq (Sourdock) and Naunrat (Salmonberry) Akutaq.

Tundra to Table: Overnight Naunrat (Salmonberry) Oatmeal.

Tundra to Table: Ciilaaq (Fireweed) Fried Rice.

Tundra to Table: Quagciq (Sourdock) Salad. [!! Sourdock contains oxalic acid; before copying the recipe, read up on potential health risks of a high intake of oxalic acid].

Tundra to Table: Quagciq (Sourdock) Smoothie. Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher. [!! Sourdock contains oxalic acid; before copying the recipe, read up on potential health risks of a high intake of oxalic acid]

Sourdock: Iñupiat Traditions. Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher.

Berries: Iñupiat Traditions. Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher.

Wood: Iñupiat Traditions. Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher.

Stinkweed: Iñupiat Traditions. Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher.

Devil’s Club: Tlingit Traditions of Helen Watkins. UA Museum of the North; Farthest North Films. Film by Sarah Betcher.

Dick, Helen. The Dena’ina Way of Making a Birch Bark Basket. National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior

Websites:

Berry picking. Berry camp. Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Cultural Atlases, Naparyarmiut Cultural Atlas:

Edible and useful plants of Scammon Bay. Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Marshall Cultural Atlas.

Edible and useful plants of Hooper Bay. Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Marshall Cultural Atlas.

Mouse food. Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Marshall Cultural Atlas.

Check out the long list of of film clips on the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska channel. Many of the short films are directly related to plants.

Announcement of public access to KYUK’s archive

Access KYUK’s ‘World’s largest collection of Yup’ik and Cup’ik videos’ here. (You’ll need to search for the recordings, enter ‘KYUK’).

YOU KNOW OF A RESOURCES THAT SHOULD BE LISTED HERE – PLEASE SHARE!