Close to Home: Environmental Migration in the USA

Allison lives the Shishmaref village in Alaska. In her short lifetime, her way of life has dramatically shifted due to human-caused climate change. Climate change is having an undeniable impact on her community. The people from her village are being forced to relocate because of the erosion of their land by the sea.

“Whenever a big storm hits our town, it erodes the land from the ocean side and the lagoon side. Whenever there are really big waves it washes the land away. Sometimes people lose their boats and sometimes they sink to the bottom of the water. It also washes away the racks where we dry our seal meat, fish, and more. About five years ago the sea ice used to take longer to melt. It lasted about 10 months but now it’s only 8 months. This harms our way of life, our way of hunting, our way of fishing, and our way of traveling from one place to another. We are using big rocks on the ocean side to keep our land from eroding. The village can be saved if the sea wall will keep the waves from getting to the land. Our community voted for our village to move to a place called Tin Creek. We will need a lot of money because of all the houses that will need to be moved. The thought of moving our village is very sad because Shishmaref is the place where I grew up. Shishmaref is a great place to live because everyone knows each other. If we had to choose to move or to stay, I would choose to stay. I love this village and I would do anything to help save it.”

Allison “Anisaaluk” Nayokpuk