No coal near kids

To the editor:

I work at Ya Ne Dah Ah School, Chickaloon Village’s tribally owned and operated school. In language, Ya Ne Dah Ah means “ancient teachings.” I am amazed and inspired by the hands on, personal education that the children experience at Ya Ne Dah Ah. The children are all different ages and learn from each other in a beautiful schoolhouse. The teachers and students together learn reading, writing, mathematics, Native American culture and history, cooking, dance, music and Ahtna, the traditional language of the Ahtna Athabascan people.

Usibelli Coal Mine is building an access road to the proposed mine site at Wishbone Hill. The borough has required that the company pave a parking area for machinery at the base of this road. This parking lot is just across the Glenn Highway from Ya Ne Dah Ah School. Two acres of trees and natural habitat have been cut down and paved over. This construction (or destruction) started in July.

Coal has not yet been pulled out of the earth, but we at the school are already feeling the effects of a proposed mine. When we walk the trails in front of the school to harvest berries and plants, we have to raise our voices to hear each other over the sound of heavy machinery. One of the Ya Ne Dah Ah staff almost got into a severe accident as a large vehicle was pulling into the construction site.

We can only imagine what the roads would be like with 100 coal trucks a day roaring down it. On Sept. 14, there was a white van with two men parked in the school’s parking lot doing surveying for Usibelli while school was in session. This is not a safe environment for children to learn and grow.

School is a sacred space where students should be able to play freely. Teachers should not have to worry about strangers coming on to the school zone to do construction work for a coal company. A coal mine across the street from a school is an environmental justice issue and must be seen as such.

The Ya Ne Dah Ah students have expressed anxiety over what is going on across the street from their school. They know that coal mining is not a responsible way to steward the land. The Ya Ne Dah Ah students want to continue to learn on Chickaloon Village’s traditional land in a quiet environment free of coal dust and heavy machinery. Ya Ne Dah Ah School is and will forever remain a coal free school zone.

Amelia Baker

Sutton