Elizabeth Watanabe
Using
Traditional Alaskan Native Food
Elizabeth “Libby” Watanabe, MPA, RD, LD,
Alaska Native (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimpshian) is the former
Chief Dietitian with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health
Consortium (SEARHC), one of the oldest and largest
Native-managed health organizations in the United States.
Libby worked as the Chief Dietitian for 7 years. Recently
she was promoted to the new health systems analyst position
with SEARHC in Juneau, Alaska.
Watanabe says,
“As the former Chief Dietitian, I planned and administered
the medical and hospital nutrition services departments and
supervised a large food service staff as well as two
clinical dietitians. Collectively we provided the food
service and medical nutrition therapy for ambulatory and
hospitalized patients from throughout Southeast Alaska. As
an Alaskan Native manager, I tried to incorporate Alaskan
Native cultural practices, such as Native foods, into all
of our department processes and literature. In this way, we
validated our cultural belief system that has been in
existence since time immemorial with proven scientific
knowledge about how nutritious and healthy our Alaskan
Native foods are.”
Watanabe and her colleagues use traditional foods in the
hospital kitchen food service and catering program. They
also incorporated Alaskan Native foods and values into the
patient education materials that they created or revised.
Salmon, halibut, other seafood, deer and berries are among
the key southeast Alaska Native foods.
Watanabe
and her son, Justin, are enjoying Tlingit Delight – a
mixed blueberry dessert.
Journey
into Dietetics
“I was raised
in a large family of 7 children and became interested in
dietetics because my family always worked year round to
hunt, gather and fish for our Alaskan Native foods,” says
Watanabe. “My mom, Gerry Williams, is an expert at Alaskan
Native food gathering and preservation. She shared her
enthusiasm and interest in that with me. After I began
working in the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital kitchen as a
dishwasher, Alfreada (Holloway) Westfield, the former Chief
Dietitian there, took me under her wing and said, ‘You're
going to be a dietitian.’ And so my nutrition career path
was born.”
Watanabe initially took distance education classes from the
Pennsylvania State University to earn an Associate of
Science degree in the Dietetic Technician program. Later,
she and her husband, Clint Watanabe, who is Native Hawaiian
and Japanese, moved to Hawai’i where Libby transferred to
the University of Hawai'i and completed her Bachelor of
Science degree in Food Service and Human Nutrition. More
recently she earned a Master of Public Administration
degree with a concentration in Rural Development from the
University of Alaska-Southeast.
“The biggest challenge that I faced when we moved to
Hawai'i was the culture shock of attending a university
whose on-campus population far exceeded the population of
my home town of Sitka, Alaska,” Watanabe remembers. “It
took quite some time to get used to that, but since my
husband's family lives in Hawai'i, that helped bridge the
culture shock to create a smoother transition to university
life there. Another huge challenge was meeting college and
family expenses. When we had our son, Justin, his childcare
expenses were almost equal to our university tuition
expenses. To make ends meet, Clint, who also was working on
a degree at the University of Hawai’i, and I took out
student loans in addition to the scholarships that we
received.”
(Clint is an allied healthcare professional currently
serving as a Family Advocate Specialist with the U.S. Coast
Guard.)
Advice for Prospective Native Dietitians
“Apply for as
many scholarships as you can to limit or prevent the need
to take out student loans, which are difficult to pay
back!” suggests Watanabe. “In high school, focus on math,
science and chemistry, especially organic chemistry. Most
universities require these courses. Taking these courses in
high school will go far towards enabling you to complete
them successfully in college. Additionally, if you're
interested in nutrition, go for it! There is no greater joy
than working hard to accomplish your educational goal and
then returning to your hometown to serve your people.
Native people have a great respect for that, and it's worth
all the effort that it takes to get there.”
This
article was originally published in the Summer, 2009
issue of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is William Rabbit, Cherokee.)