“Experiential learning” in high school takes on a whole new meaning when the subject is subsistence.
At Pacific High School in Sitka the students already understand that they’re going to experience a lot of hands-on activities.
Earlier this fall, they got their hands on — and inside of — some locally harvested deer.
In a high school classroom a saw is buzzing, but it’s not woodshop class.
“If you wanted to take a piece of meat off to just fry up like a steak, take slices off this backstrap. Does someone want to do the other side?” Tad Fujioka asks.
Students at Pacific High stand in a circle, watching intently as Fujioka shows them, step by step how to process a deer. He’s a bit out of breath, it’s a tough job.
“The ribs are really tasty, but they can be pretty tough, I usually like to boil ‘em or steam ‘em for a couple hours to make ‘em tender,” Fujioka said.
It’s a state history requirement that students learn about the importance of subsistence living.
These students are focusing on deer, but last month, they learned to fish for coho.
Freshman George Stevenson said that day, he and his classmates walked away empty handed.
“We didn’t catch anything. It’s not all about catching fish for fun. It’s about catching for food,” George said.
While nature didn’t provide that day, there was still something to be learned.
“Most of the time it would be just reading passively about the subject,” said Matt Groen, who teaches the subsistence course at Pacific High. “We are able to meet up with local experts like Tad and Chuck, put our hands on a salmon and engage in the process.”
After Fujioka shows students how to clean the deer, they spread the red chunks of meat out on the table.
Groen shows the students the final step: how to vacuum seal the meat into tidy packages.
“During this time of year, this is how my house sounds way too often,” Groen said. “How many of you have heard this sound during fall? Yes, it is the sound of modern subsistence.”
But they’re not just packaging venison without getting some historical context.
Chuck Miller arrives to teach students why deer is significant and should be respected.
“It’s not because you’re like the greatest hunter that you got this deer,” Miller said. “It’s not because you tracked it down and you were like oh, yeah I’m superior to the deer. The Tlingit people believe, and I know other cultures in Alaska believe, you are inferior to that animal. They allowed you to hunt it. They allowed you to harvest it.”
One story Miller tells about his grandfather really sticks with the students.
“I asked him, grandpa. What’s the biggest deer you ever got?’ He just kept playing. Then he put his cards down. Then he looked at me. ‘Chucky. You can’t eat the horns.’ He picked up his cards again and started playing.”
Miller’s story resonated with sophomore Angelei Young, who said the size of a rack doesn’t matter.
“It just matters how much you can provide to your family,” Young said. “That’s important to teach people. Usually a lot of people are like yeah, this is so big and so cool.”
The deer students processed is packed and frozen now, but soon they’ll give it away.
Sophomore Abraham Diaz explains why.
“When you kill your first deer you have to give it to your elders. They took care of you when you were a kid. They fed you, so that’s a sign of respect and appreciating what they did for you.”
“I’ve learned if you’re greedy with your food then nature doesn’t support you and doesn’t give you anything. My uncles make sure that every time I do go out, I pray about it and thank the land and thank the deer and thank everything I use in order to have a good season.”
The Pacific High students will distribute the best cuts at an upcoming luncheon honoring tribal elders.
Then hopefully, there will be a little left over for them so they can enjoy the fruits, or meats, of their labor.
