Stephanie Hamar and Gregory Stewart

00:00 And so yeah, I made Gregory go first with the rules. So Stephanie, why don't you go ahead and not start off introducing yourself.

00:11 I am Stephanie hammar. I am 33 years old. I am a mother of a two-year-old. I live in Constanta Alaska. It's a small hide a village in Southeast Alaska an island. And my job is I am a victim advocate for our tribal organization, and I'd like to go out and be a part of the land much as possible and can just kind of explore my local space.

00:53 Through please. I am Craig Stewart. I am 27, October 11th, and I am in Anchorage Alaska. I am a grant writer and administrative manager for the Alaska native Heritage Center. So I mostly write Grant proposals to try to get money to different programs that we do here. That range from education, social services, and art projects. Basically. I also tried going outside and spending my time Outdoors, the best of my ability, although sometimes I can be challenging.

01:34 And then whoever wants to jump in and start off asking the first question.

01:41 Okay, I lost the chat. So it makes

01:54 I live in a tiny village where they're about 50 or 60 people and I've heard everybody talk.

02:07 I'm related to. So, I just kind of Thunder, be fun to see what people outside of the village sound like, and what might be out there. Just kind of wanted to get involved in listening to someone who I haven't heard talk before.

02:33 And then go ahead and ask I'm laying back to Gregory there if you don't mind. Stephanie.

02:38 Daria.

02:41 Looking for my.

02:44 My question here, okay.

02:48 Why did you want to do this interview today?

02:52 So I have a lot of family members who have diverse political opinions and I often engage in conversations with them about things that we differ upon. And so I enjoy the act of really engaging in discussions. That challenged me to take on New Perspectives. And so, in through this interview, I was hoping to learn a bit more about someone with a different perspective and engage in a conversation to explore those differences.

03:24 Awesome. And Stephanie. I apologize in advance. This is going to be a lot of texts for your phone, but we will just see how it goes and I figure it out from there.

03:38 Yeah, I just pulled up the thing. You emailed me on my other phone.

03:42 I should be okay.

03:49 So great. Why don't you go ahead and go first? Cuz that's the order you're reading. The other person's bio. And Stephanie's is first so we'll have you take it off.

04:00 Sure. Do you want to read the question in total there? Or just read her bio out loud. I just go ahead and read her bio for this one exception to the rule to Stephanie's bio. Is that she is a woman of Haida / Scandinavian ancestry who is often invisible to Outsiders? Because she doesn't look native enough. Her great-grandmother is one of about 10 remaining fluid speakers of her language and she speak but you can at what she can at home with her young daughter. She is she was raised in a logging camp and I see Bay Alaska and her parents grew up in a logging camp on Prince of Wales Island. The land of the part of her life in a big way, and citylife depresses her, but she loves some of the cool things that it produces. Any terms of what I might want to know more. I'm wondering about your experience growing up in a logging camp and sort of how lodging with a part of your commute.

05:05 Well, it was, It was kind of the backdrop of everything when I was a kid. My dad was he did every job that there was and I don't remember how he started out, that he was a teenager. I think when he started logging and then and then we moved up there, but mostly what was everything? And when I was a young kid, I got to like Drive the tobacco and stuff with my dad, which is really cool. So I guess like logging directly things that I would have learned about.

05:45 Taking care of myself and feeling confident in my abilities because I got to do a lot of stuff that kids normally don't get to do, but also we were the only people that live there during the winter. Everybody was season also, an office affected by myself and my brother in that, we usually didn't have anybody else around and then the seasonal kids would come in the summertime. It was a special situation. Was logging camps, don't have families, but the one that we were at allowed the families to come in the summer, so there was sometimes kids

06:24 And Stephanie, if you want to go ahead and read Gregory's bio.

06:35 Sorrow.

06:37 I kind of missed the question. I can read it in any direction, I read it like you were originally from New York. Originally from New York, where you grew up in an all-white town on Long Island about an hour outside of New York City. And as you grow up, you got into drugs and fallen into an alcoholic spiral in your college Years. And it. Just after you studied English and history, and underground, and small college town, where you began to analyze and understand social issues, from a liberal perspective. You studied publishing and journalism in grad, school and primarily focused on indigenous and environmental issues.

07:19 Answer. What is one thing in there that you'd like to know a little bit more about?

07:26 Yeah, I'm interested in. So you're in Alaska now, what, what brought you over? It? Seems so different from where you grew up. How is that happened? It is different. So I originally came to Alaska in 2018 as part of an internship that I discovered in grad school to work at the northern Alaska Environmental Center for summer. And so I spent two months there and then time I met my current girlfriend, who is originally from Anchorage, but she was going to school at NYU New York University. So we both return to New York City, continue to see each other, and we were both essentially at the end of our academic programs. And she said she wanted to move back to Anchorage and I had to Hitch my wagon to her as we drove cross-country and move to Anchorage and

08:26 For me, a part of it was wanting to leave New York City. I lived there for two years, and I think the urban environment was just a little bit too much for me. I wasn't enjoying feeling crowded all the time, and I wanted to live in a smaller community. And I also wanted to to come in and Gage on Alaskan issues a little bit more. As I previously had that. Let me get Fairbanks, but I didn't want to move back to Fairbanks. So, Andrew seems like a good option.

09:01 And I feel like we've been picking on Greg making him the first on everything to Stephanie. Why don't you start us off with the next question?

09:09 Sure, who has been the most influential person? Who's been the most influential person in your life. What did they teach you?

09:20 It's a challenging question is a lot of influential people in my life, but I have to pick my oldest. Brother is Jason. He has taught me a lot of things in my life, but I would say, one of the biggest lessons I've learned from him, is to maintain a good level of dedication to the things that you could be been. So kind of just sticking to the, you know, values that I've developed over time. I can continue to work through, you know, personal projects in professional project to like and just got to keep. Keep at it. It's kind of the way he would. Just give it your best effort as you go to the process of each new thing that you engage with, whatever your personal Endeavor or job or, you know, something in your life that's popped up.

10:16 And so who has been the most influential person in your life. What did they teach you?

10:22 I also had a hard time with this one because I might argue that some of the most influential people have been negative in a really awesome person who has a lot of. He's got a lot of self-discipline and he thinks a lot about things constantly. What's the best thing to do in each situation and he is regularly adjusting his behavior to

10:58 So what he's taught me is, I mean, he's been a great model for those things where I can do better and and not to worry too much if I'm not doing the best. But also

11:19 I mean, he is not me so many things about being self-sufficient and and yeah, just been good to people. I don't know.

11:40 What? What does being Alaskan mean to you? Personally?

11:52 Well, it means a few things. It means that I don't know. Are we supposed to get into it now? But when you say Alaskan, it makes me think of the Alaskan government because that's what they call it, or you like modern Alaska. So in that respect, rules and things that've, come down the line on us.

12:22 In Alaska over the years, but if we're just talking about the place and kind of ignoring word. It's just it's like about being connected to

12:34 I don't know who I am cuz I was I was always here and then my grandparents are always here. So.

12:42 So, whenever I'm confused or

12:45 Got to do with myself or I'm a question about anyting in my direction. The actual place helps me different ways to think about that. So I don't know what brings up a lot of things.

13:01 I forget how you said that question, exactly, but I wouldn't mind asking about you. What does it mean to you to be Alaskan?

13:12 As a transplanted, it's kind of funny. I feel like I'm not always Alaskan. I am not someone who has lived here forever and not been here a very long time ago. I moved here since 2019. But in that time instead of crafting, what I would call sort of them or I'll ask an identity that kind of picked up on some of the characteristics that a lot of Alaskan people like to highlighter or kind of embody in their activities, right? So I mean to me to be Alaskan is to really engage in a community that is big and spread out, but it's small and its population. And so to really be able to learn from one another about your past experiences and what has worked in this unique environment and how to best overcome unique challenges that are here and that I've experienced that not only working where I work now for the hair.

14:12 Grappling with immediate social issues, but also in just like all of my Endeavors here. I am seen some uniquely Alaskan, you know, activities and issues that I've been able to identify with. And a lot of that comes back to just being so spread out and having a unique climate of be able to enter hard to find elsewhere, stuff like that.

14:50 You want to read the next one?

14:55 Yeah, are we? So now we're on.

14:59 Could you briefly describe in your own words, your personal political value?

15:05 Yeah, so I would say my personal political political values align best with what's like terms. The progressive Democratic wing of the American politics. I've developed a political value system that's based upon trying to implement just systems that work for the betterment of the future Society to come. So trying to look and consider how to craft a world in which the yuno future. Inhabitants of American space are taken care of so that they have the ability to live a life. That is not

15:51 Yeah, catcher Metro to their well-being in terms of their health, or their economics, or their political stability, and these different things. And I think it's important that this is accomplished through clear transparent information structures and said, this is sort of my educational background is that like I learned a lot about publishing and how to use information through. The Spheres are just kind of developing transparency and just systems that work towards a more better future for the population of scum.

16:31 Good night.

16:43 Yeah, I'm still defining them. I can't concisely say it.

16:51 So I've been on the I've been on our Tribal Council here and I used to work for the city government might sound silly cuz they're only 50 people. But as far as politics go like when somebody says that word, I don't really know like left, right? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me cuz I don't follow it. You don't like outside of my own village, don't want to get involved, but I do think about it a lot. And you know what's best for?

17:21 For my own family and people around me and how it's some of the things that come in from the outside, the Village from the state, or the federal government, or whatever, how those things affect you. No, not really considering us cuz they're so small and I tend to kind of think that, you know, I don't really like that top down. So does will it feels like five down government stuff to us because we're not involved in it. We have to make a pretty serious effort to

17:53 I don't want to use the government the way that a citizen can make an impact on it. So I'm kind of resistant to politics in general, and I sort of idealized like social justice.

18:11 I guess.

18:13 Do you want to elaborate on that? And instead of how you idealize social justice? Like? What does it mean to idealize? Social justice for you?

18:23 It's kind of complicated because like I'm one hand, I don't want anybody getting hurt and I know that happens sometimes when folks take take things into their own hands, but

18:36 I don't like where we're going up in logging camps and in the village, we don't have like we don't have to lease or anybody to the help us if something goes wrong. So it's all up to the people who are here to help us help each other. And in their place is down south where I have. I've lived in places down south where you can't like walk on this part of the road cuz that's illegal or like you can't pick this fruit to because that's like,

19:04 Somewhere that's not public but it's not like Mark and it's so confusing. I don't know but like if you walk on the road, you're putting yourself in danger, but they like it that you can't do it because you might be putting other people in danger, blah blah, but then you know, it's complicated cuz I don't want people to get hurt as what I'm saying. So I don't really know, but it makes sense. But also, I don't like it.

19:51 You guys are just crushing it. There aren't any right or wrong answers. It said the whole idea is that it's an expert and what I'm saying cuz I assumed I was in a tiny village. My only talk to my family. I don't know if I make sense.

20:17 You want to read the next question?

20:20 Yeah, it looks like we're kind of off that. Are we off the script now? Looks like we got through the

20:32 So I was saying is off my phone. All right. What is the most pressing issue? Facing Alaska today? How do you think we should tackle it?

20:43 Well, I think it's sort of a two-fold issue. I would say that it's climate change, but that wrapped up in that climate change problem is the economic future of Alaska. As we are an entity which is tied to the oil and gas and fossil fuel development industry. So looking forward in terms of what do we do with the issue of climate change? The way in which is tied to our economic system. It's complicated it but it's not something. You can tackle as just a one-sided problem and that it needs to be a complex solution to the complex problem. Right? And I think it's a lot of different ways that we can approach the issue, but that the solution should probably come from people who live around the state seems like, you don't like, 20% of the population is like,

21:43 Straight all over the place into this tiny Villages. Those Villages probably know best how to manage their, you know internal systems, whether it's like the political system at the Society of the environmental system that they live in. I think one of the best way to do that is to provide economic support that helps them take time and create a plan together as a community. And then cut him, you know, merge, all of those different things to do a big plan for the state, but I think it's a lot more complicated than even, you know, a lot of people in Alaska who would be very upset. If you said that you were going to no longer engage in fossil-fuel development and that makes it really challenging.

22:31 What is the most pressing issue? Facing Alaska today? And how do you think we should talk with?

22:46 It's a big state.

22:49 You know, it's a lump, it all together.

22:55 That might be a thing.

22:58 You know that we did at like just that we get lunch together with everybody else in the state like the North and the South, it's so huge. I just can't

23:09 I can't see how we could ever address it all at once.

23:14 So, maybe just the fact that the people are, you know, they're so different from every place to and we've got alaskans that is, you know, got thousands of years of History here, and then we've got people who came here and everybody is

23:31 Human and totally deserve to be treated well, and listens to

23:43 So,

23:45 Yeah, I'm going to go with that. That might be the the biggest issue that I can think of is that there are so many of us so far apart, so different. And we need to all be served in a positive way and how we tackle it. I have no idea.

24:01 It's really complicated. What do you think is the most pressing issue facing like your community like this small town?

24:14 We will, I mean, we're just being kind of rubbed out there, a lot of people down here that are trying to protect their cultural remanence. And it's extremely challenging because you know, everything got wiped out and then we sort of, you know, our grandparents started to bring things back after it, became legal again and then coming in and trying to recreate something that we don't really have all the information on and at least for our village and community on the island where I live.

24:57 I think being erased is culturally, is probably our biggest struggle and the way that it seems like everybody's handling that it's just, we're trying to learn our languages and make our hearts and do everything that we know of to do that, to just kind of be

25:15 Be attached to our history.

25:37 Do is bring another question?

25:43 Do you ever feel trouble by people with the same beliefs as you afford sample? People from your own side of the aisle and how they communicate those beliefs to others.

25:54 Yes, art of. I will say that looking at like the community of environmentalists and the community of like, left-leaning political people. There are often like they don't take into account history as much as I think, I would like to see. I think a lot of people that I would kind of aligned myself with politically. They don't necessarily incorporate information that has brought us to where we are now, right by that. I mean, you know, they don't reckon with, you know, the centuries of history that have led America to be the entity that it is today. And the tools that I've actually been used to carry out a history and those tools all across the different spheres. But I mean, a lot of it comes down to language and the language that we used to describe different Endeavors our initiatives, or programs and

26:54 There have been so many bad initiatives and Endeavors in programs done by people who look and sound like me and maybe have similar political juice. They still engaged in this problematic history because there's no, there's no space to take a look at the language and really say that this might actually be doing a bad thing, even though we're trying to do a good thing. And it's, it's nuanced and complicated. So, yeah, they're definitely all the information that maybe they should or could, you know, obviously varies from person to person

27:37 Do you ever feel troubled by people with the same beliefs as you as in people from your own side of the aisle? And how they communicate this belief to others?

27:50 I don't have a lot of trouble with that cuz I don't know, very many people are some instances where, yeah, I have the same beliefs of someone and it seems like sometimes it comes out like that ruins the whole message and then if grumpy bandwagon, but so yeah, it's just, I just want to be attached to some of those girls.

28:41 Yeah, I think I made it. I think a lot of the tones of conversation are unnecessarily, you know, he did it challenge. Do you know you don't find a lot of progress like when you engage in conversation, that way, right? Yeah. It doesn't give people a chance to think. I mean, folks are angry. They're not thinking about anything. So,

29:19 So I'm going to kind of Break The Rules here a little bit, and go back to something. You guys were talking about earlier and break the rules. I mean, I'm going to weigh in on the conversation a little bit and give you guys something to chew on. And then encourage you guys to ask questions of each other about it, if it seems interesting, but Greg mentioned, you know, or oil and gas depending on stops. And Stephanie had mentioned, you know, being lumped together and everything. And I think that in terms of how we fund an awful, lot of things we are lumped together and it's tied. Not only the oil and gas, but I was blown away not long ago by an article. I read about how the revenue from Red Dog is declining and I had no idea that tribal governments around the state were so enormously dependent on the revenue. Sharing this coming like specifically from Red Dock. And so how do we know?

30:19 Hate the fact that, you know, we do have to collectively decide how to use a bunch of resources as a political unit. And even in, in terms of, you know, that both the estate that everybody and in terms of the various tribal organizations that are working on, that sort of thing. When all of these things are in particular, people's backyards and they have these big impacts and it's tied into, you know, Statewide and national wide issues. It seems like an enormously difficult problem to coordinate and you guys seem to be sort of coming at this from a really productive sort of perspective. And I just be really interested to get your take on, you know, who gets to make those decisions about resources and like both in terms of how we raise them. And then what we do with them,

31:07 Yeah, it's a death. Definitely a difficult question. I think that the state has a lot of power over but they're not alone in their decision-making capabilities of certain that you have the various native corporations and afn have some like Alaska Federation of natives. They have some element of advocacy and then trying to speak to this this complicated issue managing our resources in the conversation or discussion about how people feel towards you do maintaining or preserving the forest that are there. Some of the strategies that the community may have discussed in that regard.

32:03 Yeah. Yeah, we talked about this a lot because so my dad is my dad, the canoe Carver and he is one of like the only people alive that know how to do this. And then he started teaching himself, but specifically so protect the trees so that will have something to carve later and now because he can't, he can't find trees that are appropriate because they've logged them all as they need to be hundreds of years old and and they're just so he's going to end up having this ship something from somewhere else, which is just ridiculous.

32:45 But we talked about it a lot and and our native corporate, the kind of southeast Native Corporation and see Alaska made almost all of their income logging. And they just stopped logging last year or the year before in order to focus on on stuff. That's more beneficial to the people.

33:10 Which is awesome.

33:14 How did they come to that decision as like a corporation to decide to stop logging in?

33:26 I think the idea and since I wasn't really involved, I wasn't involved with the council at that time. I don't know all the details but it was a lead by example, sort of situation because the tribal governments are always kind of like I will conservation, take care of the land at that are at, but there we were logging everything, by example, kind of deal and

33:55 And it's good for like everything is good for something, but I'm also bad for something else, but we're at least until the next guy comes along. So I don't really know if there any answers there that for the for the oil topic, either. Because if you,

34:18 Stop.

34:20 Like cold turkey, like the login, have a bunch of people have jobs. They don't know what to do. They been specially trained to do this stuff and people like jobs. So most of the people need money to survive.

34:33 Should, I don't know.

34:44 I am trying to help the plants some of that job loss through tourism. Right? Which is like, maybe not really good, but it's better than pulling down 100 year old trees. But yeah, that's one way in which we've looked at the problem. Let's see if we can use tourism as another Avenue because it started making to generate some money coming into the community, but it's a platform to educate each other people about, you know, the histories and cultures of Alaska, but I think, yeah, I don't think we could ever make as much money through tourism as we did through. So much money are Alaska, is crazy.

35:38 Yeah, I would like the idealistic sort of seeing a bubble that pops over my head is maybe we just stopped worrying about money so much.

35:52 Willing to do it.

35:56 I mean, I think it would be easy to say what's up where you about money? And then one day the bank account will, you know, their obligations for the money and that we have to pay people to do certain things. It's a project.

36:17 Now.

36:20 Yeah, it's kind of like a totally impractical. There's no possible way. Like, I could do everything that I do out here. Like, I could do no money, but I still like, I like my coffee.

36:46 It's all right, Richard, another question in there. I'll go ahead and read it for us. We've been spending really large amounts on schools and Healthcare in particular, but also electricity generation Transportation. Infrastructure. Do we stop spending so much by ceasing major lines of service or do we find another way to pay for them?

37:11 I end up kind of getting pulled in a couple directions because on one hand. I'm kind of like well, we kind of covered this already but

37:23 Lamenting the existing structures that cost so much money and and are kind of provided in a big pool like that.

37:35 And on the other hand, I know that they exist. So they have to be taken care of because we can't like we can't do harm to people by removing their ability to go to school while I wish we had a way to handle this locally. I know it's all pulled up together. So

37:58 I mean, it seems like you just have to find another way to pay for them. You can't do people like that.

38:05 Yeah, I think it's a few doubt. It's an obligation that we maintain schools and health care and electricity and transportation. And these are the things that have been in a hard-fought for and and built and maintained by the people that came before us, you know, it took a lot of effort to get schools and health care and electricity around the state. I remember it's still an issue. Right? Like people are still having complicated conversations around it. But I think it's, we have an obligation to those previous people that put in all that effort to kind of maintain it. So I I I mean, I think we find another way to pay for them and I think there are avenues for it. It just takes some level of creativity, you know, there are a lot of creative ways to find new revenues by new money all the time.

39:05 We're very entrenched in our beliefs about the way in which money should be made, you know, when like we the only way that's ever kind of in one way or another.

39:29 Yeah.

39:33 I was just thinking iron.

39:36 Should I don't know if I'm going to lose it or not.

39:41 Oh, I was thinking of something, you know, when you're talking about being obligated to

39:50 So they both came before us.

39:53 Well, I don't really even sure what what I'm thinking on that yet, but

40:02 Well because I'm not clear on whether or not I think it would be a good idea to revert because I know that people get used to things and it's not fair to take things away from them, but

40:12 Well, you know, like the same people who put in schools and and services are the folks who took the like to make it sound. Like, I mean, nothing, so complicated, because I don't think that I'm any better than anybody and should be able to go do that because of some sort of historical Heritage that I have, but don't get fish. Like, I messed it up too, but we could fix it. Maybe I don't have that kind of energy. Somebody's got to fix it.

40:47 It's really hard, really hard. Let me tell you that. There are plenty of things that don't work it, but arguably cost a lot of harm. And I mean, still to this day cause harm and we should identify the negative elements. Right? And we should try to get rid of those but I mean there's a lot of positive elements. Do you know what what value is there and bringing Health Care to her Alaska? I mean, that's a pretty big thing. But I think school of his maybe just have more challenging Avenue and education is immortality Avenue. Particularly.

41:32 Yeah, that's that seems cry to me so that I can properly educated anything about either culture there.

41:59 Not in school. Not a thing.

42:02 I think they're, you know, they're doing things a little bit differently now, but it's still

42:09 I mean, I don't think there might be doing a couple of language classes or something, but

42:22 It's not a perfect, but it's still not great. At like they were totally on. My education was like very much white-washed in a bad way. And you know, I lived in an environment where there wasn't a lot of diversity in the area that I actually had met anyone with any, like, native Heritage whatsoever. So I mean,

43:06 It's crazy to think that I could grow up in a village Moreau Alaska. And not even recognize the third to just people around them. When, you know, the village has a population compared to somewhere like the East Coast.

43:24 Yeah, it and I've been kind of challenging cuz they look like me look like folks out of the book.

43:47 I will hit your pick up more questions there.

44:00 Not exactly. I thought you were going to be a little older half of that means anything. But I sort of thought you were the older.

44:09 Cuz I think well, I I think I assumed that because we were supposed to maybe not agree on some stuff. So it's like he's going to put me with something in their 60s.

44:21 So yeah, and then also based on your you're very short bio. I kind of assumed that you might be like not, it's like a seat. So not really our kind of. I did kind of expect to be matched with someone who had deeper Alaska, Tristan myself, but I like you, I kind of imagined that it would be. So totally

45:07 I guess the next one person who likes you.

45:13 Is there anything you learned about me today? That surprise you?

45:18 A little bit. I would say. Yeah, I guess surprised that you learned about all of the different logging activities that you are the only family that really stuck around in the community and what your life was like there.

45:50 Is there anything you learned about me today? Surprised you?

45:55 I don't know if I was surprised.

46:00 I guess like this isn't about you. So, will you kind of remind me of someone that I went to college with school? I didn't really get to know a whole lot about you necessarily as much as you know, just kind of a little bit.

46:24 I know, I think I don't think anything was really surprising.

46:37 But I guess the next one is.

46:41 How can we come together after a couple of very decisive elections?

46:48 I think that's that's really challenging but I think transparency is a big part of it. I think that when people are transparent one another to say, what they really mean behind their statement, I'd really like looked deeply into at understand what it is they're saying. So I guess there's some self-reflection and transparency about what they find. I would say would be a big way to get people to come together to say. Hey, why do I believe what does it mean to believe? This is what happens when I believe these things Reflections would be helpful way to come together and so do

47:29 Find connections.

47:32 How can we come together after a couple of very divisive elections?

47:39 I suppose the best way to just remember that we're all people and we all deserve to be respected. Even if we don't make sense her in mind or whatever it is that we don't like about each other, this kind of remembering but we all deserve to be here.

48:01 Yeah.

48:06 Well, that was awesome, you guys.

48:10 I think we're pretty much wrapped up. If you have any sort of closing thoughts or anything, you want to share with each other, that you're welcome to it. Otherwise, I can sort of launch into the wrap up here.

48:22 I would just say it was a pleasure to meet you and that it was a very good conversation. And I'm glad I got to learn a little bit more about who you are and your life down in Tucson.

48:33 Thanks. It was nice talking to you. I feel like we're just barely kind of scratch the surface so hard to