Day in Our Bay: Voices and Views from Bristol Bay

The Bristol Bay region of Alaska is one of the planet’s most pristine and prolific ecosystems. In addition, it is the historic home of the area’s three distinct cultural traditions: Eskimo, Aleut, and Athabascan. For thousands of years, the vast resources of the Bay have sustained the people and shaped the customs of the Alaska Native villages whose lifeblood is the Bristol Bay fishery. In an effort to capture and preserve the voices, views, and values of the people who depend upon these resources, Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) invited its shareholders to document, through personal videos, the people, places and cultural practices most important to them. All footage was shot on one day: October 15, 2011. Sixty-two entries were submitted from as far away as Chignik Lake, a tiny traditional village of 69, to Dillingham, the region’s largest community and hub for services and supplies, as shareholders of all ages took part in this innovative competition. BBNC is proud to share the resulting film with you. The themes and experiences documented here are unique, but they echo concerns and struggles of indigenous peoples around the globe. Enjoy BBNC’s “Day in Our Bay: Voices and Views from Bristol Bay.