“Everything here is either food or medicine,” Tlingit/Haida leader Marina Anderson explained while pointing to the plants and trees surrounding us in an old growth area of the Tongass Rainforest of her homeland of Southeast Alaska.

Her people have been stewards of this region since time immemorial. Marina describes the indigenous people here as being part of the ecosystem, and does not make a distinction between herself, the bears, trees, plants, fish, or birds.

The Tongass of southeast Alaska is the largest remaining intact temperate rainforest on Earth. At nearly seven million hectares, it has a watery edge of 17,700 kilometers, thanks to coves, bays, inlets, fjords, and huge stretches of coastline along the Pacific Ocean. Proudly, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Peoples call this area home.

The Tongass also hosts 91,700 kilometers of rivers, streams and creeks that happen to be the best spawning habitat for salmon anywhere on the planet, providing nearly 1/3  of the total global supply of wild salmon. The salmon are so interconnected to this area that their genetic material can be found embedded in spruce trees 120 kilometers inland. The three largest islands of this magnificent area have one of the highest concentrations of brown bears on Earth, with one every 1.5 square kilometers.

The forest sequesters as much as one billion tons (that’s about an equivalent weight to four Great Walls of China) of carbon annually, which is roughly eight percent of the total carbon sequestered by all the national forests in the United States combined.

Among her many service positions, Marina is a long-time member of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) Steering Committee. SSP is one of Home Planet Fund’s partners.

Raised on her people’s original homelands and waters, Marina spends her life working at the intersections between cultural, social, economic, and environmental justice. She focuses on community needs in order to address them with sustainable solutions that are based on traditional ecological and social knowledge.

Her life revolves around serving her people and stewarding the lands and waters around her. Marina actively centers traditional Haida and Tlingit skills of harvesting and food preservation, along with carving, weaving, beading, and storytelling.

She lives within what she describes as a circular community economy, where trading fish for berries, or buying what you need from within the community is a way of life. She doesn’t see a need to purchase hunting tags or a fishing license.

Marina and her people have the inherent authority to do so, even though it is not recognized by the State of Alaska, given the fact they are the original stewards of the area. “Being raised here means you learn from the land, not about the land,” she pointed out.

It is worth noting that Alaska Native peoples do have to acquire hunting permits and fishing licenses through the State of Alaska, and Indigenous people in Alaska have the same legal harvesting (subsistence) rights as everyone else in the state. However, for Alaska Native peoples, harvesting is about much more than subsistence, the act or fact of maintaining oneself at a minimum level—it’s a meaningful practice tied to physical and spiritual health & wellbeing, identity, heritage, and respect for the land.

Marina’s father taught her that being Haida is not about the things you do; being Haida is about the way you do things.

Marina told of hearing tribal leader Karen Linell, while at a gathering, say that her ancestors did not have the privilege of saying ‘this is too hard,’ so those alive today have no choice but to keep moving forward.

This is precisely what Marina has done. Just a few of her service positions have included being  the Organized Village of Kasaan Tribal Council Vice-President, the Organized Village of Kasaan Tribal Council Member at Large, a Central Council Tlingít & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Emerging Leader Advisory Member, and the Alaska Native Sisterhood Executive Council Sergeant at Arms.

While she showed me around Prince of Wales Island, Marina discussed how there was not any Native land when her father was growing up. Now, however, her nephews and nieces are growing up during a time they are getting their land back. Their children will be born onto their own land.

Traditions are being practiced more widely. Signs of their culture coming back are abundant – totem carving, silver carved earrings, cedar hats, and weaving are all becoming common once again.

After sharing this information, and so much more, Marina looked into the distance, smiled, then said, “We take care of the land and the food, and it takes care of us.”