Alaska Natives

From left to right: Miakah Nix, Daniel Ashenfelter, Shawn Merry and Conrad Revey, members of the Keex’ Kwaan Community Forest Partnership, one of the many existing programs set to benefit from the trust. The Keex’Kwaan Community Forest Partnership is a one of Sustainable Southeast Partnership’s collaborative land management programs. Programs work with private, state, and federal land managers. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany Sonsini Goodrich)

New fund established for Indigenous-led development

Funding into the future.

 

Jay Dóosh Tláa Zeller dances in celebration in front of the newly installed mural depicting Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon, on Sept. 1. Zeller served as the Sealaska Heritage Institue project coordinator for the mural, which was done by Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl and her team of apprentices. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

Celebration marks completion of mural

A place of “honor, dignity and respect”

 

Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl places a portion of what will become the 60-by 20-foot public mural depicting Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon, into place at Centennial Hall on Aug. 13. Once complete, the mural will appear on the currently blank south wall of the Marine Parking garage, the structure on which the downtown branch of Juneau’s public library sits. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

A mural comes to life

Team of artists assemble pieces

 

Sketches for a new 60 -by- 25-foot mural depicting Elizabeth Kaax̱gal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights activist who worked for equality for Alaska Natives in the 1940s, are laid out for sorting in the studio of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. (Courtesy photo / Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl)

New mural to honor Alaskan civil rights leader

The 60-by-25-foot mural will greet visitors.

Sketches for a new 60 -by- 25-foot mural depicting Elizabeth Kaax̱gal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights activist who worked for equality for Alaska Natives in the 1940s, are laid out for sorting in the studio of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. (Courtesy photo / Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl)
This April 2017 photo shows a view of the Fort Lewis College campus backdropped by the La Plata Mountains. The college originated more than a century ago as one of the country's Native American boarding schools(. Courtesy Photo / Fort Lewis College, Wikimedia)

New calls to search for remains at Native boarding schools

“We just want to make sure families today get the information they’ve been wanting for decades”

This April 2017 photo shows a view of the Fort Lewis College campus backdropped by the La Plata Mountains. The college originated more than a century ago as one of the country's Native American boarding schools(. Courtesy Photo / Fort Lewis College, Wikimedia)
Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Officials, artists and key Southeast Alaska figures alongside U.S. Postal Service leadership unveil the Raven Story stamp as part of the official release ceremony in front of the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Walter Soboleff Building on Friday, July 30, 2021.

Northwest Coast to post: Stamp featuring Raven, designed by Tlingit artist gets release

It marks the first time a Tlingit design has been featured on a stamp, according to SHI.

Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Officials, artists and key Southeast Alaska figures alongside U.S. Postal Service leadership unveil the Raven Story stamp as part of the official release ceremony in front of the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Walter Soboleff Building on Friday, July 30, 2021.
Veterans and active duty servicemembers carry the totem pole on July 24, 2021 as hundreds gathered in Hoonah for its raising. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Hoonah honors veterans with totem pole, future memorial park

From the Alaska Territorial Guard to today’s servicemembers, the Southeast has a legacy of service.

Veterans and active duty servicemembers carry the totem pole on July 24, 2021 as hundreds gathered in Hoonah for its raising. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
William Tamaree of the Kayáashkéedítaan clan stands next to the Kéet Koowaal in this undated photo. The Kéet Koowaal is being returned to the clan from a museum in Alabama. (Courtesy photo / CCTHITA)

Alaska Native works coming home after decades down South

The objects will be returned to home, to be displayed in a future cultural ceremony.

William Tamaree of the Kayáashkéedítaan clan stands next to the Kéet Koowaal in this undated photo. The Kéet Koowaal is being returned to the clan from a museum in Alabama. (Courtesy photo / CCTHITA)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks at a ceremony for Alaska Native Veterans from the Vietnam era at the Walter Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau on May 5, 2021. Dunleavy announced the state filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Biden administration for what Dunleavy says is illegally keeping restrictions in place on federal lands in Alaska. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

State sues feds over continuing land restrictions

Veteran lands available, DOI says.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks at a ceremony for Alaska Native Veterans from the Vietnam era at the Walter Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau on May 5, 2021. Dunleavy announced the state filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Biden administration for what Dunleavy says is illegally keeping restrictions in place on federal lands in Alaska. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Alyssa London, second from right, and her team are working to produce Culture Story, which will showcase modern Alaska Native cultures across and outside of Alaska. (Courtesy photo / Culture Story)

Team works to tell positive, accurate stories about Alaska Native life

Show aims to show Alaska Native cultures as they thrive in the modern world.

Alyssa London, second from right, and her team are working to produce Culture Story, which will showcase modern Alaska Native cultures across and outside of Alaska. (Courtesy photo / Culture Story)
This photo shows the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Supreme Court sides with Alaska Native corporations in COVID-19 aid case

The justices ruled 6-3 in the case, which involved the massive relief package passed last year.

This photo shows the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Juneau residents sing together outside the Juneau Montessori School, formerly the Mayflower School built by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to honor the 215 dead Indigenous children found at a residential school in Canada, on May 31, 2021.

Locals mourn deceased children found at Canadian residential school

The local Montessori school was adorned with flowers and feathers.

Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Juneau residents sing together outside the Juneau Montessori School, formerly the Mayflower School built by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to honor the 215 dead Indigenous children found at a residential school in Canada, on May 31, 2021.
Bob Sam and Jamiann Hasselquist touch the headstone of Chief Joseph, a tribal leader buried in the Lawson Creek Cemetery in 1917, as they work with other volunteers to restore the cemetery, on May 22, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Volunteers work to restore neglected Douglas cemetery

“We’re giving them a place with dignity, honor and respect.”

Bob Sam and Jamiann Hasselquist touch the headstone of Chief Joseph, a tribal leader buried in the Lawson Creek Cemetery in 1917, as they work with other volunteers to restore the cemetery, on May 22, 2021. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today)

Alaska village eyes return of ancestral lands

A federally recognized tribe is scrambling to raise funds to regain stewardship of the lands.

In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans James Lindoff (left) and George Bennett drape a ceremonial blanket over Gov. Mike Dunleavy during a news conference on Wednesday. Dunleavy is proposing a program allowing Alaska Native veterans to exchange federal land for state lands potentially closer to their homes.

Gov proposes land exchange for Vietnam-era Alaska Native veterans

Righting an old wrong.

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans James Lindoff (left) and George Bennett drape a ceremonial blanket over Gov. Mike Dunleavy during a news conference on Wednesday. Dunleavy is proposing a program allowing Alaska Native veterans to exchange federal land for state lands potentially closer to their homes.
FILE - In this May 24, 2015, file photo, a vehicle drives on a pier to be loaded onto an Alaska state ferry while people fish underneath the pier in Homer, Alaska. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday, April 19, 2021, in a case that will determine who is eligible to receive more than $530 million in federal virus relief funding set aside for tribes more than a year ago. More than a dozen Native American tribes sued the U.S. Treasury Department to keep the money out of the hands of Alaska Native corporations, which provide services to Alaska Natives but do not have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

High court seems ready to send virus funds to Alaska Natives

Justices heard arguments in a case involving the massive pandemic relief package.

FILE - In this May 24, 2015, file photo, a vehicle drives on a pier to be loaded onto an Alaska state ferry while people fish underneath the pier in Homer, Alaska. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday, April 19, 2021, in a case that will determine who is eligible to receive more than $530 million in federal virus relief funding set aside for tribes more than a year ago. More than a dozen Native American tribes sued the U.S. Treasury Department to keep the money out of the hands of Alaska Native corporations, which provide services to Alaska Natives but do not have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
Courtesy photo / Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska The Biden administration says it wants to strengthen ties with tribal governments like Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, whose workers are seen here loading shipping containers full of supplies bound for needy communities in Southeast Alaska onto a barge in the Gastineau Channel on Oct. 21, 2020.

Nation to nation: A new day for tribal relations?

Feds need to ‘show their work.’

Courtesy photo / Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska The Biden administration says it wants to strengthen ties with tribal governments like Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, whose workers are seen here loading shipping containers full of supplies bound for needy communities in Southeast Alaska onto a barge in the Gastineau Channel on Oct. 21, 2020.
A man, seen at top center, threw snowballs at and verbally harassed a group of Alaska Native women at a rally near the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Courtesy photo / Jamiann Hasselquist)

Man disrupts event focused on missing and murdered Indigenous women

Yelling, throw snowing caught on video by organizers.

A man, seen at top center, threw snowballs at and verbally harassed a group of Alaska Native women at a rally near the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Courtesy photo / Jamiann Hasselquist)
Cassandra Cropley holds a poster showing photos of her cousin, Linda Skeek, after the 2020 Women’s March, Jan. 18. Skeek went missing in January 2016 and is feared dead. Much of the problem is in the data and the way it’s collected, say advocates of improved and standardized systems. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Visibility is key: Data and murdered and missing Indigenous women

For some, law enforcment agencies and data systems are active parts of the problem.

Cassandra Cropley holds a poster showing photos of her cousin, Linda Skeek, after the 2020 Women’s March, Jan. 18. Skeek went missing in January 2016 and is feared dead. Much of the problem is in the data and the way it’s collected, say advocates of improved and standardized systems. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Gov. Ernest Gruening (seated) signs the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. Witnessing are O. D. Cochran, Elizabeth Peratrovich, Edward Anderson, Norman Walker and Roy Peratrovich. (Courtesy Photo / Alaska State Library - Historical Collections)

Officials honor Elizabeth Peratrovich day with proclamations

With physical gatherings limited, virtual events and statements marked the day.

Gov. Ernest Gruening (seated) signs the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. Witnessing are O. D. Cochran, Elizabeth Peratrovich, Edward Anderson, Norman Walker and Roy Peratrovich. (Courtesy Photo / Alaska State Library - Historical Collections)