This story appeared in the Jan.-March edition of the Mukluk Telegraph. Healthy homes and communities are the foundation for improving the health of Alaska Native people. Rural communities lack adequate sources of water to meet health and hygiene needs, and facilities that can safely dispose of their wastewater. Today, 33 Alaskan communities still use the honey bucket. For some of these communities, the possibility of eliminating the honey bucket and the health hazards that go with it seem to be ...

With help from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Spruce Island Development Corporation, the City of Ouzinkie, a community just north of Kodiak, secured nearly $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). CDBG grants are provided to help local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities. In Ouzinkie’s case, the funding will help replace aging ...

With cold weather encouraging people to stay inside near a warm fire, now is a good time to think about how the proper maintenance of our woodstoves can protect our safety and health, as well as the longevity of the stove. It’s important to keep tabs on what you are burning and how it burns. For instance, a black, soot-filled window on your woodstove can be an indication that maintenance is needed, or burning practices need to be changed. A ...

In mid-2018, the Northwest Arctic Borough (NAB) partnered with ANTHC and Maniilaq Association to create a regional utility assistance program known as the Community Utility Assistance Program (CUAP). The program has ambitious goals to make water and sewer affordable, reduce water/sewer system emergencies, provide training and support for operators and administrators, and help communities become more competitive for construction grants. Data from the first six months of this partnership is encouraging. Nine of 10 communities in the borough joined the ...

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can be a serious health hazard among people who are constantly exposed. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., after smoking. During January’s Radon Action Month, our Alaska Native people are encouraged to learn more about radon, which is formed through the decay of uranium beneath the earth’s surface. It escapes through soil and can seep into homes that are built directly on the ground, have basements, or ...

Recently, ANTHC construction crews installed a new ocean sewer outfall on the coast of Sand Point in the Aleutians East Borough. A sewer outfall is a large pipe anchored to the bottom of the ocean that disperses treated sewage a safe distance away from a community. Built in the 1980s, Sand Point’s original outfall anchors failed and caused it to float twice, making replacement necessary. Typically, outfalls are assembled 20 feet at a time on the shore from where the ...