Tribes from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered in downtown Juneau for the Celebration Parade.
The hundreds of proud, young faces at Celebration 2008 became the highlight of the Native Alaska festival for many elders, who said the event is doing its job of passing the culture on to the next generation.
The buzz of electric mixers drew a small crowd Friday morning in the hallway of the Juneau Arts & Culture Center as five women whipped what looked like pink meringue in separate bowls.
A dance last performed in Southeast Alaska in the early 1900s is being brought back during Celebration 2008 by the Mt. St. Elias Dancers from Yakutat.
Dr. Brian Kemp's research table buzzed with activity Thursday as Alaska Natives attending the first day of Celebration 2008 stopped by to give DNA samples for his research.
Native groups from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered Thursday to participate in the Grand Entrance parade.
Naomi Crey carves a rattle handle as Brian Francis waits for customers at the Celebration 2008 Arts and Crafts Fair in the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on Thursday.
Tribes from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered in downtown Juneau for the Grand Entrance parade.
Della Cheney said she sees Southeast Alaska Native cultures coming back into focus in many ways, but for the weaver, the emergence of art is a primary way to teach and remind her people about traditional tribal values.
Anna Brown Ehlers talks Wednesday about the Chilkat blanket that won Best of Show in the traditional category of the Juried Art Show, sponsored by Sealaska Heritage Institute
Native groups from Southeast Alaska began to arrive Tuesday for Celebration 2008, a three-day cultural festival expected to fill Juneau's downtown with crowds in colorful regalia sharing dances, songs, art and indigenous foods.
Dance leader Carolyn Noe, left, directs the Yees Ku Oo, New Beginning New People dancers of Juneau as they practice Monday at Marine Park. The group is preparing for Celebration 2008, as well as the Four Story Totem rededication at the City Museum. Celebration starts Thursday morning with the Grand Entrance from ANB Hall to Centennial Hall.
On Page 73, Mathew Macasaet, wearing a yellow and black woven Killer Whale Chilkat robe with a frontlet headdress, or shakee.át, dances with his arms outstretched, his legs wide apart, his head turned to the side and his mouth open.
Native groups from Southeast Alaska will come together to share indigenous songs, dances, art, food and languages as Celebration 2008 kicks off Thursday, June 5, in Juneau.
The Sealaska Heritage Institute is sponsoring DNA testing to determine whether there are living descendants of a Native man whose ancient remains were found in a Southeast cave. The testing will be conducted during Celebration 2008.
Nora Dauenhauer grew up in a Tlingit family and learned to speak her native tongue as a child. Her sister, Florence Sheakley, and their brothers all speak Tlingit.
Traditional Native Alaska art forms were originally taught through apprenticeships in which a young carver or weaver worked for years with an elder who had mastered the form.
Long before there were grocery stores in Southeast Alaska, the Tlingit people knew how to live off the land. They dined on wild salmon, seal, deer, seaweed and wild edibles - including soapberries and black seaweed.
The Mt. St. Elias Dancers were chosen by the Sealaska Heritage Institute Board of Directors to be the lead dance group at Celebration 2008.
All together: Amanda Brown, left, of the Git-Hoan Dancers drums and walks with Lorene Hanlon during the Grand Entrance for Celebration 2004.
Bear Yates, left, and Emmit Benolken, both 13, sing with the Craig Island Dancers.
Joyful, proud: Alma Cook of Hydaburg enjoys Celebration from the comfort of her car.
Southeast Alaska Native cultures have used masks in three different ways: as transformation masks, indicating transformation from an individual into a supernatural being; for clan dramatizations in which clan members reenact clan legends; and for conflict resolution whereby masks are used to indicate offense taken by the actions of another.
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Alaska Crossings
Alaska Marine Lines
Alaska Pacific Bank
Alaskan & Proud To Be
Bartlett Regional Hospital
BBC Human Resource
Check Mate
ConocoPhillips
Hearthside Books & Toys
Hoonah Trading Company
Janice Jackson Coho Creations
RadioShack
Sealaska
Tlingit Ink Designs
Tlingit-Haida Regional
Housing Authority
True North Federal Credit Union
University of Alaska Southeast
Valley Lumber & Building Supply
Vocational Training &
Resource Center
Wal-Mart