This summary was prepared by Seth Bader. See Stories Youth Education Programs Manager
Since the Spring of 2024, Kootznoowoo has prioritized supporting youth learning about and taking leadership in documenting and sharing about the Thayer Creek Hydroelectric Project. Kootznoowoo has been collaborating with See Stories, a nonprofit organization in Alaska, with the mission of building inclusive communities through film and story. For the past two years, See Stories has led classes in collaboration with Chatham School District and the University of Alaska Southeast.
Angoon’s youth have had the opportunity to gain college credit by travelling to Turn Point, where a landing site and road construction leading to Thayer Creek have begun, and documenting the area. In the Spring of 2024, the project focused on students’ documenting the memory of the area around Turn Point. Through photography and documentary film, students helped Tlingit filmmaker Connor Meyer tell the story of the Turn Point area. A short (~20 minute) student-assisted documentary will soon be completed documenting this history.
In the spring of 2025, Angoon youth focused on a project to document Culturally Modified Trees identified by USFS archaeologists, in the planned path of the landing site and road construction. Angoon High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) class collaborated with See Stories and UAS to document the Turn Point area, focusing on the CMTs, using remote sensing, LiDAR, and 3D photogrammetry. A unique aspect of this course included several Angoon students getting the opportunity to travel to Hawaii to attend the Kolea Institute, an earth-science focused collaborative engaging University and High Schools students in learning geocultural mapping skills. As a result of the entire program, Angoon youth created an interactive storymap of Turn Point and ~20 3D models of the CMTs. As students reflected through this work:
“Angoon currently relies strictly on diesel for power. It has been a dream for our community to have access to power that is less expensive and environmentally friendly. Finally, after years of planning, construction of the service roads leading to the hydro project will begin but the construction will threaten or destroy culturally modified trees (CMTs) at Turn point. CMTs are important because they were here during our ancestor’s time. They are a living connection to our ancestors.”
Students are taking pride in their work, and are finding confidence in sharing the story about the Thayer Creek Hydro project, and documenting CMTs to a wider audience. This Spring, four Angoon student representatives presented a poster about this work at the Regional AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) fair, hosted by SHI. Their presentation was selected by a panel of judges to be showcased at the AISES National Conference in Minneapolis.
During the first week of October, See Stories staff traveled with students from Angoon to Minneapolis to present this work at the National AISES Conference. On Thursday and Friday- it was sweaty palms and shaky voices, as students bravely gave a talk to a group of ~100 before presenting a research poster. Three Angoon students- Cody Pitka, Angel Jack, and Collins Mendenhall were awarded for their hard work- and took home a “Top High School Presentation” Award, selected amongst ~50 other presentations; a huge achievement and honor!!! Please join us in congratulating them!
As the Thayer Creek Hydro project continues, Kootznoowoo looks forward to supporting youth in their ongoing efforts to document and share about this historic project.
Gunalchéesh to See Stories, Chatham School District, Kootznoowoo Inc., Angoon Community Association, University of Alaska Southeast, and Sealaska Heritage Institute for helping to support these efforts.
Additional Resources
- Storymap (still a draft), showcasing an interactive map of Turn Point and 3D renderings of the CMTs
- Link to all the student created Culturally Modified Tree models
- A slideshow showcasing this work, presented by Seth Bader (See Stories Youth Programs Manager) for the 2025 Southeast Tribal Environmental Forum
- Slide presentation created by See Stories, UAS, and Angoon Youth for the AISES National Conference
- Angoon Youth’s Award Winning Poster from the National AISES Conference
- A short film, by Alyson Kenney, showing Angoon youth working on the CMT project
- A preview of a film, by Connor Meyer, about Turn Point
- Folder of Photos from 2024 of Angoon students working on Turn Point film project
- Folder of Photos from 2025 of Angoon students working on CMT project, including time in Hawaii at the Kolea Institute
- Folder of Photos from Angoon Students at National AISES Conference In Minneapolis
- Student Reflections (audio recordings) about their work on the CMTs, and about presenting their work at a National Conference
