The initial cut of a film based on the lives and work of Richard and Nora Dauenhauer will premiere at the final Evening at Egan presentation of the 2015 series on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Egan Library at the University of Alaska Southeast. The Dauenhauers drove language revitalization, civil rights, and equal education efforts in Southeast Alaska.
The film, “Haa Yoo Xhatángi Káx Kulagaawú,” is being made by Lance (Xh’unei) Twitchell, Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages at UAS. If the film is not ready for screening, there will be an alternate presentation on Alaska Native Languages and Culture.
In 2014, Twitchell applied for funding through the Alaska Humanities Forum to make the film. The project reflects upon the Dauehauers’ impact on the arts, education, and Alaska Native communities, and includes biography, history, poetry, Tlingit music, Tlingit language, and the landscape and politics of Alaska. THe Daunehauers tell stories of their life and work, and share their personal archives.
The film is part of an ongoing collaboration between UAS, the Alaska Humanities Forum, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, Kathy Ruddy (in memory of Bill Ruddy), and the Rasmuson Foundation that will bring in $38,000 for a three-phase project to create central spaces for Alaska Native Languages & Alaska Native Knowledge on the Juneau campus.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
For more about Evening at Egan, visit http://www.uas.alaska.edu/eganlecture/
