Alaska Native Arts & Culture

With much fanfare, Daisy Vanblarcom prepared for the final one-foot high kick competition in the Native Youth Olympics on Saturday. She needed to jump, kick a suspended ball with one foot and then land on the same foot.

The highest height she hit was 87 inches, which went above her personal record – and won her first place. The bleachers were filled with people from all corners of Alaska, but for Vanblarcom, they were familiar faces. Vanblarcom, who competed in six events this year and placed first in two, said making friends with other athletes and coaches is a part of her success.

“I compete a lot better when I know everybody and when I’m comfortable around everyone,” Vanblarcom said.

The Native Youth Olympics was held over three-days in Anchorage last weekend. High school students participated in a dozen competitions, each representing a different Alaska Native subsistence activity or skill. The event started more than fifty years ago, with a few dozen participants. This year, it brought about 450 athletes to the Alaska Airlines Center – a record number since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joanna and Jen Hopson have been working to revive the games in the North Slope region. They created a program to help develop and train athletes from Utqiaġvik and neighboring villages. They held the regional Native Youth Olympic Games in Utqiaġvik this winter – for the first time in about 15 years.

Joanna Hopson said that the games have been helping students gain confidence and come out of their shell.

“Our athletes that are coming in, they come in to us at practice so reserved, timid,” she said. “As they’re starting to learn more of their cultural games, they’re starting to learn that courage. They’re starting to learn what it means to be who you are, to accept who you are, where you’re at, and then to grow from that.”

Participating in the Native Youth Olympics is often a family tradition. Kya Ahlers, a coach for Salamatof on the Kenai Peninsula, said she trains some of her siblings and is always proud to see them and her other athletes succeed. This year, Ahlers saw her younger sister Abigail Semaken place first in the toe kick competition.

“It’s really a good confidence booster, and really good to see all these young women competing. And I mean, sometimes I do see some girls getting themselves down. But then once I see that, there’s already other girls from other teams coming to comfort her and empowering her again,” Ahlers said. “That really warms my heart.”

Girls lifting each other up was something on the mind of Camylle Hull from Fairbanks. Hull was on the team with Isabel Dosch and Calli Bundschuh, and together they took third place in the wrist carry competition. Dosch wrapped her wrist around a stick, and Hull and Bundschuh grabbed the opposite sides of it, carrying Dosch for 202 feet and 3 inches.

“Our team was an all-girls team, the only all-girls team that got on the podium, and we got further than most of the guys down there,” Hull said. “I think it’s really cool for us, showing that we can do what they can do, like the guys.”

But the community of the games as a whole was the main highlight athletes kept bringing up. Anastasha Wilde of Anchorage, who took second place in a two-foot high kick competition, said the games helped her improve her social life.

“My favorite part about it is that we all come together, and we’re participating together, not apart, and you get to connect with other people and make new friends,” Wilde said. “It’s not about winning. It’s about beating your personal records and improving, not for yourself, but improving for the others around you, so you could help them out.”

This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over 10,000 years.

Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.

This week’s word is x̱alak’ách’, or porcupine. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say x̱alak’ách’.

The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences. 

Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: X̱alak’ách’. 

That means porcupine.

Here are some sentences:

Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: X̱alakʼáchʼ kagéináx̱ yaa gagútch.

Porcupines walk down slowly.

Keihéenák’w John Martin: A x̱oo.aa haa atx̱aayíx̱ sitee wé x̱alakʼáchʼ.

Itʼs food for some of us, the porcupine. 

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Alʼóon kḵwagóot x̱alakʼáchʼg̱áa.

I am going to go hunting for porcupine. 

Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Chʼáakw dus.éeyin yá x̱alakʼáchʼch haa atx̱aayíx̱ sitéeyin.

A long time ago people would cook it; porcupine used to be our food.

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: X̱alak’ách’ ashaawax̱ích.

They clubbed the porcupine.

You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week. 

Additional language resources:

Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.

Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.

Watch a video introducing Lingít sounds here.

This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over 10,000 years.

Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.

This week’s word is laax̱, or red cedar. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say laax̱.

The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences. 

Keihéenák’w John Martin: Laax̱. 

That means red cedar.

Here are some sentences:

Keihéenák’w John Martin: Kootéeyaa aan dulyeix̱ yaa laax̱.

They make totem poles with red cedar.

Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: Laax̱ haawú litsʼáa.

Red cedar branches smell good.

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Deikeenaa aasí laax̱, ḵúnáx áwé xʼalitseen hé naakéexʼ.

It is a Haida tree, red cedar, it is really valuable here in the north

Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Ldakát át aan yéi daadunéi yá laax̱.

People work on red cedar for everything.

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Laax̱ dax̱ dulyéix̱.

People use red cedar.

You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week. 

Additional language resources:

Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.

Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.

Watch a video introducing Lingít sounds here.

This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over 10,000 years.

Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.

This week’s word is yaana.eit, or wild celery. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say yaana.eit.

The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences. 

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: yaana.eit. 

That means wild celery.

Here are some sentences:

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Ḵúnáx̱ áwé yak’éi wé yaana.eit.

Wild celery is very good.

Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: Yaana.eit náakw yáx̱ yéi du.oowún.

People used to use wild celery like medicine.

Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Yées yaa kana.éini áyá yakʼéi yá yaana.eit.

This is good, young wild celery is growing here.

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Yaana.eit wutuwax̱áa.

We ate wild celery.

You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week. 

Additional language resources:

Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.

Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.

Watch a video introducing Lingít sounds here.

The eighth annual Traditional Games was held in Juneau this weekend at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.

More than 250 athletes from 30 teams from across the state, the Lower 48 and Canada competed in a dozen different events rooted in Alaska Native values. 

Matthew Chagluak of Anchorage sat low on the gym floor at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Saturday morning. His neck was craned upward and his eyes were laser-focused on a ball hanging on a piece of string above him. 

Suddenly, in one fluid motion, he kicked a leg up to touch the ball while balancing on one hand, successfully executing an Alaskan High Kick. 

“By showing grace in your events, its showing respect for not only the event, but yourself too,” he said. 

Chagluak is Yupik, and he’s one of more than 250 athletes who came to Juneau to compete in the eighth annual Traditional Games. Many of them are Indigenous, but the games are open to participants from any background.

“It’s all about family and people who I care about, showing my support and having fun at the same time,” he said. 

Throughout the three-day event, the athletes from 30 different teams competed in a dozen different games. Each requires a unique skill set, a lot of training and focus. They’re all rooted in Indigenous hunting and survival skills. 

“The history goes back hundreds maybe 1000s of years, so let’s see it continue hundreds or 1000s of more years,” said Kyle Worl, a coach who leads the program in Juneau. 

He said the games had a profound impact on him when he began participating as a high schooler. Now, as an adult and coach, he wants to make sure other young people can experience them too.

“It’s a way to celebrate our culture and carry on these games and introduce them to youth throughout the Southeast region and beyond,” he said. 

Nathan Blake is a high school senior in Juneau. Not only did he compete, but he was also in charge of getting the crowd of family, friends and spectators excited.

He said the inclusiveness of the games is one of the biggest reasons he’s drawn to them. 

“All of us have really our own reasons to love this and appreciate the values that it brings to each home,” he said. “This is an event that teaches everyone that this isn’t just a game for one culture and one only. This is a game for everyone to come together and just be one with one another, regardless of how you look or what you do.”

Ricardo Worl, Kyle’s uncle, was a coach for the games in Juneau back in the 1980s and was honored on Saturday. During a speech to the athletes, he called on them to continue to uplift their culture and diversity amid the political turmoil happening in the country.

“We have grown-ups who don’t believe that being diverse, being inclusive, is something that should be supported,” he said. “Your added responsibility for this weekend is to be exactly who you are as athletes, Alaska Natives, proud, respectful.”

This year, athletes broke 12 records in different categories and age groups. Organizers say this year’s Traditional Games were one of the biggest held since they began in 2018. 

This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over 10,000 years.

Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.

This week’s word is shéiyi, or spruce. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say shéiyi.

The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences. 

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Shéiyi. 

That means spruce. 

Here are some sentences:

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Shéiyi da dax̱ káax’ has awliyéx̱. 

He made a basket out of spruce bark.

Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: Cháash hít yeedé shéiyi haaw, yéi amsinee.

They put spruce boughs in the brush house.

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Aak’éi aas áwé wé shéiyi.

It’s a good tree, the spruce. 

Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Shéiyi daayí tsú atx̱ duleix̱.

Spruce bark as well, it is always growing.

You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week. 

Additional language resources:

Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.

Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.

Watch a video introducing Lingít sounds here.