Published Apr 7, 2023

The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced today (March 28, 2023) that the Kuskokwim Consortium Library is among 30 finalists for the 2023 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The Kuskokwim Consortium Library is the only institution in Alaska to be selected as a finalist for this award.

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate significant impact in their communities. For more than 25 years, the award has honored institutions that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities.

Published Apr 6, 2023 by Alena Naiden

“Siku” means sea ice in the Siberian Yupik language. But about a hundred other Yupik words describe different types of sea ice, including icebergs, floating pressure ice ridges, solid ice safe for travel — and “pequ,” which is “an unsuitable area in ice field where the current causes ice to heave up or break up,” Vera Metcalf said.

Metcalf, executive director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission, spoke at the Arctic Encounter Symposium last week about how critical sea ice is for her community of St. Lawrence Island. During a panel hosted by the Study of Environmental Arctic Change, Indigenous people, hunters, scientists, artists and policymakers shared their perspectives on what diminishing ice means for biodiversity, the economy, food security and travel safety for residents.