Dear Newtok
ALASKA • Katie Basile
From the 2021-2022 We, Women nationwide exhibit.
About the project
Dear Newtok is an audio/visual advice “column” produced by residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Southwest Alaska, one of the first regions in the U.S. to experience forced relocation due to the climate crisis. This chapter of the project focuses on the Yup’ik village of Newtok where the shoreline is rapidly eroding as a result of melting permafrost and an increase in storm surges. The community is relocating to the newly constructed village of Mertarvik, nine miles away. Using words and images, Dear Newtok offers advice and insight on adapting to a changing world.
Memory Maps
View four digital Memory Maps from Newtok residents below:
Charlene Carl:
DENISE TOMMY:
GEORGE CARL:
MIKE ANDY:
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Access the We, Women Education Resource Guide here, where you can dive more deeply into the 19 We, Women projects and think more deeply about collaboration and community!
About the Artist
Katie Basile is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work explores adaptation and resilience in Southwest Alaska. She began her career as a teaching artist and has more than one decade of experience collaborating on multimedia stories with rural Alaskan youth. Katie is a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Awardee and the co-recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video with KYUK Public Media. She recently directed the award-winning short film “To Keep as One” in collaboration with the Newtok Village Council that premiered at the 2020 Big Sky Film Festival. Katie grew up in Bethel, Alaska, where she lives with her husband and two sons.