Arts and Culture

Left to right: Kathy Maas, Jackie Brand, Heather Parker, and Huo Gua Xia. (Clara Miller | Capital City Weekly)

Juneau Symphony welcomes new concertmaster for new season

The first concert of the Juneau Symphony’s season will also be its first with Jacqueline Brand, a violinist and associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles… Continue reading

Left to right: Kathy Maas, Jackie Brand, Heather Parker, and Huo Gua Xia. (Clara Miller | Capital City Weekly)

Fabricating the Alaskan Frontier

“The Last Frontier,” emblazoned across every Alaska license plate, evidences a cultural narrative foundational to Alaskan identity. One hundred and fifty years ago, the United… Continue reading

Elder David Katzeek speaks to children at a monthly Baby Raven Reads family event. Photo by Brian Wallace. Courtesy of SHI.

Baby Raven Reads honored nationally

Sealaska Heritage Institute’s early literacy program, Baby Raven Reads, has been recognized by the Library of Congress for the work it has done. Some of… Continue reading

Elder David Katzeek speaks to children at a monthly Baby Raven Reads family event. Photo by Brian Wallace. Courtesy of SHI.
Author Vivian Faith Prescott reads from The Hide of My Tongue, or, in Tlingit, Ax L’&

Two Southeast Alaskan poets win awards

Two Southeast Alaskans were the recipients of the 2017 Alaska Literary Awards and the 2017 Connie Boochever Fellowships by the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation,… Continue reading

Author Vivian Faith Prescott reads from The Hide of My Tongue, or, in Tlingit, Ax L’&
Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau, right, Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas, middle, and Tim “2oolman” Hill, left, of A Tribe Called Red. (Photo by Falling Tree Photography)

Canadian DJ group A Tribe Called Red comes to Juneau

A Tribe Called Red, a Canadian indigenous DJ group from Ottawa, Ontario, will be taking the stage of Centennial Hall on Oct. 19. Members Ian… Continue reading

Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau, right, Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas, middle, and Tim “2oolman” Hill, left, of A Tribe Called Red. (Photo by Falling Tree Photography)
A detail of one of the daybed’s arms. Photo by Tara Neilson.

Driftwood inspires artistic impulses

I’ve always been fascinated by driftwood. As a child, their sometimes amazing and twisted shapes called to my imagination. I saw them as petrified, shapeshifting… Continue reading

A detail of one of the daybed’s arms. Photo by Tara Neilson.

SHI releases new books

Seven new books are appearing this fall through the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s early literacy, Library of Congress-recognized program, Baby Raven Reads. Launched in 2014 in… Continue reading

2012 conference in Sitka, left to right: Chatskookoo &

Indigenous peoples of Southeast are focus of Sitka conference

On Oct. 18, Alaska Day, Sitka will celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Treaty of Cession, when the U.S. “purchased” Alaska from Russia. There will be… Continue reading

2012 conference in Sitka, left to right: Chatskookoo &
Playwright Vera Bedard speaks as poet Joan Naviyuk Kane listens at a 49 Writers Crosscurrents panel on Friday, Sept. 29. Bedard, who is currently a three-year resident at Perseverance Theater, wrote the 2016 Perseverance-produced play “Our Voices Will be Heard,” which addressed childhood sexual abuse. She was born in Craig and has Tlingit and Dena’ina heritage. Kane is the author of “Milk Black Carbon,” “Hyperboreal,” “The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife,” and “The Straits.” She is Inupiaq, with family in King Island and Mary’s Igloo.

Discussing an Alaskan apocalypse

Zombies, North Korea’s threats, a rogue virus: the end of the world may not be upon Juneau at the moment, but the community is discussing… Continue reading

Playwright Vera Bedard speaks as poet Joan Naviyuk Kane listens at a 49 Writers Crosscurrents panel on Friday, Sept. 29. Bedard, who is currently a three-year resident at Perseverance Theater, wrote the 2016 Perseverance-produced play “Our Voices Will be Heard,” which addressed childhood sexual abuse. She was born in Craig and has Tlingit and Dena’ina heritage. Kane is the author of “Milk Black Carbon,” “Hyperboreal,” “The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife,” and “The Straits.” She is Inupiaq, with family in King Island and Mary’s Igloo.
Skagway Burlesque twirls into Juneau

Skagway Burlesque twirls into Juneau

Five mudboot-clad, umbrella-twirling women danced their way onto the stage of the Red Dog Saloon as the opening act for Skagway Burlesque’s colorful, creative show… Continue reading

Skagway Burlesque twirls into Juneau
Aroon on the Isis with Megan and JoDean on the Westerner in the background. (Photo by Tara Neilson)

Boat parties at remote docks

The axis around which our rural community of Meyers Chuck revolves is the state-installed dock. So we decided to have a boat party at it… Continue reading

Aroon on the Isis with Megan and JoDean on the Westerner in the background. (Photo by Tara Neilson)

Wrestlemania: “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” at Perseverance Theatre

I’ll say this for the 2017-18 Perseverance Theatre season: it certainly starts off with a bang. Actually, not a bang, but a “Power Bomb,” the… Continue reading

A camper excitedly tries the beginnings of a cedar hat on while learning to weave. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

Strength and Xaat (Salmon): Haa Yaakwdáat Kusteeyi Yanshuká (Yakutat Culture Camp)

From sea to summit, Yakutat’s horizon boasts the tallest, most rapidly ascending mountain on Earth. It is here, below Mt. Saint Elias (Was’eitushaa), where the… Continue reading

A camper excitedly tries the beginnings of a cedar hat on while learning to weave. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

The end is one poet’s beginning

Kate Partridge’s first book of poetry “Ends of the Earth” combines her personal life experiences in Alaska with history, both ancient and contemporary. Partridge published… Continue reading

Clearance Oliver Prest’s first landing of an airplane on the Skagway beach on July 6, 1922. Image courtesy of the National Park Service, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Candy Waugaman Collection, KLGO TA-8-8917.

The first aeroplanes in Skagway

When I started doing research on the first airplane (or aeroplane as they were called then) in Skagway I thought I would be writing about… Continue reading

Clearance Oliver Prest’s first landing of an airplane on the Skagway beach on July 6, 1922. Image courtesy of the National Park Service, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Candy Waugaman Collection, KLGO TA-8-8917.
Ted stands by tomatoes inside Moby. Photo by Bethany Goodrich. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

Growing greens in Hoonah, according to this 12-year-old

The days are getting shorter and full of rain. Many Southeast Alaskans are dreading the impending seasonal shift. In Hoonah however, one 12-old boy is… Continue reading

Ted stands by tomatoes inside Moby. Photo by Bethany Goodrich. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)
The emerald green waters as nearing Petersburg. (Photo by Corinne Conlon)

A trip up the Stikine

The Petersburg Rainforest Festival had its 10th anniversary this year. The community has a solid foraging community that shares those connections with others. As part… Continue reading

The emerald green waters as nearing Petersburg. (Photo by Corinne Conlon)
An insider-look at ‘The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity’

An insider-look at ‘The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity’

Opening Perseverance Theatre’s 2017-2018 season, “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” will give audiences a pro-wrestling show. The dramatic comedy by Kristoffer Diaz which was… Continue reading

An insider-look at ‘The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity’

The First Lady of Sitka

Nancy Reagan once said, “A woman is like a teabag – only in hot water do you realize how strong she is.” On May 3,… Continue reading

At the Forest Service cabin. Photo by Chelsea Tremblay.

Summer Solace

And just like that, the winds have changed. Our summer, such as it was, is fading with the light, as are my regular dispatches from… Continue reading

At the Forest Service cabin. Photo by Chelsea Tremblay.