EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

The EVOS Traditional Ecological Knowledge Database Reference Guide is a searchable database in askSam format. It was funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council as part of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Project (Restoration Project number -052B). The Reference Guide is intended to be used by researchers to identify sources of local and traditional knowledge on the oil spill impact area. The spill impact area, as defined by the EVOS Trustee Council includes Prince William Sound, the lower Kenai Peninsula, the Kodiak Archipelago, and portions of the southern shoreline of the Alaska Peninsula (as shown on the attached map).

The information in the Reference Guide was collected with a survey that was sent to nearly 100 potential respondents, including communities in the spill impact area, Alaska Native associations, Native corporations and other Native organizations, state and federal agencies, libraries, archives, museums and anthropologists. For the purposes of this survey, traditional knowledge was broadly defined to include everything from raw notes, photographs, audio tapes and videotapes, to formal databases organized on computer software. The Reference Guide does not list any traditional ecological knowledge as such, but rather lists information on what data is out there, where it is, and what, if any, restrictions there are on access and use.

Users of the Reference Guide are provided with a "view-only" version of the askSam software, as licensed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence from askSam systems. This means that you may do searches, print reports, and save reports to disk, but you may not make any edits, additions, or deletions to the original database.

To use the Reference Guide, copy EVOSTEK.EXE to your hard drive. Then double-click on ASKVIEW.EXE, this opens the askSam viewer. Next pull down the file menu, and open the file labeled TEKDBRG.ASK.

Any word contained in the Reference Guide can be used as a keyword. You can search for information on particular regions within the spill area, specific communities, time periods or formats. If the word you are searching appears on the home page, askSam will stop there. To find additional matches, click on the "next" button at the top of the screen. For detailed assistance in using askSam, consult the Help pulldown menu.

There are, at present, fifty-one entries in the Reference Guide, in thirty-seven of which the respondent stated that they did have data on traditional ecological knowledge. While we will continue to accept responses to the questionnaire, updates to the Reference Guide will depend upon future funding.

For additional information on the Reference Guide contact:

Pippa Coiley Kenner
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99518
Phone: 907-267-2358, Fax: 907-267-2450
e-mail: Pippa_Kenner@fishgame.state.ak.us