Jessica Cochran

Allison Warden is an Inupiaq performance artist and rapper, whose passion is helping young people explore their own culture… and find their voices and their place in the world. She doesn’t pretend to speak for all Inupiaq – she says they’re not all as weird as she is. KSKA: Monday, 6/17 at 1:00 & 8:00pm

Chances are you’ve heard the saying, the great thing about Anchorage is that its only 15 minutes from the real Alaska. If you don’t live in the state’s largest city, maybe you agree. Then there’s the other question: how long do you have to live here before you’re an Alaskan? Are you an Alaskan if you spend only summers here? Is it when you get your first PFD? Is it a length of time, or a state of mind?Download Audio

Today, Iditarod leaders are closing in on Elim on their way to the finish line in Nome. Nine days ago, just after leaving downtown Anchorage, they turned onto the Chester Creek trail and passed by one “trail party” after another. Along this stretch, as along much of the trail to Nome, the Iditarod means community. As Jessica Cochran tells us, the race is part of our culture – one of the ways we identify ourselves as Alaskans.

Statewide, Alaska’s tobacco use rate hovers around 20%; it’s gone down significantly over the last decade or so, and is only slightly above the national average. But among Alaska Natives the rate is much higher – in some places, more than double - and often kids begin using tobacco at young ages. Jessica Cochran has more, in the next installment of our series “Being Young in Rural Alaska” from the producers of Kids These Days.

From a distance, it can be hard to tell why some rural school districts seem to work better than others…why some have better test scores, higher attendance and graduation rates. In the next installment of our series “being Young in Rural Alaska” from the producers of Kids These Days, Jessica Cochran looks at one Yukon River village – and how the community works together to support the school.