Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska

It's been nearly a year since Gov. Dunleavy closed public schools to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic last spring. 

Since then, the Unalaska City School District has been bouncing back and forth between three different types of learning: home-based, in-person, and a combination of the two. And that 11-month juggling act has taken a toll on many of the island's teachers, parents, and students.

Unalaska will soon be home to a community banya, or steam bath. The banya is part of a cultural build project involving the Qawalangin Tribe, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA), the Aleut Foundation, and California carpenter and professional iqyax̂ (Aleutian sea kayak) builder Marc Daniels.

Tribe employees involved in the build said they are unsure of when the community will be able to use the banya, or who will have access to it, but eventually, the steam bath will be a communal space for people to share stories, advice, and healing.

In this week's episode of "Tuesday Checkup," wellness was the topic of conversation. Dr. Murray Buttner, a family medical physician at Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, Kate Arduser, wellness program manager with the Qawalangin Tribe, and Shayla Shaishnikoff, the tribe’s cultural coordinator, discussed what wellness means to them and how they foster a healthy lifestyle.

On Saturday, the community of Unalaska joined Shayla Shaishnikoff, Camp Qungaayux̂ coordinator for the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, as she launched her first iqyax̂—an Unangax̂ skin-on-frame sea kayak—into Margaret Bay.