AK Natives on the Front Line: Higher Education

This episode features Iñupiaq Studies professor Jerica Niayuq Aamodt and Iñupiaq studies coordinator Katie Qaggun Roseberry from Iḷisaġvik College. Iḷisaġvik translates to a place to learn. Operated by the North Slope Borough, it is the only tribal college in Alaska and is the northernmost accredited community college in the United States. Alaska Natives on the Frontline is a special series of Coffee & Quaq highlighting the adaptability and resilience of the Iñupiat in the face of climate change, done in partnership with journalist Jenna Kunze. We travelled up to Utqiaġvik earlier this year at the peak of winter when the sun had just returned back to the Arctic and interviewed residents about the various aspects of how Iñupiat life has changed, but also how it has remained the same.