Alaska Natives

A view from the library of the Angoon High School, one of Alaska’s public schools, is seen on June 19, 2023. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska board of education sends the plan for tribally run public schools to lawmakers

A report detailing the framework for tribally run public schools will be sent to the legislators and the governor’s office. The intent is that it… Continue reading

A view from the library of the Angoon High School, one of Alaska’s public schools, is seen on June 19, 2023. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Traditional foods, including herring eggs on kelp, dried pike, smoked salmon, seal oil and dried moose meat, prepared for Dillingham community members and supporters of the Smokehouse Collective, an Alaska Native mutual aid network. (Photo by Emily Sullivan/High Country News)

An Alaska Native mutual aid network tackles the climate crisis

Smokehouse Collective invests in “our resilience as Native peoples to persevere in our cultures.”

Traditional foods, including herring eggs on kelp, dried pike, smoked salmon, seal oil and dried moose meat, prepared for Dillingham community members and supporters of the Smokehouse Collective, an Alaska Native mutual aid network. (Photo by Emily Sullivan/High Country News)
The Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy Dance Group performs for attendees at Goldbelt Inc.’s 50th-anniversary celebration on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Goldbelt celebrates 50th anniversary with tributes, prayer, dancing and hopes for future

Leaders of local Alaska Native Regional Corporation looking ahead generations rather than years.

The Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy Dance Group performs for attendees at Goldbelt Inc.’s 50th-anniversary celebration on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Charles Skultka Jr. teaches formline design during a Sitka High School class supported by the Sitka Native Education Program and Sealaska Heritage Institute. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

Resilient Peoples and Place: Celebrating and supporting Southeast Alaska’s growing arts economy

Thousands of artists, tens of millions of dollars annually, generations of passing on traditions.

Charles Skultka Jr. teaches formline design during a Sitka High School class supported by the Sitka Native Education Program and Sealaska Heritage Institute. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)
Doug Chilton works on a canoe journey carving at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in February of 2016. (Courtesy of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)

Longtime Tlingit artist and activist Doug Chilton closing his shop Dec. 24, heading south

Juneau-born resident plans to return for One People Canoe Society trips he founded, other events.

Doug Chilton works on a canoe journey carving at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in February of 2016. (Courtesy of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)
An empty classroom at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on July 20, 2022. (Photo by Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)

Plan for Alaska’s first tribally operated public schools inches closer to completion

Tlingit and Haida among five tribes slated to be part of the five-year pilot program.

An empty classroom at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on July 20, 2022. (Photo by Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)
Candace Frank gets a red handprint pressed onto her face at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Rally in Juneau on May 5, 2022. (Lisa Phu / Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Native leaders bring light to state-specific challenges in federal MMIP report

Alaska is the only state with its own chapter in a report on missing and murdered Indigenous people that describes a failure of the federal… Continue reading

Candace Frank gets a red handprint pressed onto her face at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Rally in Juneau on May 5, 2022. (Lisa Phu / Alaska Beacon)
The Southeast Alaska village of Metlakatla. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Biden administration could wade into lawsuit over Southeast Alaska tribal fishing rights

The Biden administration could jump into a high-profile lawsuit involving a Southeast Alaska Native community that’s fighting with GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration about its… Continue reading

The Southeast Alaska village of Metlakatla. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Female caribou runs near Teshekpuk Lake on June 12, 2022. (Photo by Ashley Sabatino, Bureau of Land Management)

Alaska tribes urge protection for federal lands

80% of food comes from surrounding lands and waters for Alaska Native communities off road system.

Female caribou runs near Teshekpuk Lake on June 12, 2022. (Photo by Ashley Sabatino, Bureau of Land Management)
A still frame from a production of Tlingit “Macbeth” at the National Museum of the American Indian in 2007. (Photo provided by Sealaska Heritage Institute)
A still frame from a production of Tlingit “Macbeth” at the National Museum of the American Indian in 2007. (Photo provided by Sealaska Heritage Institute)
The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers, who were named lead dance group for Celebration 2024. (Photo by Nobu Koch courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Neighbors: SHI launches contest for Celebration 2024 art design

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is holding a contest to solicit a design for next year’s Celebration, a biennial dance and culture festival that celebrates Tlingit,… Continue reading

The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers, who were named lead dance group for Celebration 2024. (Photo by Nobu Koch courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)
This view is from Wrangell on Sept. 11, 2022. (Photo by Joaqlin Estus/ICT)

Conservation group supports formation of new Alaska Native corporations

The conservation group the Wilderness Society has changed its position and now supports a bill that would create five new Alaska Native corporations in Southeast… Continue reading

This view is from Wrangell on Sept. 11, 2022. (Photo by Joaqlin Estus/ICT)
People gather for a newly organized communal Friendsgiving celebration at the log cabin at Savikko Park on Thursday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Communal Friendsgiving allows some a day of thanks without observing Thanksgiving

Many Alaska Natives, other Indigenous peoples in U.S., disagree with holiday’s traditional narrative.

People gather for a newly organized communal Friendsgiving celebration at the log cabin at Savikko Park on Thursday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A 30-foot-tall totem pole, seen in the photo at left, was removed from Michael J. Burns Building on Friday, as seen in the photo at right taken Sunday. The totem pole, plus two others already removed from the interior of the building that houses the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., are scheduled to be placed at Goldbelt Inc.’s headquarters for its 50th anniversary celebration. (Left photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.; right photo by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Totem poles removed from Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. headquarters building

Goldbelt Inc. plans to place the three totems at its headquarters for 50th-anniversary celebration.

A 30-foot-tall totem pole, seen in the photo at left, was removed from Michael J. Burns Building on Friday, as seen in the photo at right taken Sunday. The totem pole, plus two others already removed from the interior of the building that houses the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., are scheduled to be placed at Goldbelt Inc.’s headquarters for its 50th anniversary celebration. (Left photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.; right photo by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Fog drifts through the trees in the Tongass National Forest on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

My Turn: A response to ‘There are no Landless Natives in Southeast Alaska’

Where to begin? Rebecca Knight’s — at best implicitly xenophobic and factually incorrect – opinion piece published Sept. 20 not only misconstrues the present legislation’s… Continue reading

Fog drifts through the trees in the Tongass National Forest on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
A cultural learning center operated by the Douglas Indian Association in South Douglas, seen here in an illustration, received a conditional use permit from the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday. (Illustration by NorthWind Architects)

Douglas Indian Association cultural center near Treadwell trail gets planning commission OK

Some neighbors, commissioners concerned about traffic, other impacts of 4,000-square-foot building.

A cultural learning center operated by the Douglas Indian Association in South Douglas, seen here in an illustration, received a conditional use permit from the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday. (Illustration by NorthWind Architects)
Stacked logs are seen in Yakutat on June 3. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Yakutat ousted its village corporations’ leaders. Here’s what’s next.

The saga in the Southeast Alaska village of Yakutat is over. Or, it’s just starting. After years of conflict, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Laura Hartz… Continue reading

Stacked logs are seen in Yakutat on June 3. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
The frame of a house waits further construction in Yakutat with the assistance of the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority. On Monday the housing authority received a $2 million grant intended to help more than 100 families in Southeast Alaska with loans and other housing assistance. (Photo courtesy of the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority)

$2M grant for Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority seeks to help more than 100 Southeast families

Agency among six nationwide winners for programs “making homes more accessible and affordable.”

The frame of a house waits further construction in Yakutat with the assistance of the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority. On Monday the housing authority received a $2 million grant intended to help more than 100 families in Southeast Alaska with loans and other housing assistance. (Photo courtesy of the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority)
Jennifer Kirk, left, and Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton both died, two years apart, in homes owned by a former mayor and often occupied by his adult sons. Credit:Left photo: Facebook; right photo: courtesy of Lesley Sundberg

One woman died on an Alaska mayor’s property. Then another. No one has ever been charged.

Ex-mayor’s sons faced few consequences despite history of similar allegations.

Jennifer Kirk, left, and Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton both died, two years apart, in homes owned by a former mayor and often occupied by his adult sons. Credit:Left photo: Facebook; right photo: courtesy of Lesley Sundberg
Sealaska Corp. CEO Anthony Mallott is departing effective Jan. 1, according to a company announcement Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Sealaska Corp.)

Sealaska Corp. CEO Anthony Mallott stepping down effective Jan. 1

Announcement comes days after Alaska Native corporation announces lower shareholder dividends.

Sealaska Corp. CEO Anthony Mallott is departing effective Jan. 1, according to a company announcement Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Sealaska Corp.)