A year ago, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland made a declaration in which he removed a slur that discriminated against Indigenous women from federal land names. Nearly 650 names were added to the list this fall, including one that was for Dillingham creek.
Three elementary school students from Dillingham, Alora Wassily (Trista Wassily), and Harmony Larson, had been working to change the name of the creek since 2021, well before the federal government began its process.
Alora stated that they had put in a lot of work to reach this goal shortly after the announcement.
She said, “It feels good because it took so much of our time to fix it, and finally it got changed. We just feel relieved.” “We felt accomplished.”
After hearing a story about seven sisters living along the creek, and how the road and creek were both marked with the insulting word, they began to advocate for the change in fifth grade.
She said, “We thought about it and then decided to change it.” “We then talked to Courtenay Carty, [Curyung Tribal Administrator] Robyn Chaney, and then we started looking at other places.”
The students are now in seventh grade and have presented their research numerous times. They began with the Dillingham Parent Advisory Committee, and the school board.
“We were all very nervous the first time. After a while, we all got used to it and it became more normal,” Alora stated.
They have since presented their research to Curyung Tribal Council and Alaska Federation of Natives Elders and Youth Conference. Robyn Chaney assisted the students in their preparation. She serves as the Federal Programs Coordinator in Dillingham city schools, and is also an adult advisor to the students.
Chaney stated that “I believe they standing behind their information is really powerful.” They were part of the education process here, which included me. They received mostly positive feedback. Their facts were accurate, and their confidence increased. It was an issue that became very important to us and at a federal level. Secretary Haaland would be able to address it.”
U.S. The students’ work received more attention after U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that the word would no longer be used in any geographic locations across the country last year. They had to change their approach by taking grassroots advocacy and fitting it into an electoral process.
Chaney stated that the process changed from being slow and steady to becoming very, very fast. “It shifted from us educating and garnering local support for change to a government-to-government relationship, following a tribal process and doing tribal consultation between our local Curyung Tribe and the federal government.”
Students suggested renaming the creek Al’a Creek and received wide support from the community at a listening session last year. At the last moment, however, a Curyung Tribal Council member proposed a new name: Amau Creek. Chaney stated that this was hard.
“It was hard to swallow, because that name had not been through the public process. It was at their regular meeting. It wasn’t a name that was carried forward in their public process. It was both surprising and disturbing,” Chaney stated. “But they still succeeded in their goal, which was to eliminate a derogatory name from a place and replace it.”
These students are part of a long tradition of work to recenter Native place names in Bristol Bay. Francisca Demoski manages the land for the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.
She is originally from Togiak and now lives in Anchorage. She oversees the cultural heritage efforts of the land department, including the Bristol Bay Native Place Names Project. It’s one of the ways that the corporation preserves and celebrates this heritage, she said.
Amau Creek, which means “great-grandparent”, is a Yugtun word. Demoski explained that the name refers to a group of great-grandmothers or sisters who, according to traditional stories, traveled to the area to settle near the creek. “So, the community recognized that great-grandmothers were important in their families and named the creek to honor them.
Demoski stated that BBNC supports federal efforts to modify the names of derogatory places in the country, including Dillingham.
She said, “BBNC is happy with the result, and I applaud young students for taking the leadership to make this change happen in their community.”
Demoski was instrumental in the creation of the Native corporation’s 2003 project, almost 20 years ago. The website now lists over 1,400 placenames. Many of them are located in the Togiak and Manokotak areas, Dillingham, and along the Nushagak river. Many Yup’ik and Dena’ina contributions are also found around Iliamna Lake.
“I am currently working with the Bristol Bay Native Education Foundation in order to collect place names along Alaska’s Alaska Peninsula, including the Naknek region. She said that this is where we are focusing our attention right now because there’s very little data in the area.
Demoski stated that the purpose of the project is to “capture, preserve and safely archive important knowledge before it’s lost.”
Demoski hopes that this year’s effort to change the names of derogatory people in the country will inspire others to think about changing their names. Demoski points out the Utqiagvik example, which was once called Barrow. She said that this is a crucial effort.
She stated, “And ensuring our people’s cultural heritage is of the utmost significance to us, and name places is one way we ensure that our history remains preserved for a new generation,”
They are still working hard. They are currently working on the next steps in order to replace the signs of the community with Amau Creek.
