Juneau’s children are speaking Lingít in hallways between classes and aisles of grocery stores, on Thunder Mountain and even in their dreams, their language teachers say. For many students, it all starts in the Lingít language revitalization program at Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx̱ – Glacier Valley Elementary School.
Two teachers from the program won 2025 Governor’s Award for Arts: Lorrie Gax̱.áan.sán Heagy won the award for Individual Artist, and Yuxgitisiy George Holly won the Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages. They were recognized at the awards ceremony in Anchorage on Oct. 28 alongside five other art and humanities standouts across the state.
The pair were honored in part for their work in the Lingít language revitalization program Ḵúx̱de Yaa Nas.áx̱, which uses song and dance to teach Lingít language, stories and culture.
“It has been a life’s honor, really, to be here and work with Lorrie and work with these kids,” Holly said.
Holly, who is Deg Xitʼan and originally hails from Western Alaska, was adopted into the Tlingít Kaagwaantaan clan. He has worked and traveled throughout Alaska but has called Juneau home for the past five years.
“I want to be able to look back and say, ‘Oh, it must be that George left his heart in the Southeast,’ and I feel like it’s coming true, you know?” Holly said.
Heagy described herself as an ally in the work of the Lingít culture and language. She holds a doctorate in learning, instruction & innovation and a graduate certificate in Indigenous language revitalization. Aanyaanáx̱ Ray Wilson adopted her into the Tlingít Kiks.ádi clan in 2014.
Heagy said she was somewhat surprised to learn she had won the award for Individual Artist.
“I’ve been an accompanist all my life,” Heagy said. “But I thought, well, I’m still living out that accompanist mentality and the love of working with people. What you create together is greater than what you could have done on your own.”
She credited many others for their work in the Lingít language revitalization initiative, including X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell, for helping create new Lingít vocabulary, and Roby Littlefield, for calling in from Sitka to help the language teacher to avoid speaking Lingít in an English accent.
The language initiative is part of the greater Juneau Alaska Music Matters program, a nonprofit founded by Heagy that offers in- and after-school classes, serving 500 children across Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx̱ – Glacier Valley Elementary School, Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary and Auke Bay Elementary.
The in-school portion runs for 90 minutes each week, and the after-school program covers a range of topics including drumming, musical theater, dance, songwriting, music recording, and music technology, as well as lessons in violin, cello, and guitar.
Beyond instruments and technique, the lessons also seek to teach stories and meaning.
Holly wrote the words to the song, “Sagú yee een yéi ngatee,” or “Let Joy Be With You.” Affectionately known by the students as the “The Mountain Goat Song,” it tells the story of mountain goat wool being collected and woven by elders into robes for the children.
Eight-year-old Lawrence David described it best:
“So for future generations, the young people are gonna dance. So they weave robes for the people who are young. And then the young people can dance. And that just repeats on and on in future generations,” David said.
