Keeping the Balance: Tlingit hunter fights for shellfish and tradition
Paul Molyneaux©National Fisherman
The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 undoubtedly saved some species from extinction. Others, including sea otters, were reintroduced to Southeast Alaska in the 1960s and have rebounded to the point that they are depleting wild stocks of shellfish that local communities depend on.
'This threat the sea otters pose extends far beyond accessing food,' says Heather Douville, a sea otter hunter from the Tlingit Tribe on Prince of Wales Island, in Alaska. 'It jeopardizes our ability to practice our culture, to pass down vital knowledge to future generations, and ultimately, it undermines our way of life. The health of our ecosystems and our traditions are intertwined.'
Together with her father, Michael, who drives the skiff, Douville upholds the millennia-old cultural practice of hunting sea otters. To offset the costs of hunting and processing, she started a small business, Coastal Fur and Leather, to convert the pelts to sellable items, because the MMPA prohibits the sale of whole pelts.
Douville has harvested hundreds of sea otters over the past two years.
'Lately, we've had commercial divers thanking us when they see us with the sea otters we've harvested on the dock,' she says. 'I don't think it's sustainable for me to hunt at this rate long-term as it's very costly, and because of that, there's little incentive for others to pursue hunting.'
With the Southeast Alaska sea otter population now at around 25,000, Douville hunts, in part, to reduce the otter population and restore local stocks of clams, geoduck, sea urchin, mussels, sea cucumber, abalone, scallops, crab, and octopus.
'There are approximately 35 hunters in the Southeast Alaska region,' she said. 'I don't see any change in the shellfish population since I've started hunting, and I'm unsure if our current hunting levels will have an impact. For the shellfish population to rebound, we need to achieve a balance, which includes getting more hunters out there.'
Besides embracing ancient Tlingit tradition, Douville is collecting traditional knowledge and data.
'I thought I might as well,' she said. 'I've found they really like clams.'
She adds that the largest sea otter she has harvested weighed 99 pounds and had about 20 pounds of geoducks in its stomach. Douville has cataloged the stomach contents, parasites, dental health, and other aspects of the physiology of numerous sea otters and has reams of data.
"This extends far beyond just shellfish and fur,' says Douville, pointing out that it is about maintaining a relationship more than 10,000 years old.
'Tlingit means People of the Tides,' she said. 'We have always hunted sea otters to keep them out of the intertidal zone and protect the resources we depend on. It's about keeping the balance.'
Paul Molyneaux is the boats and gear editor for National Fisherman magazine.
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Hamilton Spectator
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San Francisco Chronicle
26-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Who was Olga, the Alaska Native drawing devotion as Orthodoxy's new saint?
KWETHLUK, Alaska (AP) — 'St. Olga of Kwethluk, Matushka of All Alaska,' as she is officially known, was canonized on June 19 as the first female Orthodox saint from North America. Orthodoxy — the world's second-largest Christian communion -- gained a foothold in the present-day United States with the 18th and 19th century arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries to what was then the czarist territory of Alaska. While the Orthodox are a small minority within the Christian population in the state and the nation, Alaska is often considered a holy land for the now-independent Orthodox Church in America. Who is St. Olga of Kwethluk? Olga Michael was born in 1916 in Kwethluk, where she resided her entire life with her Yup'ik family and neighbors. The Yup'ik, like the Tlingit, Inupiat and Aleuts, are broadly called Alaska Natives. The town's name is derived from the Yup'ik term for 'dangerous river.' Her Yup'ik name was Arrsamquq; she was confirmed in the church under the name Olga. Like other villagers, her life followed the seasonal rhythms of subsistence living, preparing food at 'fish camps' for preservation and making clothing from animal skins. She married Nicolai Michael, who became an Orthodox priest. They had 13 children, five of whom died in childhood, a tragically familiar occurrence at a time when epidemics were common. Matushka, from the Russian for mother, is a term of respect for Orthodox priest's wives. 'Matushka Olga' fulfilled that role of spiritual mother — counseling women who had suffered abuse or griefs such as miscarriage — and she was widely admired for her compassion and piety, often providing other people with food and handmade clothing. Matushka Olga was also a midwife, delivering many children. And when she died of cancer on Nov. 8, 1979, villagers reported that unseasonably warm weather thawed the river ice, enabling people to travel by boat from other villages to her funeral, according to an official church biography. What does her family say? 'She was the most prominent adult in my life,' recalled Wiz Ruppert, who was raised in Matushka Olga's home from about three to 13, when her grandmother died. 'Without her, I think my life would have been so different.' Like other family members, Ruppert recalls Olga never raising her voice. 'If I had a hard time waking up, she would nudge me, and if I didn't wake up, she would gently carry me to a chair where breakfast was ready,' Ruppert recalled. She recalled the fresh bread her grandmother would make, how she patiently taught her how to prepare freshly caught fish, how she would sew fur boots with sealskin soles for others in the community. 'Those are really hard to work on,' Ruppert recalled. 'I would watch her chew the soles so they would be soft enough to sew.' How did devotion to St. Olga grow? After her death, devotion to Matushka Olga spread beyond Alaska to Orthodox faithful in distant states and countries. She's often depicted in unofficial icons framed by northern lights, with the words, 'God can create great beauty from complete desolation.' People began to report encounters with Matushka Olga in sacred dreams and visions, according to the church. One poignant account of a woman who had suffered childhood sexual abuse describes a profoundly healing experience during a prayerful encounter with Olga. In 2023, the groundswell of devotion eventually prompted the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America to approve her 'glorification' as a saint. What happens next? Kwethluk, with a population of about 800 and accessible only by boat or small plane, now anticipates receiving pilgrims. The Diocese of Alaska is in the early stages of working with the village on plans and fundraising for a new church, hospitality center and cultural center. 'We have gotten some pilgrims already, although not in force yet, but we expect them to come regularly after this summer,' said the Rev. Martin Nicolai, a retired priest attached to St. Nicholas Church. 'People who venerate her as a saint will want to come and pray beside her relics.' How are saints formally recognized? Orthodox have a similar process to Catholics in determining saints. It begins with grassroots devotion. Eventually petitions reach the highest authority — in Orthodoxy, a synod of bishops; in Catholicism, the pope — to make the determination. Sainthood becomes official with a service of canonization or glorification. There are multiple Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States and internationally. They generally recognize each other's saints. Why is Alaska considered an Orthodox holy land? Several Orthodox monks and martyrs with ties to Alaska are already recognized as saints by the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent offspring of the Russian Orthodox Church. Pilgrims come to Alaska to venerate their relics at their shrines. St. Olga is the third with Alaska Native heritage recognized by the Orthodox Church in America, following the 19th century St. Peter the Aleut and St. Yakov Netsvetov of Alaska, who was of Aleut and Russian heritage. Most of the state's Orthodox priests, serving about 80 parishes, are Alaska Natives. More than a dozen priests have come from Kwethluk. How are Orthodox churches organized? Eastern Orthodox churches trace their roots to the beginning of Christianity. Several are self-governing, with their leaders considered equals, and they share beliefs and sacraments while cooperating in charitable and other activities. In the United States, organizational lines are rooted in the national backgrounds of various ethnic groups, such as the Orthodox Church in America (with roots in Russian Orthodoxy) and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. But many U.S. churches now have members of varied ancestries, and cooperate through the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops.
