Credit. !

All photographs and drawings on this blog were taken by Samantha Morris and Kierstyn Blattner on their path to excellence. !

Plant Discovery 6/12/10

While going on many hikes and observing the forest areas I discovered many plants that I have never seen. Many things around me are so oblivious to me that I never notice they are there. I have lived in Juneau practically my whole life, and I never really took the time to stop and notice all these plants.
If it wasn't for the plant gathering and identifying assignment we had I probably wouldn't have noticed the life in the plants going on around me. They are everywhere, but yet I never really took a closer look at them.

I was overwhelmed by my lack of observation, but amazed by what I found. To this amazement I decided to take my plants that I gathered at Auk Rec and draw a few of them. One plant I found, Twisted Stalk, has leaves that twist one after another in a pattern like way. It goes from one leaf on one side, and then switches to the other. Its structure fascinated me. They come up about a foot high off the ground at the most, or at least that is what my observations told me. Their leaves are about two and a half inches long, and one inch in width. Twisted stalk is a bright medium colored green, almost the color of emerald.




All the life going on around me in the plants made me think about what else could be going on that I haven't opened my eyes to. The world is such a big place, and in a way I feel like I am missing out. There is so much more out there to be seen instead of the giant trees that I only looked at as a forest. There are smaller plants that are more ground deep. In a way this represented to me the more modern ways of today. I’m sure a long time ago these plants were more than relevant to our people, but now they are just something I simply noticed at a camp experience. Where is my culture taking me now? Why did it take me so long to realize the life out their in this land, in this world, going on around me? There really is no reason, other than my lack of knowledge to the land. If I became more aware of my surroundings then in a way I would become more aware of my culture, of my people, and the land we survived off of. The land is not to be taken for granted, and it is certainly not to be forgotten. -Kierstyn Cadiente

Taku Inlet 6/9/10

Many elders boarded the boat as we all got on to go to Taku Inlet. The elderes shared stories and personal expierence that they had in the region. A lot of them originated from the Taku Qwan, then they came to Juneau.
My grandpa shared stories he had here as he called me up to stand with him. When I stood next to him my grandpa talked about the days he was my age and what he did here. He told a story about when he was around fourteen years old and he was fishing with his dad and grandpa. So as he talked I stood there and showed my respect to my grandfather by staying silent and standing by his side as he spoke.
Later on durring the trip we were all called down to show are thanks to the elders and the knowledge they shared with us. When I went up I spoke about how greatful we were that Dionne Cadiente-Laiti helped put this camp together for us, because with out her this wouldn't have been made possible. I also thanked my grandpa for sharing his stories with us and acknowledging me to stand with him. This boat ride was a great ecpierence to me, because my granparents both came from here. I feel as if though the Taku is a part of me, because it's where my granparents came from, and for that I am thankful. -Samantha Morris

Auk Rec Drawing 6/9/10

This is a drawing I did after walking on the beach at Auk Rec. On the beach I kept noticing mussel shells and other shells along the shore. I found them highly interesting and beautiful, so I decided to collect them up and arange them to draw. So there you have it this is my drawing at Auk Rec. -Kierstyn Cadiente

Outer Point 6/14/10

While out at outer point I found myself pondering the beach alone lost in thought. I was walking bare foot in the sand observing little cockle shells, and looking at their unique colors. In a sense the shells remind me of people in my life, they are all different and beautiful in their own way. Some of them are broken while most of them laid strong in the sand. I picture myself as one of the broken shells, and Samantha as one of the strong, and together with that we balance each other she makes me better, as she lays by my side in the sand. And this reminded me of how fortunate I am to have a friend like her, so I picked up the shells and put them in my pocket. - Kierstyn Cadiente




I tried some new things while at outer point. I collected a few items, and even ate something especially new to me. It was a blast, but at first I wasn't really interested in going to the beach so early in the morning. It was cold, the ground was wet, and I was of course tired. Later though, I started wandering around finding things on the beach like sea anemones and I saw starfish everywhere.
After that I went further down the beach and started helping my friends dig up cockles. We had to look around for them squirting to be able to dig for them. That was a lot of fun! -Samantha Morris




While digging for cockles Ricky was convincing people to try sea urchin eggs. At first I was a little hesitant to try them, but I gave it a shot anyways. The eggs are all cluttered together in an orange group. They taste salty and are extremely squishy, but they aren't that bad. In conclusion going to the beach was an interesting experience for me. -Samantha Morris

The cockles at Outer Point were said to not be safe to eat. This is because of red tide shellfish poisoning. It's highly dangerous and can practically paralyze your whole body. It can kill in a matter of hours, but if you are safely evacuated to a hospital and put on a respirator you would have a chance of surviving. But to take that risk of eating a cockle is not worth it.

We also found a baby King Crab. Apparently they haven't been returning to this area for a long time, and they are slowly starting to come back to this region. Their absence can only be because of people entering and setting off the balance of the habitat, or of a growth of another species populating the area. Knowing this startled me, we as people should be taking better care of our beaches and respecting the sea lives habitats that we are entering. This is our land, and these are our beaches, if they aren't taken care of well the life within them will slowly disappear over time. -Kierstyn Cadiente

Mt. Roberts Hike 6/11/10

To be honest we weren't looking forward to hiking up Mt. Roberts. This being because of the cold rainy weather, and also the fact that mountains are definitely not easy to climb up. It takes a lot of strength to be able to get to the top, and I have non of that whats so ever.

Although Samantha and I started our journey up the mountain being negative, we did change our minds after the first twenty minutes of the hike. We began to enjoy the walk and the views of the mountain. The rest of the hike after that was extremely fun, and worth the while to get to the top.

The view from the mountain looking down was extraordinary, we got so high up it was overwhelming. The hike was beautiful with all the different kinds of plants and trees. The trees as we got higher up had fallen and were laying all over. They towered over us as we looked up, it was amazing.




While hiking a long the trail I thought to myself how fortunate I was to be there and see the life going on around me as I moved up higher. It gave me a new perspective about the life I had below. And in relevance hiking up the mountain was the high road that I need to direct my life on. It may have took a lot of work to go up, and reach the top, but I did it, I didn't quit I kept pushing myself forward. If my goals in life could be viewed like that, then I would have the right mind to keep going and not walk back down. Things may be hard, and some roads may be steep, but to persevere and find the inner strength to reach the top is the key to success. -Kierstyn Cadiente

Harvesting Seals 6/12/10

Harvesting a seal is about honor, respect, and opportunity. Its not everyday that one gets to participate and observe such a thing. Its an opportunity to take advantage of. This is what our ancestors did, it is what we did.

Like everything in the Tlingit culture we show respect. We respect the seal like it was a human being. It sacrificed it's life for us, so we handled it with care. To symbolize life water would be put into the seals mouth. It's head would be pointed to the East towards the sunset. Like David Katzeek said, "As the sun rises life comes and life goes". We do this to honor the seals life, and what it is giving to our people.

Tlingits used seal for the meat and fat. The fat was turned into oil, that served many purposes. Oil can be used for dried fish, and to preserve smoked salmon, also it was used on food the same way we use butter today. Seals contributed a lot to our people and the food we survived off of. -Kierstyn Cadiente and Samantha Morris