Bethel photographer, filmmaker, and educator Katie Baldwin Basile has been honored at the Alaska Federation of Natives.
Basile received the Denali Award on Thursday, Oct. 22 — an honor given annually to recognize a non-Native individual who has been a longtime supporter of the Alaska Native community, particularly in rural Alaska.
That’s where Basile grew up, between the Kuskokwim River community of Napaskiak and Bethel, as the daughter of two school teachers from Oregon. She said that when she left Alaska for college, she began to see what made her home so unique.
“I think at that point, I went from a teenager who just really wanted to get out into the world to an adult who realizes just how special the [Yukon-Kuskokwim] Delta is,” Basile said. “And how many stories there are there, and how much potential there is to share those stories with the broader audience when appropriate.”
After returning home to the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta over a decade ago, Basile served as KYUK’s multimedia director. There, she crafted visual stories and spearheaded the station’s archive initiative, bringing in thousands of dollars in grant funding to digitize the station’s video discography — programs documenting Alaska Native culture and change on the Y-K Delta over decades — and make it accessible to the public online.
“The fact that we have a radio and television station that's been documenting the region for over 50 years is priceless,” Basile said.
Much of Basile’s voice follows a drive to tell human stories along the front lines of a changing climate. Across recent projects, she’s followed residents impacted by ex-typhoon Halong, photographed the region’s persisting sled dog races, and tracked a warming environment’s impact on access to subsistence foods on the Y-K Delta.
“I think anyone who grew up in Western Alaska has witnessed a lot of hardship and a lot of challenge, and yet we still see so many people and communities doing incredible things. Relocating a village, building a huge healthcare system, fighting for subsistence rights, and in many cases winning those fights,” Basile said. “That's the backdrop of all the stories that are coming out of the region, and I think it's just so important to know that history and to know how strong and truly resilient people are. And then on the flip side of that, to make sure communities are getting the support and just the basic rights that all humans should have.”
Today, in addition to her freelance photography work, Basile works as a coastal resilience specialist for Alaska Sea Grant. The job works to connect communities with tools to face environmental change. She said that it shares strengths with her work as a storyteller.
“As a journalist, our job is to bear witness,” Basile said. “That's like the most basic thing that we can do — is to bear witness and share what we see and what we hear.”
Basile said a lot of issues facing Western Alaska — lack of plumbing and running water, the limited resources for climate mitigation — aren’t all happening because people don’t care. Often it’s because people don’t know about them.
“What I've heard from communities is that when we go in and we share a story, resources follow,” she said.
Basile’s Denali Award also recognized her continued work with Y-K Delta youth, mentoring teenagers as they tell their own stories and those of their community — the work that Basile said brings her the most joy.
“I love being around young people, and hearing their ideas. and learning about how they see the world and understand the world,” Basile said. “And learning about where we're getting it wrong, because young people are good at pointing that out to us.”
In 2025, Basile supported a group of students from Newtok through a project of crafting essays and taking photos as their village relocated.
“Over history and even now, we see journalists, we see anthropologists, we've seen missionaries come into our region and share those stories out without that co-authorship piece,” Basile said. “And so, I just think that the more young people with media skills and a passion for storytelling, who are from the communities in our region, the more accurate representation we're going to see across the board.”
As recipient of the Denali Award, Basile joins the ranks of esteemed Alaska researchers, educators, and leaders, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Basile was nominated jointly by Napaskiak Incorporated and Bethel Native Corporation, the local Alaska Native corporations from both of Basile’s home communities.
“I'm just so overwhelmed and filled with love for the region,” Basile said. “This coming from Napaskiak and Bethel just makes it so incredibly special. It's kind of like your parents saying, 'We did all right,'” Basile said with a laugh.
Audrey Alstrom, a representative from Calista Corporation’s board of directors, was one of several presenters who welcomed Basile on stage.
“She has helped preserve our traditions, document our challenges, and then celebrate the strength and resilience of our people,” Alstrom said. “And she ensures that these stories are shared and preserved for our future generations.”
Ana Hoffman, CEO and president of Bethel Native Corporation, likened Basile’s work to that of the late Jim Barker, a photographer celebrated for his work documenting Alaska Native culture on the Y-K Delta in black and white throughout the 1970s and '80s.
“Recently we lost Jim Barker, and he did so much to preserve our culture. And Katie, you really are like Jim Barker for our generation,” Hoffman said.
In her acceptance speech, Basile highlighted recent environmental issues facing the region, including full-scale village relocation and the impacts of ex-typhoon Halong. She said though those headlines have faded, it's important to keep listening, documenting, and sharing what is happening in those communities so that more support can follow.
“Quyana for sharing your stories, and may we continue to work together to build communities that are safe, thriving, and resilient,” Basile said on stage.
Basile received gifts from Y-K Delta artists, including Bethel artist John Oscar and Napaskiak uluaq carver and priest Fr. Nikolai Larson. Basile was also joined by her husband, father, and two sons who stood next to her on stage.
