Sealaska Heritage Institute and the University of Alaska Southeast PITAAS program are sponsoring a performance by Byron Nicholai, who has gained national attention through his Facebook page “I Sing. You Dance.” Nicholai, a high school senior from Toksook Bay, blends traditional and modern styles in his music to preserve Yup’ik culture and bring it into the mainstream consciousness.
The free event is scheduled at 5 pm, Saturday, Feb. 13, in Shuká Hít (the clan house) at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. He also will give a free performance at UAS—that event is scheduled at 7 pm, Friday, Feb. 12 in the Egan Library at the Juneau campus. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The program is offered through a partnership between SHI and the UAS program PITAAS, which stands for Preparing Indigenous Teachers and Administrators for Alaska Schools.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
