Alaska Natives

Marie Mead performs a traditional dance during the Inuit-soul musical group Pamyua’s performance as part of the final night of the Áak’w Rock music festival at Centennial Hall on Sept. 23, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Áak’w Rock bringing another ‘Side Stage’ to accompany this week’s Celebration

10 Indigenous performers scheduled Friday and Saturday at various venues downtown.

Marie Mead performs a traditional dance during the Inuit-soul musical group Pamyua’s performance as part of the final night of the Áak’w Rock music festival at Centennial Hall on Sept. 23, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Nick Hanson of the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior” kicks off the blanket toss at the 2020 Traditional Games in Juneau. (Lyndsey Brollini / Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Neighbors: Celebration begins Wednesday with mix of traditional and new events

Nearly 1,600 dancers from 36 dance groups scheduled to participate in four-day gathering.

Nick Hanson of the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior” kicks off the blanket toss at the 2020 Traditional Games in Juneau. (Lyndsey Brollini / Sealaska Heritage Institute)
Anchorage pullers arrived at Wrangell’s Petroglyph Beach on May 23 for a canoe-naming ceremony. One of the canoes they will paddle to Juneau was dedicated to Wrangell’s Marge Byrd, Kiks.adi matriarch Shaawat Shoogoo. The canoe’s name is Xíxch’ dexí (Frog Backbone). (Becca Clark / Wrangell Sentinel)

Canoes making 150-mile journey from Wrangell, other Southeast communities to Celebration

Paddlers expected to arrive in Juneau on June 4, one day before biennial Alaska Native gathering.

Anchorage pullers arrived at Wrangell’s Petroglyph Beach on May 23 for a canoe-naming ceremony. One of the canoes they will paddle to Juneau was dedicated to Wrangell’s Marge Byrd, Kiks.adi matriarch Shaawat Shoogoo. The canoe’s name is Xíxch’ dexí (Frog Backbone). (Becca Clark / Wrangell Sentinel)
Wreath bearers present wreaths for fallen comrades, brothers and sisters in arms during a Memorial Day ceremony at Alaskan Memorial Park on Monday. Laying wreaths on the graves of fallen heroes is a way to honor and remember the sacrifices made. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Traditional Memorial Day ceremonies offer new ways to ‘never forget’ those who served

New installations at memorial sites, fresh words of reminder shared by hundreds gathering in Juneau.

Wreath bearers present wreaths for fallen comrades, brothers and sisters in arms during a Memorial Day ceremony at Alaskan Memorial Park on Monday. Laying wreaths on the graves of fallen heroes is a way to honor and remember the sacrifices made. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Jennifer Brown plays the drum while Jarrell Williams dances at an MMIP rally on the Alaska State Capitol steps on May 5. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska lawmakers approve additional support for addressing missing and murdered Indigenous people

Cultural training for law enforcement officers and dedicated MMIP investigators among updates.

Jennifer Brown plays the drum while Jarrell Williams dances at an MMIP rally on the Alaska State Capitol steps on May 5. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Nathan Jackson (left) and John Hagen accept awards at the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President’s Awards banquet. (Courtesy photo)

Haines artists get belated recognition for iconic Tlingit and Haida logo

Nathan Jackson and John Hagen created the design that has been on tribal materials since the ‘70s.

Nathan Jackson (left) and John Hagen accept awards at the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President’s Awards banquet. (Courtesy photo)
Jan Bronson of Anchorage and Cathy Walling of Fairbanks, representing the Alaska Friends Conference, apologize to Alaska Native communities for the boarding schools it ran in Alaska and the United States. The apology took place at Sayéik Gastineau elementary school, the former site of a Quaker mission school in Juneau, during Orange Shirt Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska lawmakers support push to investigate, document forced assimilation in boarding schools

The widely supported resolution supports a bill championed by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Congress.

Jan Bronson of Anchorage and Cathy Walling of Fairbanks, representing the Alaska Friends Conference, apologize to Alaska Native communities for the boarding schools it ran in Alaska and the United States. The apology took place at Sayéik Gastineau elementary school, the former site of a Quaker mission school in Juneau, during Orange Shirt Day, Sept. 30, 2022. (Lisa Phu/Alaska Beacon)
A new online dictionary features Lingít, X̱aad Kíl, Shm’algyack and English. (Mircea Brown / Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Neighbors: Sealaska Heritage Institute debuts multilingual online Alaska Native dictionary with audio

Platform includes resources for Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian languages.

A new online dictionary features Lingít, X̱aad Kíl, Shm’algyack and English. (Mircea Brown / Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)
Rep. Andi Story, a Juneau Democrat, listens to a presentation during a House Education Committee meeting on Friday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Juneau lawmaker’s bill adding four Indigenous languages to state’s official list unanimously passes Senate

Legislation by Rep. Andi Story also renames, expands size of state Native languages council.

Rep. Andi Story, a Juneau Democrat, listens to a presentation during a House Education Committee meeting on Friday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Red clothing is worn and displayed as a sign of a unified call for action during a rally in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Sunday to commemorate the annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Rally seeks future where Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day is not necessary

More than 50 people gather at Capitol to share stories of missing family, efforts to address issue.

Red clothing is worn and displayed as a sign of a unified call for action during a rally in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Sunday to commemorate the annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A crowd gathers at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, May 5, 2023, for a rally and march to recognize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

My Turn: A call to action during Missing and Murdered Indigenous People month

Hello, my name is Patricia Graham. May is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People Month. Sunday, May 5, is the National Awareness Walk — here in… Continue reading

A crowd gathers at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Friday, May 5, 2023, for a rally and march to recognize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
About 20 youths dance in Ravenstail robes during a ceremony at Centennial Hall on Tuesday evening featuring the history of the ceremonial regalia. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Weavers, dancers and teachers celebrate revival of a traditional crafting of robes from the fringes

“You have just witnessed the largest gathering of Ravenstail regalia in history.”

About 20 youths dance in Ravenstail robes during a ceremony at Centennial Hall on Tuesday evening featuring the history of the ceremonial regalia. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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X’unei Lance Twitchell teaches an advanced Tlingít course at University of Alaska Southeast on Monday. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Native languages at crucial juncture, biennial report says

Call to action urges systemic reforms to the state’s support and integration of Native languages.

X’unei Lance Twitchell teaches an advanced Tlingít course at University of Alaska Southeast on Monday. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Eulalia Roman, 12, with team Mat-Su competes in the wrist carry on the first day of the Native Youth Olympics Senior Games at the Alaska Airlines Center on Thursday in Anchorage. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Alaska’s Indigenous teens emulate ancestors’ Arctic survival skills at the Native Youth Olympics

The athletes filling a huge gym in Anchorage were ready to compete, cheering and stomping and high-fiving each other as they lined up for the… Continue reading

Eulalia Roman, 12, with team Mat-Su competes in the wrist carry on the first day of the Native Youth Olympics Senior Games at the Alaska Airlines Center on Thursday in Anchorage. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
The Boney Courthouse building in Anchorage holds the Alaska Supreme Court chambers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska tribal health consortiums are legally immune in many cases, state Supreme Court says

The Alaska Supreme Court overturned a 20-year-old precedent Friday by ruling that Alaska Native tribal organizations can more easily receive the kind of sovereign legal… Continue reading

The Boney Courthouse building in Anchorage holds the Alaska Supreme Court chambers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Lily Hope (right) teaches a student how to weave Ravenstail on the Youth Pride Robe project. (Photo courtesy of Lily Hope)

A historically big show-and-tell for small Ravenstail robes

About 40 child-sized robes to be featured in weavers’ gathering, dance and presentations Tuesday.

Lily Hope (right) teaches a student how to weave Ravenstail on the Youth Pride Robe project. (Photo courtesy of Lily Hope)
The “Newtok Mothers” assembled as a panel at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on April 11 discuss the progress and challenges as village residents move from the eroding and thawing old site to a new village site called Mertarvik. Photographs showing deteriorating conditions in Newtok are displayed on a screen as the women speak at the event, held at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Relocation of eroding Alaska Native village seen as a test case for other threatened communities

Newtok-to-Mertarvik transformation has been decades in the making.

The “Newtok Mothers” assembled as a panel at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on April 11 discuss the progress and challenges as village residents move from the eroding and thawing old site to a new village site called Mertarvik. Photographs showing deteriorating conditions in Newtok are displayed on a screen as the women speak at the event, held at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Delegates offer prayers during the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th Annual Tribal Assembly on Thursday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Muriel Reid / Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)
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Tribal Assembly declares crisis with fentanyl and other deadly drugs its highest priority

Delegates at 89th annual event also expand foster program, accept Portland as new tribal community.

Delegates offer prayers during the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th Annual Tribal Assembly on Thursday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Muriel Reid / Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)
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A panel on “Northern Indigenous Leadership: Our Future, Our Vision for Success,” is held at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on April 10 in Anchorage. (Joaqlin Estus/ICT)

Alaska Native vision for the future: Self determination

‘Nothing about us without us.’

A panel on “Northern Indigenous Leadership: Our Future, Our Vision for Success,” is held at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on April 10 in Anchorage. (Joaqlin Estus/ICT)
Newly elected tribal leaders are sworn in during the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th annual Tribal Assembly on Thursday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Photo courtesy of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)

New council leaders, citizen of year, emerging leader elected at 89th Tribal Assembly

Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson elected unopposed to sixth two-year term.

Newly elected tribal leaders are sworn in during the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th annual Tribal Assembly on Thursday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Photo courtesy of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)