Eskimo to the World

I am Trina Landlord and this is my blog. In a past life, Eskimo to the World documented my adventures in New York – where in minute everything can change. Much like my life changed when I moved from Alaska to the 'city that never sleeps'. From the biggest state in America to the most populous city in the United States. From the immaculate nature of the Chugach Mountains, Yukon River and Bering Sea to the urban tundra of sky scrapers, enclaves of business and cultural capitals and the nation's foremost trendsetters. From 'the great land' to arguably the 'greatest city on earth'. I made a 5,000 mile prodigious leap from Anchorage to New York City – AND BACK TO ALASKA. The determination of Yup’ik peoples to survive in harsh Arctic conditions had given me the foundation to survive on streets of New York, I will continue to chronicle the parallels of both worlds.
April 13
Anabela and I and my time in Switzerland Dreams change but friends are forever…the photo above is with my Yaqui friend, Anabela. She is from Sonora in northern Mexico. Anabela was my flatmate for six months in Geneva, Switzerland. Our hostel, Foyer international d’étudiants Saint-Justin, in the Red Light District. Initially, I was not thrilled with the idea of a flatmate in one large room with two twin beds, two large windows, two wardrobes and one sink and no walls. The bathrooms and showers we shared with the entire sixth floor. My neighbors were from Germany, Italy, New Zealand, among other countries from around the world. Anabela and I grew to become great friends. Every morning, we would talk about our dreams over breakfast and coffee. The Foyer international d’étudiants Saint-Justin was located in the Red Light District and a few minutes walk to our office at the Palais Wilson across the street from the promenade along Lac de Geneve. Many people ask what it was like living in the neighborhood and I have to say it was entertaining. When I would go out for a nightly smoke, it was not uncommon to get “propositions” and catcalls. I never once felt unsafe. Anabela and I would walk to work every morning to Palais Wilson which was originally the headquarters of the League of Nations and named after U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who was instrumental to the foundation of the League of Nations which eventually became the United Nations. It was a secure building with a locked gate and security guards who would check your UN badge with photo. The badge also allowed access to the UN compound at the Palais des Nations which was up the hill from our offices. There were five of us, selected out of 261 applicants that year. Tommy is San from the Kalahari Desert in South Africa; Morse is Kalinga/Ibanag from northern Philippines; Catherine is Maori from northern New Zealand; and then Anabela and I. Our coordinator of the fellowship, Maliina is Inuit from Greenland and the coordinator of the Indigenous and Minority Unit, Julian Burger from England. My application was supported by a statewide non-profit which advocates for Native people at the state and federal levels, after being sent to participate in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva with a colleague. Two years later from my initial work at the UN, I was accepted. Our coordinators offices were on the top floor, that year building was experiencing an overflow of staff, and so the fellows were placed in the “attic.” We didn’t mind except in mid-July when the temperature outside was hovering in the 90s and there wasn’t air conditioning. The Indigenous Fellowship Programme was launched by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the context of the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The aim of the programme was to give indigenous peoples the opportunity to gain knowledge on the UN system and mechanisms dealing with human rights and indigenous issues so they can assist their organizations and communities in protecting and promoting the rights of their people. In its first decade, more than 100 indigenous men and women from 46 countries undertook the programme. There is the English-speaking programme, as well as, Spanish, French and Russian. In addition to our work at the OHCHR, we also worked at the International Labour Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, further, we attended the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva. Our fellowship involved lectures, observations at meetings and forums and studying massive amounts of laws, resolutions, white papers and research. The five of us published an 84-page Indigenous Human Rights Training Manual. Over the course of the six months, the six of us created our own family and learned together, ate together and traveled together. Since then, some of us have seen each other on various UN meetings. Last year in New York, I saw Catherine at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues when I managed to sneak in the UN bypassing three security checkpoints. Thats a story for another time. I was just thinking about this…in my current work, I’ve been researching and meeting with several young Alaska Native people who have left the village to pursue post-secondary education, some out of state, graduated with bachelors or masters degrees and returned back to the village. In their experience they spoke about when they returned to the village, they encountered negative attitudes, such as: anger, old friends not speaking to them, threats, people yelling at them and feeling like an outsider. One put it very bluntly, she was encouraged to go to college growing up and when she did and returned there was this perception that she was better than them and felt like an outcast. I identify with that…when I returned from Switzerland, my colleagues at that time treated me differently. In the sense that I have a very vivid memory of two directors cornering me and grilling me about, “How did you find out about this fellowship opportunity?” “Why didn’t you open this opportunity and let another young person apply?” “Why were you promised as a job when you returned?” When I returned to my old job, those directors had me clean up the database and do menial jobs. None of my friends or family asked me about my work at the UN, they had no idea what I had done; much like what a young person said who graduated college, the community she returned to had no idea what she had studied or planned to do career-wise. That person has since left her village. I felt as though I didn’t have anyone to share the things I had worked so hard to learn and a channel through which to offer and utilize my experience. The months following my return, I slowly slid into severe depression where it got so bad, I had to be hospitalized. There were many confounding factors, I couldn’t get out of bed to go to work so I was let-go; I couldn’t eat so I became a skeleton; my mom was so worried about my well-being, she had me stay with her so I could be on 24-hour a day watch; at one point, I also lived with my second mom and then eventually flown to the East Coast to stay with my step-father where I felt safe so I wouldn’t harm myself. When I showed signs of progress, I returned to Alaska and spent a week in the hospital but was not “cured” so I went to an medical professional everyday who helped build me up so I could work towards becoming functional and eventually return to a job that allowed me to ease back into work where I initially started part-time. I am eternally grateful for that boss who was so understanding, kind and believed in me and still to this day, supports and mentors me in everything I do. Since that epic time in my life, the UN is still on my resume and I am grateful for the experience, however, there is a tinge of shame that goes along with that. Also since then, my doctor and I have come up to solutions with my depression. Further, my time in Switzerland was the most incredible experience in my life and my dream is to someday return to work at UNESCO.

Anabela and I and my time in Switzerland

Dreams change but friends are forever…the photo above is with my Yaqui friend, Anabela. She is from Sonora in northern Mexico. Anabela was my flatmate for six months in Geneva, Switzerland. Our hostel, Foyer international d’étudiants Saint-Justin, in the Red Light District. Initially, I was not thrilled with the idea of a flatmate in one large room with two twin beds, two large windows, two wardrobes and one sink and no walls. The bathrooms and showers we shared with the entire sixth floor. My neighbors were from Germany, Italy, New Zealand, among other countries from around the world. Anabela and I grew to become great friends. Every morning, we would talk about our dreams over breakfast and coffee.

The Foyer international d’étudiants Saint-Justin was located in the Red Light District and a few minutes walk to our office at the Palais Wilson across the street from the promenade along Lac de Geneve. Many people ask what it was like living in the neighborhood and I have to say it was entertaining. When I would go out for a nightly smoke, it was not uncommon to get “propositions” and catcalls. I never once felt unsafe.

Anabela and I would walk to work every morning to Palais Wilson which was originally the headquarters of the League of Nations and named after U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who was instrumental to the foundation of the League of Nations which eventually became the United Nations. It was a secure building with a locked gate and security guards who would check your UN badge with photo. The badge also allowed access to the UN compound at the Palais des Nations which was up the hill from our offices.

There were five of us, selected out of 261 applicants that year. Tommy is San from the Kalahari Desert in South Africa; Morse is Kalinga/Ibanag from northern Philippines; Catherine is Maori from northern New Zealand; and then Anabela and I. Our coordinator of the fellowship, Maliina is Inuit from Greenland and the coordinator of the Indigenous and Minority Unit, Julian Burger from England. My application was supported by a statewide non-profit which advocates for Native people at the state and federal levels, after being sent to participate in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva with a colleague. Two years later from my initial work at the UN, I was accepted. Our coordinators offices were on the top floor, that year building was experiencing an overflow of staff, and so the fellows were placed in the “attic.” We didn’t mind except in mid-July when the temperature outside was hovering in the 90s and there wasn’t air conditioning.

The Indigenous Fellowship Programme was launched by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the context of the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The aim of the programme was to give indigenous peoples the opportunity to gain knowledge on the UN system and mechanisms dealing with human rights and indigenous issues so they can assist their organizations and communities in protecting and promoting the rights of their people. In its first decade, more than 100 indigenous men and women from 46 countries undertook the programme. There is the English-speaking programme, as well as, Spanish, French and Russian.

In addition to our work at the OHCHR, we also worked at the International Labour Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, further, we attended the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva. Our fellowship involved lectures, observations at meetings and forums and studying massive amounts of laws, resolutions, white papers and research. The five of us published an 84-page Indigenous Human Rights Training Manual.

Over the course of the six months, the six of us created our own family and learned together, ate together and traveled together. Since then, some of us have seen each other on various UN meetings. Last year in New York, I saw Catherine at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues when I managed to sneak in the UN bypassing three security checkpoints. Thats a story for another time.

I was just thinking about this…in my current work, I’ve been researching and meeting with several young Alaska Native people who have left the village to pursue post-secondary education, some out of state, graduated with bachelors or masters degrees and returned back to the village. In their experience they spoke about when they returned to the village, they encountered negative attitudes, such as: anger, old friends not speaking to them, threats, people yelling at them and feeling like an outsider. One put it very bluntly, she was encouraged to go to college growing up and when she did and returned there was this perception that she was better than them and felt like an outcast.

I identify with that…when I returned from Switzerland, my colleagues at that time treated me differently. In the sense that I have a very vivid memory of two directors cornering me and grilling me about, “How did you find out about this fellowship opportunity?” “Why didn’t you open this opportunity and let another young person apply?” “Why were you promised as a job when you returned?” When I returned to my old job, those directors had me clean up the database and do menial jobs. None of my friends or family asked me about my work at the UN, they had no idea what I had done; much like what a young person said who graduated college, the community she returned to had no idea what she had studied or planned to do career-wise. That person has since left her village. I felt as though I didn’t have anyone to share the things I had worked so hard to learn and a channel through which to offer and utilize my experience.

The months following my return, I slowly slid into severe depression where it got so bad, I had to be hospitalized. There were many confounding factors, I couldn’t get out of bed to go to work so I was let-go; I couldn’t eat so I became a skeleton; my mom was so worried about my well-being, she had me stay with her so I could be on 24-hour a day watch; at one point, I also lived with my second mom and then eventually flown to the East Coast to stay with my step-father where I felt safe so I wouldn’t harm myself. When I showed signs of progress, I returned to Alaska and spent a week in the hospital but was not “cured” so I went to an medical professional everyday who helped build me up so I could work towards becoming functional and eventually return to a job that allowed me to ease back into work where I initially started part-time. I am eternally grateful for that boss who was so understanding, kind and believed in me and still to this day, supports and mentors me in everything I do.

Since that epic time in my life, the UN is still on my resume and I am grateful for the experience, however, there is a tinge of shame that goes along with that. Also since then, my doctor and I have come up to solutions with my depression. Further, my time in Switzerland was the most incredible experience in my life and my dream is to someday return to work at UNESCO.